My Evening Commute

[Emm]

@Vicegrip 151526 wrote:

hard to find leaks are the worst….
Pop the bead on the tire and remove the tube but not all the way. Leave the stem in the rim and the tire on the rim. Inflate the tube and find the hole. Mark the hole with a ball point, deflate the tube and reline up the tube to the tire and wheel. Look on the rim and tire where the hole lines up real well. Sometimes you have to remove the tire, turn it inside out and bend it to find stuff.

You can employ a bucket of water in this approach if you can’t find the hole in the tube–do what Vicegrip says, but move the tube through the water and squeeze it so bubbles come out. It’s helped me find some TINY holes, and then gives me a pretty exact point on the tire to look at. I’ve found some hair-strand fine wires embedded in my tires that way.

Spokes etc let me know there’s been some issues with Bontrager tubes recently too in case you’re using those. They had to replace mine 3x before it stopped bursting at the seam.

[huskerdont]

@Emm 151528 wrote:

You can employ a bucket of water in this approach if you can’t find the hole in the tube–do what Vicegrip says, but move the tube through the water and squeeze it so bubbles come out. It’s helped me find some TINY holes, and then gives me a pretty exact point on the tire to look at. I’ve found some hair-strand fine wires embedded in my tires that way.

Spokes etc let me know there’s been some issues with Bontrager tubes recently too in case you’re using those. They had to replace mine 3x before it stopped bursting at the seam.

Is good technique. Many’s the time I’ve been sitting creekside/lakeside with my tube in the water trying to find the hole to patch while mountain biking.

But if the OP has changed tires as stated, it’s either the rim, bad tubes (as Emm suggests), or putting the tube in incorrectly and causing the hole during installation.

[VA2DC]

@Emm 151528 wrote:

I’ve found some hair-strand fine wires embedded in my tires that way.

I’ve found hair-strand fine wires in my tires a few times too. I’m always surprised to find a 3/16″ bit of fine-gauge wire barely protruding through my tire with just enough exposed to pierce the tube, and wonder how it got there. Are people leaving wire brushes by the side of the road that eventually disintegrate? Or do the wire bits come from headphone and charging cable wires that get dropped on the road and are slowly pulverized by passing vehicles, leaving little bits and pieces ready to snag the next passing bike tire?

[huskerdont]

@VA2DC 151548 wrote:

I’ve found hair-strand fine wires in my tires a few times too. I’m always surprised to find a 3/16″ bit of fine-gauge wire barely protruding through my tire with just enough exposed to pierce the tube, and wonder how it got there. Are people leaving wire brushes by the side of the road that eventually disintegrate? Or do the wire bits come from headphone and charging cable wires that get dropped on the road and are slowly pulverized by passing vehicles, leaving little bits and pieces ready to snag the next passing bike tire?

Wires could be from a lot of places, but I’ve usually assumed they were from shredded steel-belted radial tires.

[jabberwocky]

A while back I had a streak of flats that I flat out couldn’t determine the source of. After much hair pulling, I figured out that all of the tubes had valves that leaked slightly at high pressures. Weirdest behavior, no leaks on the stand or overnight, but while riding they would slowly lose pressure. I think I had bought 3-4 tubes at once and all of them did the same thing.

[VA2DC]

@huskerdont 151552 wrote:

Wires could be from a lot of places, but I’ve usually assumed they were from shredded steel-belted radial tires.

Are there that many folks driving around on bald tires? Yikes!!!

[huskerdont]

@VA2DC 151559 wrote:

Are there that many folks driving around on bald tires? Yikes!!!

I think all those shredded truck tires by the side of the road are there because truck companies often let their (non-cab) tires go until they fail. But I dunno, could be construction equipment and other stuff too. It’s just what I assumed and maybe someone who’s a mechanic would know more about where the wire comes from and the secret to avoiding it.

[cvcalhoun]

My evening (and morning) commutes involve that extra shot of adrenaline with armed robbers on the loose on the Capital Crescent Trail:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/two-armed-robberies-reported-by-scenic-georgetown-trail/2017/01/14/9851f118-dac6-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html

[ursus]

@cvcalhoun 152919 wrote:

My evening (and morning) commutes involve that extra shot of adrenaline with armed robbers on the loose on the Capital Crescent Trail:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/two-armed-robberies-reported-by-scenic-georgetown-trail/2017/01/14/9851f118-dac6-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html

I had not heard about that. It’s good to know.

[anomad]

Any more details about these attacks on the bike path? I don’t regularly go that way but it feeds my paranoia in a negative way.

Stay safe out there. I regularly ride with one other person who prefers a companion for safety. If anyone else wants to team up for safety we ride basically from Huntington Metro station to L’Enfant Metro station 6:30 AM departure and 5:00 PM return. Sometimes a little later if the day gets away from one or both of us.

@cvcalhoun 152919 wrote:

My evening (and morning) commutes involve that extra shot of adrenaline with armed robbers on the loose on the Capital Crescent Trail:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/two-armed-robberies-reported-by-scenic-georgetown-trail/2017/01/14/9851f118-dac6-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html

[Steve O]

I had an after-work meeting at the Arlington Public Schools admin building. After the meeting, I unlocked my bike and got ready to ride, but the headlight attached to my generator wouldn’t come on. In the past I have had a little trouble with the wire connectors, which I can usually fix by jiggling them at the hub. No luck. Fiddled with it for 2-3 minutes before giving up. I still had plenty of lights: blinkies and my blinding helmet light.
As I was riding home, annoyed that I was going to have to spend some time figuring out what went wrong I thought to check the power switch. Voila!! Light on.
I never turn it off, since there’s no battery drain. It remains lit for a little while after stopping. Some kind soul came by, noticed my light was shining, and shut it off for me.
Thanks, Obama.

[Judd]

@Steve O 153082 wrote:

I had an after-work meeting at the Arlington Public Schools admin building. After the meeting, I unlocked my bike and got ready to ride, but the headlight attached to my generator wouldn’t come on. In the past I have had a little trouble with the wire connectors, which I can usually fix by jiggling them at the hub. No luck. Fiddled with it for 2-3 minutes before giving up. I still had plenty of lights: blinkies and my blinding helmet light.
As I was riding home, annoyed that I was going to have to spend some time figuring out what went wrong I thought to check the power switch. Voila!! Light on.
I never turn it off, since there’s no battery drain. It remains lit for a little while after stopping. Some kind soul came by, noticed my light was shining, and shut it off for me.
Thanks, Obama.

Glad I could help you out Steve O.

[Obama]

@Judd 153087 wrote:

Glad I could help you out Steve O.

Hey! Don’t take false credit.

[Brett L.]

@Obama 153131 wrote:

Hey! Don’t take false credit.

Thanks Obama!

[ginacico]

Left work late, and was dreading the ride given rumors of the crowds and crazies starting to assemble in DC. My route goes past hotspots like Farragut Square, Lafayette Park, and the White House, then crosses the Mall. Two things happened that made it far more pleasant than expected.

First, as I’m coasting down the sidewalk past the Ellipse, I came up on a large crowd of young people walking ahead of me. I didn’t say anything or ring a bell, pretty much stuck and content to wait for the right moment to pass. They noticed me, and someone actually started yelling “MOVE LEFT”. Magically, the whole group stepped aside and gave me just enough space to zip by, thanking them profusely. Not all tourists are impolite or oblivious, whoddathunk?!

Then, waiting for the light to cross Constitution Ave, a guy walked up next to me. He commented on the opera singer who sings near the White House, and we agreed on her astounding level of talent. Of all things he could have noticed about DC or wanted to talk about with a stranger, he chose a thing of beauty.

The rest of the ride was just calm and enjoyable. I’m not commuting anymore this week, but as a last ride through town it was great.

[Author]

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