A rare fat tire flat

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Experienced my only fat tire flat in March of 2017. Fortunately I was only about 700 m from home.



It turned out to be quite the nail.
 
I rarely find the object that causes a flat in 700x23c tires. Can't say I've ever seen anything like this in dozens of bicycle tire flats over the years.
 
Looks like a 12 penny nail. On a new to me set of radials, I caught a 6" long GM starter bolt with a pointed end. what a racket.
 
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Originally Posted By: wwillson
I rarely find the object that causes a flat in 700x23c tires. Can't say I've ever seen anything like this in dozens of bicycle tire flats over the years.


A single strand of wire is usually what gets my road bike tires. I agree they are difficult to locate.
 
That nail was in a piece of facia wood (see the painted head) and it was pointing straight up and got you.

I lived on my bicycle as a kid and cursed the dread flat tire. Then I saw big O rings which took the place of the tube.

They were in magazines and said to be from Denmark. So I go to Denmark.

The O rings were made of foam rubber and had absolutely ZERO capacity to merely hold the weight of the bicycle up let alone any person.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I've never seen a bicycle tire pick up such a large nail!

This was one of my last rides before buying studded winter tires. I don't know how much of a factor this would have been, but I kept the unstudded tires pretty soft (5 - 7 PSI) for winter riding. I'm able to run the studded tires a lot harder (7.5 - 12 PSI).
 
Originally Posted By: wwillson
I rarely find the object that causes a flat in 700x23c tires. Can't say I've ever seen anything like this in dozens of bicycle tire flats over the years.

Most of my flats over the years have been caused by broken glass. I've learned the hard way to deal with my flats (excepting obvious ones like the big nail shown) like this:

1. Use a paint pen to matchmark the tire and tube position on the rim. (The tube position will be determined by the valve stem hole in the rim of course, but be aware that the tube may be flipped 180 degrees when you're putting it back on; for that reason I draw a line with the paint pen on the valve stem, the rim, and the tire, to ensure I know exactly how they were aligned at the time of the puncture.)
2. Remove the tire and tube, find the puncture on the tube, and repair it.
3. Now examine the section of tire proximate to the puncture to ensure there's no glass shard/wire still sticking through the tire. Remove same if found. The paint matchmarks should let you narrow down that area in the tire where the nail or wire or glass entered.

In the past I'd not always found what had caused the puncture, and would get a 2nd flat shortly after. GRRR!
 
I would freak of I got a nail like that in one of my Lous. Or is that a Nate? Looks like you run tubed. I don't see any sealant.
Oh well... A plug or a patch and you're good to go again. Or at least pull the nail and fix or replace the tube if that's your thing.
 
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Originally Posted By: Taildragger
Stan's wouldn't seal that??


Not the standard stan's. The "Race" sealant from Stan's will seal larger punctures, if he removed the nail.
 
A few years back I was the wheelbuilder for a bike shop that specialized in fat bikes. The owner was a retired downhill and cross country racer and was out practicing for an upcoming local race. He got a stick through the tread of a Surly Knard he was riding. He saw my truck in the parking lot of the trailhead he was passing through and waited for me to give him a ride. He was tubeless and the hole was just too big for the Stan's.
I showed up, looked at the tire and said I may be able to save your ride. I pulled a Safety Seal plug kit out of my truck, inflated his tire with the stick still in it, pulled the stick and installed the plug. Not only did he make it home, he ran the race the following weekend. I thought he was nuts but it held up fine.
 
Originally Posted By: NYEngineer
I would freak of I got a nail like that in one of my Lous. Or is that a Nate? Looks like you run tubed. I don't see any sealant.
Oh well... A plug or a patch and you're good to go again. Or at least pull the nail and fix or replace the tube if that's your thing.

NYEngineer, you have a good eye! As I recall this was the back tire, meaning it was the 4.0" Nate. (I was running a 3.8" Larry up front.)

And yes, I'm still a tube guy, even though my avid-cyclist son has tried at various times to sell me on tubeless. The nail chewed up the tube badly to the point where I had to replace it.
 
What rims are you running? Marge Lite or Rolling Darryl split tubeless just fine. If you have My Other Brother Darryl, it couldn't be easier with just tape and sealant. Let me know if you want to try. I'll explain the process.
 
NYEngineer, the bike is a Surly Pugsley, and the wheels are Rolling Darryls.

I hadn't thought too much about going tubeless because I switch tires (studded in the winter) twice a year. Do you still think it would be worthwhile? What are the advantages? I would guess weight savings, and puncture resistance. Please confirm.
 
It certainly helps in flat protection. I've been riding fat bikes since 2012 and have never had a flat. The other nice feature of tubeless is that the tire works the ground better since you only have the sidewall and not the tube.
I have two complete sets of wheels and a third rear wheel for my bike because I use the bike for a few different purposes. I have a set of Surly Clownshoes with Big Fat Larrys on them for beach and pavement riding. They're split tubeless using 24" Q Tubes.
I have a set of My Other Brother Darryls with a Bud on the front and a 4.8 Knard on the rear. These are my three season trail wheel tire combo. When there's snow, I have another MOBDarryl with a Surly Lou on it. The newer My Other Brother Darryls are real tubeless with tape and Truckerco Valvestems. I can run super low pressures for off the hook traction with no burps.
Before I built the third wheel for Lou, I would swap Lou for Knard as the seasons changed. I build my own wheels so no big deal to have another one. I used to have a set of 29+ wheels for the fatty and I loved them but I cracked the frame not having enough cush on the rear. Built a Krampus for my faster trail days.
Maybe what I would do if I had a Pugs, since swapping tires with split tubes is kind of a hassle is get a set of MOBDarryls and put your spiked tires on one set of wheels and maybe your Nate on the rear and maybe a Surly Edna on the front.
The nice thing about Pugs wheels is they use 135mm hubs and can be built up relatively inexpensively.
OR for the utmost in simplicity, just keep running tubes.
 
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Here's the Pugsley:



The 3-season (unstudded) tires are back on and inflated to 12 lbs, and I gave the entire bike a good cleaning, touched up the rust, removed the chain and soaked it in kerosene, and opened up and greased the bottom bracket sealed bearings. One of the pedals seized up between the last time I rode in early February before breaking my leg, and two weeks ago when I started riding again. I was glad to have that excuse to replace the purple pedals with black, and changed out the purple rim tape (for black) at the same time. I should check the wheel bearings as well. Winter riding on our salted and sanded roads takes its toll.
 
Yep. Between the melt solution they spray on our roads and all the beach riding I do in the winter, My bikes definitely require lots of cleaning and lubing. Nice Pugs.
 
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