John,
I just got back from a nice 1800K desert cruse with 5 riding buddies. We had only two flats the whole trip, both rears, both tore out the valve stem. One of the bikes did have a rim lock, one did not. I'm glad we had spare tubes as both were destroyed. I should ride with you, maybe your good luck will rub off. I like your patching style though, sounds fast and effective.
Scott
Scott,
In all my years of riding I've only had one flat that I can remember, there might have been another one but certainly no more than that. I think you're right about it being good luck, because it certainly is, but also there are techniques you can use to minimize the probability of getting a flat.
One thing I habitually do if I'm approaching a section that looks like it might cause a pinch flat is to jump up off the pegs just as I hit the section, and simultaneously give it some gas. This will lift your front wheel over the rough spot and reduce the weight on the rear wheel.
Another thing you can do is to check your rim-locks to make sure they are good and tight. It's my belief that if the rim locks are tightened properly the tire should not spin on the rim. Of course if you lose your tire pressure and don't realize it in time, full throttle acceleration will probably cause the tire to slip.
You should also pay attention to the valve stem to make sure it's sticking straight out of the rim. If you notice that the stem is protruding at an angle it means your tire has crept around the rim a little bit and is threatening to rip the stem off. This can usually be fixed by simply letting the air out of the tire, tightening the stem nut against the rim, and then re-filling the tube, don't forget to back the stem nut off against the valve cap when you're done. Failure to pay attention to this can result in the stem being ripped out, but it usually takes quite a bit of time for this to happen, usually several rides or more. My suspicion is that a lot of valve stem failures result from riders not paying attention to this.
And finally avoid fire pits like the plague because they are always full of nails.
My patching style was taught to me by an old riding buddy who was a member of the Canadian ISDT team back in the late 60's. He used to say if you couldn't fix a flat in 5 minutes you weren't competitive in the ISDT. I never reached that degree of proficiency but it's by far the fastest, easiest way I know of to fix a flat. Of course the ISDT riders in those days carried straight tubes with them. These were simply a long, straight, rubber tube closed at both ends that you wrapped around the rim, so fixing a flat was simply a matter of prying the tire over the rim, pulling the old tube out and replacing it with the new one, re-setting the tire on the rim, adding some air and you're good to go. There was never any need to take the wheel off the bike. And one tube was good for either wheel. I don't know if those straight tubes are still available but if they are and you insist on carrying a tube with you then that would be my choice of what to take.
Hope this was helpful.
John
. Guess I was hallucinating in the heat eh.:Stir
