big tires to avoid bike accidents
Thread started by
voodoo at 01.31.07 - 11:23 pm
A story:
Last Friday night on my way home from work, I heard a pop sound beneath me and immediately was thrown off my bike. My back tire popped, probably from ripping open on a piece of glass that was invisible to me. I ride skinny 28s on my fixie. I went flying and landed on my chin, ripping it open. I sprained my right elbow, and got major major road rash and was out of work 3 days and am going through a little physical therapy. I hit the side of my head.
what I've learned: I am an idiot for riding skinny tires on shitty, unswept streets. And I'm glad I was wearing my helmet.
reply
goddamn! hope you heal up soon. I'll have to pay attention to my tires better too.
Joe Borfo02.1.07 - 2:00 am
reply
Argh! I always worry about flatting like that. There's always so much debris and torn up asphalt in the right lane. I don't know how so many people manage to ride these crappy LA streets with skinny, high pressure tires.
If you want to get some fatter tires for your roadie rims, both Continental and Schwalbe make great city tires in 700 x 40 sizes. One sneaky thing to look out for is the TPI count (threads per inch, like with sheets) of the tire's fabric. I noticed an improvement in handling when I got high TPI tires, and they seem to be more puncture-resistant, too.
Good luck with your recovery, & I hope you're back on your bike soon.
angle02.1.07 - 4:25 am
reply
get well soon borfo!!!
i ride 700c x 23 gatorskins with heavy innertubes and mr. tuffy... they are heavy and slow but they wear well
j3r3my02.1.07 - 12:49 pm
reply
Sorry to hear that and hope you get back in the saddle soon.
This is why I have such a hard-on for old touring or sport-touring type frames. They might not be as whippy and you'll need brakes with enough reach, but you'll have enough clearance to put 700x32 or thicker tires with fenders on most of these kind of bikes.
Unfortunately there aren't as many new single-speed/fixie frames that can fit fat tires. Rivendell Quickbeam and Surly Steamroller leap to mind. If you don't mind conversions there's millions of good cheap road frames from the 80s.
cabhauler02.1.07 - 1:28 pm
reply
high TPI (threads per inch) is a good start...
don't OVERINFLATE...always have a pressure gauge, or a bicycle pump with a gauge...keep in mind if you fill in cold weather, and start riding in increasingly HOT weather, your pressure will expand, especially in "smaller-high pressure" tires...
if you run over glass, remember to put your finger down on your tires to rub off any shards, before they get a chance to work there way into your tube...
I ride skinny Michelins all over this town...and haven't had any issues...knock on wood!
and good luck on your recovery!
adrian02.1.07 - 1:31 pm
reply
sorry you got trashed.
its not tire size that gives you flats, its your tire pressure. 28's are big and cushy to me. I ride 23's on the street for years all the time with no probs. My second bike has 700c x27 ruffy tuffy kevlar tires and wow, i ride them through everything, offroad and have no problems.
If you're crashing its probably for some other reason like riding a fixie.
pacino02.1.07 - 1:35 pm
reply
get better fellow ridaa
Liners are good. Here's a view of one you don't want to see... but might look for anyhow, now and then. it had been going bump bump bump for weeks, then got a little wobbly, but held pressure the whole damn time on streets of broken car window glass that front every apartment building everywhere. My son noticed this flat-waiting-to-happen first, saying "Dad there's a hole in your tire!". He could have said "Idiot, when was the last time you looked at your tires?!!!" but he's not that old (yet).
OverTheHill02.1.07 - 7:11 pm
reply
in colorado slime is all the rage... people even race with slime
i havent tried it yet
j3r3my02.1.07 - 10:00 pm
reply
I was wondering about the Slime in tubes stuff. Anyone try it? What's better... Mr. Tuffy's or Slime?
digablesoul02.1.07 - 10:55 pm
reply
Slime's cool for small punctures (thorns, wire, safety glass,etc...), big rips and flats that go bang are usually too much for the slime to handle. Tire liners + thick inner tubes seems to work for me ;-)...
420LaHaRR02.2.07 - 8:32 am
reply
Thanks for all the comments. It's been a little over a week and i am healing nicely. It looks like no permanent damage hopefully and I am doing exercises to get my right arm to be able to stretch fully again. My chin is healing up (fingers crossed no scars).
My other fixie is a super cheap 70s conversion touring frame with 27 inch cushy tires. Ironically, much cheaper bike, but never had any problems with it. I was gonna sell it, but I'm thinking of keeping it as my commuter bike. I hope to be able to ride in about 2 weeks, we'll see.
You guys are right, tire pressure is important too!
voodoo02.3.07 - 11:17 am
reply
Long term solutions.
Last night after the bikewinter party. A friend on a mountain bike said he road a mountain bike in the city to avoid such accidents and incidents as talked about above. Inside the party Soupbox LA was telling me about how the city of LA has had and does currently have a Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC), that meets every other month to address cycling issues in the City of Los Angeles. They speak on behalf of the cycling community and advise the Los Angeles City Council, the Department of Transportation, the Planning Department and the Department of Recreation and Park(ing). The reason I bring this up here , is this the body that is suppose to be making riding bikes safe in the city is, it you take notice of the street you ride on, you can make the judgement of how successful they have been.
If we could make the streets safe for riders, you wouldn't (and you shouldn't) have to worry about this problem. How many times do you hear people say I would ride a bike, but it so unsafe to ride in the city. Lets work to change that. This looks as though, this may a vechicle to change the roads for bicyclist in Los Angeles.
This Tuesday there is a ride going to that meeting. I suggest everybody try to get out to this meeting and all future meetings.
"Take Me to Your Leader"! rider 02.6.07. It right there on the left>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
sexy02.3.07 - 12:50 pm
reply
totally! it's extremely important to remind the city of the importance/safety issues faced by bikers.
i don't live in LA, but i visit to do midnight ridazz and other stuff. let me know how the meeting goes.
voodoo02.3.07 - 3:17 pm
reply
-->
Ridazz Roulette!
