Suspicious damp patch

Quoted message said:

A quick squeeze reassured me that neither tire had gone flat
overnight, so I flipped my bike up onto its rear tire, walked it out
of the garage to the driveway, set the front wheel down, and . . .
http://i25.tinypic.com/2udym1e.jpg

Drat!

No flats since February 1st, but that damp patch and drop of green
Slime on my front tire hinted that something poked a hole through my
inner tube, probably a goathead.

I could have rolled the bike back into the garage and replaced the
tube, but it had held air since yesterday's ride, so I said to hell
with it, pulled out my camera for the quick picture above, and rode
off.

The front tire lasted the whole ride, but it was down about 10 psi
when I took it off and checked it tonight.

The damp patch and drop of Slime also reappeared:
http://i29.tinypic.com/if2w78.jpg

That's 7 flats in 39 rides so far this year, but it's a lot more fun
fixing them at home than out in the cold and wind by the side of the
highway.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Does the seeping slime make patching difficult?

Joseph

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:05:13 -0800 (PST),

Quoted post said:

Quoted message said:

A quick squeeze reassured me that neither tire had gone flat
overnight, so I flipped my bike up onto its rear tire, walked it out
of the garage to the driveway, set the front wheel down, and . . .
http://i25.tinypic.com/2udym1e.jpg

Drat!

No flats since February 1st, but that damp patch and drop of green
Slime on my front tire hinted that something poked a hole through my
inner tube, probably a goathead.

I could have rolled the bike back into the garage and replaced the
tube, but it had held air since yesterday's ride, so I said to hell
with it, pulled out my camera for the quick picture above, and rode
off.

The front tire lasted the whole ride, but it was down about 10 psi
when I took it off and checked it tonight.

The damp patch and drop of Slime also reappeared:
http://i29.tinypic.com/if2w78.jpg

That's 7 flats in 39 rides so far this year, but it's a lot more fun
fixing them at home than out in the cold and wind by the side of the
highway.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Does the seeping slime make patching difficult?

Joseph

Dear Joseph,

It's more tedious than normal patching.

The only time that I used all four spare tubes that I carry and had to
reach for my glueless Park patch kit, it worked fine.

At home, I stretch the tube flat around a round vise arm, clamp it,
and run my thumb over it, squishing the Slime away from the hole (a
typical goathead pinhole in this case).

Then I sandpaper the tube, slather some Rema glue on it, wait 5-10
minutes, press a Rema patch on, and leave it to cure for a day.

http://i27.tinypic.com/255i7sw.jpg

When I use the vise, I tuck that toothpick under the edge of the tube
to point at pinholes, which are almost invisible after the glue dries.

The box shows the small 20mm smooth-edge F0-P Rema patches The F1-P
patches (1"/25mm) have scalloped edges and are for bigger MTB tires:

http://biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=24393435553&c=Tire-Tube&sc=Repair-Kits-and-Supplies&tc=Patches

The colored spring-clamps were $4 for a dozen at Harbor Freight.

The metal roller-scraper next to the glue can is actually for car tire
repairs. I don't know if the extra pressure from rolling helps, but I
like to squash the bejesus out of the patch after I slap it on the
tube.

I use the big white PVC pipe when I need elbow room to patch three or
four tubes. I can line a pinhole up with the black lettering before it
vanishes under the glue, which is more convenient than the toothpick
needed for the featureless vise.

Normally I just let the tube dangle, but I looped it a few times
around the vise to show some previous patches.

Holes can be too close to the valve stem to wrap around the vise or
pipe. I wrap those tubes around a chunk of 2x4 with a hole drilled in
it to accept the valve stem.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

A quick squeeze reassured me that neither tire had gone flat
overnight, so I flipped my bike up onto its rear tire, walked it out
of the garage to the driveway, set the front wheel down, and . . .
 http://i25.tinypic.com/2udym1e.jpg

Comrade,
Is that an artsy splatter paint job on that fork or does your bike
need a shave and a shine?

ABS

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:47:29 -0800 (PST), [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A quick squeeze reassured me that neither tire had gone flat
overnight, so I flipped my bike up onto its rear tire, walked it out
of the garage to the driveway, set the front wheel down, and . . .
 http://i25.tinypic.com/2udym1e.jpg

Comrade,
Is that an artsy splatter paint job on that fork or does your bike
need a shave and a shine?

ABS

Dear Alan,

I suppose that I could wash and wax my bike every day while the snow
melts along the paths and roads, but I'd rather fix flats, go for bike
rides, take pictures, and do just about anything besides wash cars and
bicycles.

I do haul trials motorcycles to the do-it-yourself car-wash and use
the pressure washer to remove most of the mud.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:47:29 -0800 (PST), [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A quick squeeze reassured me that neither tire had gone flat
overnight, so I flipped my bike up onto its rear tire, walked it out
of the garage to the driveway, set the front wheel down, and . . .
http://i25.tinypic.com/2udym1e.jpg

Comrade,
Is that an artsy splatter paint job on that fork or does your bike
need a shave and a shine?

ABS

Dear Alan,

I suppose that I could wash and wax my bike every day while the snow
melts along the paths and roads, but I'd rather fix flats, go for bike
rides, take pictures, and do just about anything besides wash cars and
bicycles.

I do haul trials motorcycles to the do-it-yourself car-wash and use
the pressure washer to remove most of the mud.

Carl,
As I am a novice Slime user, was hoping you could help me with proper valve
stem orientation? That is, where should the valve stem be located when the
bike is parked, and where should it be when pushing in the top of the Presta
valve prior to inflating? I seem to get sprays of Slime pretty often.
Thanks,
Kerry (who is very glad he's never seen a goathead in person)

Kerry Montgomery said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:47:29 -0800 (PST), [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

On Feb 17, 7:04 pm, [email hidden] wrote:
> A quick squeeze reassured me that neither tire had gone flat
> overnight, so I flipped my bike up onto its rear tire, walked it out
> of the garage to the driveway, set the front wheel down, and . . .
> http://i25.tinypic.com/2udym1e.jpg

Comrade,
Is that an artsy splatter paint job on that fork or does your bike
need a shave and a shine?

ABS

Dear Alan,

I suppose that I could wash and wax my bike every day while the snow
melts along the paths and roads, but I'd rather fix flats, go for bike
rides, take pictures, and do just about anything besides wash cars and
bicycles.

I do haul trials motorcycles to the do-it-yourself car-wash and use
the pressure washer to remove most of the mud.

Carl,
As I am a novice Slime user, was hoping you could help me with proper valve
stem orientation? That is, where should the valve stem be located when the
bike is parked, and where should it be when pushing in the top of the Presta
valve prior to inflating? I seem to get sprays of Slime pretty often.
Thanks,
Kerry (who is very glad he's never seen a goathead in person)

Dear Kerry,

When I deflate my Slime tubes, I put the valve down around 4 or 8
o'clock, roughly like this:

/ \
/ \
bottom

Much closer to the bottom, the tube may be full.

Much above that angle, the Slime isn't going to drain back out of the
valve stem and into the tube.

I don't worry about where the valve stems end up when I flip my bike
upside-down and leave it in the garage. (Maybe I should, but to hell
with it.)

Cheerful sprays of lurid green Slime are inevitable. The stuff is
annoying, but it isn't toxic and wipes off easily.

If a valve clogs, you can usually blow it back open with one stroke of
a small pump and try deflating again.

But carry a pair of needlenose pliers to grab a stubbornly clogged
valve by the flats and unscrew it. Once the valve is out of the tube,
it can be easily unclogged. (If you can unscrew the valve with your
fingers, either you have very powerful fingers or else the valve
wasn't tightened enough.)

Deflating tubes enough to patch and roll them up can be a chore. I
usually point the valve straight up, strip the Slime down into the
dangling tube, and then roll the tube up from the bottom with one hand
while holding the valve open with the other hand.

It's often easier if you loop one side of the tube around something
handy and pull it sideways a little, so that the tube right under the
valve is rounded instead of folding straight down.

This way, hooked around something and pulled sideways, so that the
rounded tube leaves air between the valve and any Slime nearby:
http://i31.tinypic.com/w5mpj.jpg

Not dangling and flattening the tube like this, where any Slime near
the valve is likely to be pushed up into it:
http://i26.tinypic.com/r10dwp.jpg

Remember, you can pump up a Slime tube with a pump that has an air
gauge because the hose and pump pressure keep the gunk well away from
the gauge, but checking a Slime tube with a hand air gauge is likely
to cost you a clogged air gauge.

If you're not getting frequent flats from small punctures, I doubt
that Slime tubes are worth the fuss that I'm used to.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel