[Kev242]

Took off work yesterday afternoon and looked forward to three days of riding in 70 degree fall weather....it all came to a short end when I picked up a slow leaking puncture about 20 miles in.

At first I noticed a "vagueness" when tipping in, not the usual feedback. After about 5 miles the instability while leaning in was not due to the high winds I was riding in and was more pronounced on right turns then left.

I thought for sure my SC's were not warm enough to stick, so I was doing some straight line braking to heat up the front.

Then it progressed that when I turned in the bike started "pogoing" through the turn. OK, something majorly wrong here.

Pulled over, checked the front tire, looked fine. Thought I might have blown a fork seal, no oil. So headed home and gingerly brought it into the garage.

At that point I noticed it was the rear tire, basically totally deflated. Lucky for me the stiff Pirelli sidewalls kept the rim from being damaged. Even though I was feeling the variances in the handlebars it was actually the rear moving all around on me. Duh!

Mark that one up for the experience category and wanted to share that with everyone in case something similar happens.

Time to bring it to my shop for fresh rubber, fresh fluids, install my new sprockets and DID chain, then up on the stands for winter.

 

[DJ Shrug]

I've unfortunately had the pleasure of having 3 rear tires punctured via screw/nail. After the first time, I've made a consistent effort to pop my bike on some stands and check my tires before a ride. The second time, I had no warning, but fortunately I found out when I opened my garage to a flat rear. The third time, I knew the moment it happened as I could hear/feel something being run over with each wheel turn, but it went away after ~5 rotations. When I got home, found the hole and shortly after, flat rear.

I bought tire hazard insurance for $500 for 5 years, so while I hate the downtime, I welcome screws and whatnot for (now)free tires. All three times, tire cost, tow, and labor were covered so now I'm only making profit off the initial investment.


I hope to never have to deal with a front tire puncture however.