No punctures all year then BAM! 3 in a 2 week

moonio
moonio Posts: 802
edited December 2010 in Commuting chat
Is there something different about the roads?
Last week I got 2 punctures, changed my tyres to puncture resistant ones then promptly got another puncture on the first ride out.

What could be causing this? The snow, drunk people dropping bottles in the road, fewer road sweeper trucks???

Its getting to be a right pain..

Comments

  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    Sure it's not the rim or spokes? Damaged/old rim tape? Where were the puctures holes on the tubes?
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    Tyre pressures? Gotta get the balance right. High for better p*ncture resistance, low for a larger contact patch and therefore better grip.

    Have you lowered your pressures for grip and then got the visits from fairy?
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
    FCN 4: Planet X Schmaffenschmack 2- workhorse
    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

    I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!
  • moonio
    moonio Posts: 802
    The tyre pressure was very high when i got the punctures, will check the rims etc over the weekend.

    I am pretty sure its due to an increase in the amount of glass in the cycle lanes though!!!
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    I've been getting the same thing, in my case on an almost-new tyre of exactly the same type as the ancient (and bomproof) one it replaced. Must have had 5 or 6 in the last 3 weeks. All caused by identifiable bits of grit/glass, all at 120psi.

    In my case they've all been on the same part of my commute (between Putney and Richmond), my theory is that Richmond Council are using recycled glass instead of grit...

    What I can't figure out, is why every one of them has been in my back tyre (which is newer than the front). At some point I should probably swap them, to see whether there's any effect...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    TGOTB wrote:
    I've been getting the same thing, in my case on an almost-new tyre of exactly the same type as the ancient (and bomproof) one it replaced. Must have had 5 or 6 in the last 3 weeks. All caused by identifiable bits of grit/glass, all at 120psi.

    In my case they've all been on the same part of my commute (between Putney and Richmond), my theory is that Richmond Council are using recycled glass instead of grit...

    What I can't figure out, is why every one of them has been in my back tyre (which is newer than the front). At some point I should probably swap them, to see whether there's any effect...
    Probably just weight distribution.
    FCN 2-4 "Shut up legs", Jens Voigt
    Planet-x Scott
    Rides
  • Buckled_Rims
    Buckled_Rims Posts: 1,648
    moonio wrote:
    What could be causing this? The snow, drunk people dropping bottles in the road, fewer road sweeper trucks???

    Its getting to be a right pain..

    I don't know where you live, but up here (Tyneside) the snow has moved lots of grit and glass to the kerbside. One of the cycle lanes was literally buried in dirt for a few hundred metres. I doubt road sweepers will come along as they seem an endangered species in their own right.
    CAAD9
    Kona Jake the Snake
    Merlin Malt 4
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    JonGinge wrote:
    Probably just weight distribution.

    Doh! That'd be it :-)
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    Hi,
    Once you have the PFs attention you can expect several visits in a short space of time. It may be some sort of efficiency thing, or maybe you did something to p155 her off... At any rate, she rarely stops by just the once.
    I had a pleasant long weekend with her recently- she came by on Friday with a sparkly shard of glass for my front tyre, then stuck around 'till Monday, leaving a whacking great lump of something on the road for the biggest rear snakebite I've had for a long time...

    Cheers,
    W.
  • secretsam
    secretsam Posts: 5,120
    And in precisely what way does the construction contractor BAM have to do with your visit from the P fairy?!?!?!?! :P
    It's just a hill. Get over it.
  • deffler
    deffler Posts: 829
    Me too. No punctures for months, then on Monday I get 2 on the way into work, both back tyre. Tyre virtually new (with puncture protection), inflated to max psi. 2nd puncture had to remove a big shard of glass.
    Boardman Hybrid Pro

    Planet X XLS
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    It's because i'm out of action, sorry folks :twisted:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • deffler
    deffler Posts: 829
    TGOTB wrote:
    In my case they've all been on the same part of my commute (between Putney and Richmond), my theory is that Richmond Council are using recycled glass instead of grit....

    Would recycled glass do the same job as substitute for grit?
    Boardman Hybrid Pro

    Planet X XLS
  • tgotb
    tgotb Posts: 4,714
    deffler wrote:
    TGOTB wrote:
    In my case they've all been on the same part of my commute (between Putney and Richmond), my theory is that Richmond Council are using recycled glass instead of grit....

    Would recycled glass do the same job as substitute for grit?

    OK, I didn't mean it literally... That said, I do suspect that Richmond's gritting regime is different to other boroughs; I suspect their grit is either sharper, or they're use more of it...
    Pannier, 120rpm.
  • deptfordmarmoset
    deptfordmarmoset Posts: 3,118
    deffler wrote:
    TGOTB wrote:
    In my case they've all been on the same part of my commute (between Putney and Richmond), my theory is that Richmond Council are using recycled glass instead of grit....

    Would recycled glass do the same job as substitute for grit?

    I arrived at the same theory last year - that partially ground glass was being used to bulk up the grit in my local borough. Very small punctures, no traceable glass, different places in same borough, 3 within 2 days.
    Looking for a cycling buddy?
  • pianoleo
    pianoleo Posts: 135
    I don't know about Richmond, but in Greenwich this issue arose a couple of years back:

    http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/4125317.GREENWICH__Anger_as_council_uses_crushed_glass_to_grit_snowy_roads/

    Hmm...
  • moonio
    moonio Posts: 802
    Ahh so this is where all our recycled glass is going.. :shock:

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