Hello all -
I had a weird bike malfunction this morning, while riding from home from church. My wife and I had ridden our fat bikes there (10 km/just over 6 miles), but on the way home my rear studded tire popped off the rim. Puzzled as to cause, I removed my pannier, flipped the bike over, and removed the wheel. After deflating the inner tube a bit, I was able to reinstall the tire easily. Unfortunately, at that point I discovered that my little portable hand pump was not working properly.
Not wanting to ride the bike with the rear tire very soft, I sent my wife on, and told her I'd walk the bike over to a bike shop in the general area, and buy a replacement pump. It was about a 3 km walk, so not bad.
When I arrived, the young lady attending the door invited me to bring my bike in, which I really appreciated; my hands had gotten very cold doing the earlier attempted repair, and I didn't fancy hauling out my cable and lock and keys. She then directed me to a young man who was also very helpful - he matched me up with an excellent portable pump which has now replaced the placebo pump.
Back in the entranceway, the young lady suggested that I use the floor pump, which I did. Got everything together, and set out. Unfortunately, within about 10 m the tire popped off the rim again. Wha...???
I let some air out of the tube, worked the tire back on, pumped up the tire again, and set out again, this time with justified misgivings. Off came the tire again. I was thinking that it had to be either a bad tire or (worse) a bad rim. (My 2014ish Surly Pugsley uses a Rolling Darryl rim, spoked asymmetrically on the back for clearance - I'm suspect it's made of Unobtanium at this point.)
I went back into the store, and the young lady suggested I get a diagnosis from Service. The tech who helped me was excellent. He quickly saw that the part of the tire that seats against the inside of the rim was badly worn, likely the result of lots of low-pressure riding. (While not thrilled, I was glad it wasn't the rim!) He didn't have a studded 26 x 4.0" tire in stock, but then had a quite brilliant brainwave - he did have an unstudded but stud-ready North45 tire in stock. I was pleased with the price ($180) compared to the equivalent studded tire (c. $330).
By this time my wife had been home for awhile, and she drove up with the car and bike rack.
I've now transplanted 179 carbide studs from the old 45N tire to the new one (and scrounged up the 180th off a different donor tire), and the wheel is back on the bike.
I wrote to the management to say that I was very impressed by the friendliness, helpfulness, and competence of the staff, and also pleased that they had what I needed to get my bike back on the road the same day.
So all's well that ends well - I should probably buy a few more stud-ready winter tires for if and when this happens again.
Anyone else had this happen to them?
I had a weird bike malfunction this morning, while riding from home from church. My wife and I had ridden our fat bikes there (10 km/just over 6 miles), but on the way home my rear studded tire popped off the rim. Puzzled as to cause, I removed my pannier, flipped the bike over, and removed the wheel. After deflating the inner tube a bit, I was able to reinstall the tire easily. Unfortunately, at that point I discovered that my little portable hand pump was not working properly.
Not wanting to ride the bike with the rear tire very soft, I sent my wife on, and told her I'd walk the bike over to a bike shop in the general area, and buy a replacement pump. It was about a 3 km walk, so not bad.
When I arrived, the young lady attending the door invited me to bring my bike in, which I really appreciated; my hands had gotten very cold doing the earlier attempted repair, and I didn't fancy hauling out my cable and lock and keys. She then directed me to a young man who was also very helpful - he matched me up with an excellent portable pump which has now replaced the placebo pump.
Back in the entranceway, the young lady suggested that I use the floor pump, which I did. Got everything together, and set out. Unfortunately, within about 10 m the tire popped off the rim again. Wha...???
I let some air out of the tube, worked the tire back on, pumped up the tire again, and set out again, this time with justified misgivings. Off came the tire again. I was thinking that it had to be either a bad tire or (worse) a bad rim. (My 2014ish Surly Pugsley uses a Rolling Darryl rim, spoked asymmetrically on the back for clearance - I'm suspect it's made of Unobtanium at this point.)
I went back into the store, and the young lady suggested I get a diagnosis from Service. The tech who helped me was excellent. He quickly saw that the part of the tire that seats against the inside of the rim was badly worn, likely the result of lots of low-pressure riding. (While not thrilled, I was glad it wasn't the rim!) He didn't have a studded 26 x 4.0" tire in stock, but then had a quite brilliant brainwave - he did have an unstudded but stud-ready North45 tire in stock. I was pleased with the price ($180) compared to the equivalent studded tire (c. $330).
By this time my wife had been home for awhile, and she drove up with the car and bike rack.
I've now transplanted 179 carbide studs from the old 45N tire to the new one (and scrounged up the 180th off a different donor tire), and the wheel is back on the bike.
I wrote to the management to say that I was very impressed by the friendliness, helpfulness, and competence of the staff, and also pleased that they had what I needed to get my bike back on the road the same day.
So all's well that ends well - I should probably buy a few more stud-ready winter tires for if and when this happens again.
Anyone else had this happen to them?