On Saturday, my girlfriend and I went riding, mostly 2-track and quad trails. It was her first ride of the year, so we took the easy routes so that she could get rid of the winter rust.

We were about 30 miles into the heart of BFE when all of a sudden the rear of the bike wanted to be in front. After nearly wiping out twice in a 100 yards, I knew something was very wrong. I stopped and saw the problem - a flat rear tire. I was running 18 psi in the rear tire and had the nut on the valve stem loose, but even so, the valve stem was starting to rip off the tube. The funny thing is, this wasn't rough terrain and I wasn't getting on it hard at all. I don't know how this happened.

I broke out my little goody bag. I normally carry an 8 oz. bottle of Slime, a MSR Inflator Kit, an extra 21" tube, and 2 small tire irons. Everything was there except the friggin' tire irons were MIA. I'd rather pluck out my eyeball than try to pry a TrackMaster bead off and on with the crap screwdriver in the toolkit, so I squirted the Slime into the tube. It was oozing out from under the valve stem, so I didn't think this had any chance of working. I shot 2 CO2 cartridges into the tube, and wonder of wonders, it held air! I don't know how much pressure the tire had at the time, but it didn't squat when I sat on the bike.

We turned around and gently headed home, stopping frequently to check the tire. It held air the whole way home. I put a pressure gauge on it when I got back, and it had 16 psi. I know I have a mess ahead of me when I change that tube (and put a rim lock in!), but that Slime got me home. I'm impressed.

 

I'm surprised it held. Don't forget the spoke weights when you get the rim lock.

Mike

 

Hmmmm I have now hit the 11,000 mile mark on the bike, and am on my 4th back tire. I have never had a flat tire. Is it because I run the max air all the time? Probably, but I have to say if having the max air pressure keeps the tire from spinning on the rim, then that's what I will do forever. I don't mind changing the tire in a controlled environment like my garage on the tire changer with all the right stuff, but I really don't want to do that out in the middle of nowhere. Sorry about the tire man, but kick up the pressure and you might not have to deal with this again. I'm not saying though that all flats will be avoided, and probably my day is coming, but I at least took one possibility out of the equation. Glad you made it home on the slime. I thought of packing that just in case. I often ride alone, sometimes 40-50 miles out in nowhere land. Might be a good move. peace.

 

Oh I forgot to add, on my first tire change I started using the Kenda Heavy Duty Tubes. I swear that these things are 5 times thicker than stock tubes, That might be another reason.

 

dude, 8000 miles and im on my 4th, you must be taking it easy.

 

Actually I just finished a Kenda K270 with 4500 miles.