About a week ago when I was in the final stages of preparing for this trip (I had filled out the form for a second visa, but not sent it, and had ordered some panniers) I ran into a small problem. As I left work one evening I noticed that the back end of the bike was moving in a slightly more sideways direction that it usually does. Suspecting that this may not be intended behaviour for a bike I pulled over by following the standard recommendations of panicking and slamming on the brakes.
Turns out the one side of the tyre had come away from the rim because there was no air left in the inner tube. Ok, not a big deal. The back end had been a little bit sloppy for a couple of weeks, I guess it was just the tyre was leaking air and it just so happened to reach the falling-off-the-rim threshold now. Fortunately this happened right next to a garage so it was only a 2 minute push to find some more air.
Well, that sort of didn't work. The tube wouldn't take any more air. There must be a puncture somewhere, but I couldn't find any damage on the tyre - certainly no nails or anything similar which could have punctured the inner tube.
Then I started looking at the rim itself. To be honest, it could have been in better condition.
Now before anyone starts thinking that I am reckless and was about to start riding round the world without even checking out the bike first, you are only partially right. I have been doing stuff like changing filters and brakes. I just didn't check out the wheels. Looking back, that was probably a mistake.
So since there was no damage to the tyre but the inner tube had a puncture and there were cracks all over the rim I surmised that the inside of the rim was corroded and had shredded the tube. Nothing to be done now so I pushed it back over to the office car park and called my housemate to pick me up.
The next day I was meant to be on holiday and riding along welsh B-roads. Instead I spent the morning hanging out at bus stops in Bristol. Pretty much the same thing.
I turned up back at the office armed with a new inner tube, a single tyre level (there was only one in the shop), a roll of gaffer tape and a very optimistic plan to 'fix' the wheel. Turns out my assumption of the night before was wrong and the rim hadn't destroyed the inner tube, instead the valve had ripped of the tube. Not ideal, but easily fixed. And absolutely no bodging required.
But I was still concerned about the rim so I posted some pictures on a forum and asked for others opinions. The responses were..., well they were honest. Some of my favourites were
"I wouldn't ride on that wheel to the end of the street"
"That wheel is worse than scrap"
"suicidally rotten"
The general suggestion was to get the wheel rebuilt. I would agree, except sourcing the parts and getting the work done (front wheel was in a similar condition) would take 5-6 weeks. I was meant to be leaving in 2.
The final solution involved going to some guys house and taking his bike in return for a fistful of bits of paper with the queens head on them.
For some reason I am not at all surprised that I am about to head off round the world on a bike that I have owned for a length of time counted in hours rather than months. Only good can come from this.
Turns out the one side of the tyre had come away from the rim because there was no air left in the inner tube. Ok, not a big deal. The back end had been a little bit sloppy for a couple of weeks, I guess it was just the tyre was leaking air and it just so happened to reach the falling-off-the-rim threshold now. Fortunately this happened right next to a garage so it was only a 2 minute push to find some more air.
Well, that sort of didn't work. The tube wouldn't take any more air. There must be a puncture somewhere, but I couldn't find any damage on the tyre - certainly no nails or anything similar which could have punctured the inner tube.
Then I started looking at the rim itself. To be honest, it could have been in better condition.
Now before anyone starts thinking that I am reckless and was about to start riding round the world without even checking out the bike first, you are only partially right. I have been doing stuff like changing filters and brakes. I just didn't check out the wheels. Looking back, that was probably a mistake.
So since there was no damage to the tyre but the inner tube had a puncture and there were cracks all over the rim I surmised that the inside of the rim was corroded and had shredded the tube. Nothing to be done now so I pushed it back over to the office car park and called my housemate to pick me up.
The next day I was meant to be on holiday and riding along welsh B-roads. Instead I spent the morning hanging out at bus stops in Bristol. Pretty much the same thing.
I turned up back at the office armed with a new inner tube, a single tyre level (there was only one in the shop), a roll of gaffer tape and a very optimistic plan to 'fix' the wheel. Turns out my assumption of the night before was wrong and the rim hadn't destroyed the inner tube, instead the valve had ripped of the tube. Not ideal, but easily fixed. And absolutely no bodging required.
But I was still concerned about the rim so I posted some pictures on a forum and asked for others opinions. The responses were..., well they were honest. Some of my favourites were
"I wouldn't ride on that wheel to the end of the street"
"That wheel is worse than scrap"
"suicidally rotten"
The general suggestion was to get the wheel rebuilt. I would agree, except sourcing the parts and getting the work done (front wheel was in a similar condition) would take 5-6 weeks. I was meant to be leaving in 2.
The final solution involved going to some guys house and taking his bike in return for a fistful of bits of paper with the queens head on them.
For some reason I am not at all surprised that I am about to head off round the world on a bike that I have owned for a length of time counted in hours rather than months. Only good can come from this.
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