Shop Talk - Vets' bikes Boom! Shop Talk - Brake Repairs
BOOM!
Jan 18, 2021 

Yesterday I decided to work on tires in the basement where (a) it is warm and (b) my wifi reaches (it does not in garage) so I could listen to DC craziness on an MSNBC stream on laptop.

I had 5 flat tires to fix. 2 on a bike I took down there to store '[til Spring, 3 removed from bikes in garage. Rather than break them all down as I had planned, since they all looked pretty good, I decided to just inflate and leave for a while. They aren't going anywhere for a month or so, so that is an easier test.

I pumped up the bike and parked it by the other two I have down there (as I refurbish the 17 youth bikes in the garage, they will go down there too. Maybe the truck gets in the garage by Spring? Anyway, so I inflated one of the loose ones to 60 psi, making sure the tire beads were properly seated. Started on the next one. It was clearly not holding air, so I started to break it down; just as I got the tire off the rim there was a REALLY loud BANG!

The one I had just pumped up blew - BOY did it blow! Split in the inner tube near the stem about 2 in long, pieces blown away. Tire sidewall blown off the rim, bead wire bare. It did NOT like being awakened from a few years sleep in someone's garage! Anyway, the entertaining (sort of) part was my wife came rushing down the stairs calling "are you alright?" It's a pretty big house; she was one floor up and opposite end. That bike is getting a new pair of shoes!

-finis