Easter Sunday ride - UP Diliman

Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.

With my Marin Alpine Trail 29er (TweetyPot), I went to UP Diliman this morning.  I hadn't completed yet my first lap of the Academic Oval, my rear wheel got flat.  Holy shit!  It's a brand new tube.  After replacing the damaged tube with an old one, I resumed my ride and tried the forbidden trails.  Then, after negotiating the single tracks at the University Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue, the rear tire got flat again.  Darn!  New and old tubes, they suffered the same fate.  Their Presta valve base were torn.

Flat again!

After replacing the tube with another new one, I decided to cut short my ride; as, I've no more spare tube.  I always carry two (2) spare tubes in my saddle bag when biking.

And, I'm already getting tired of the frequent flats due to torn Presta valve base.

Flat again

It's flat again!  Yes, the rear tire of my Marine Alpine Trail 29er is flat again, which I noticed when I woke up this morning.

My guess the culprit is, as usual, the torn base of the Presta valve.

I didn't fix it yet; as, we're leaving for Balanga, Bataan.

Flat tires

For some reasons, I haven't ridden my Marin Alpine 29er (TweetyPot) for about three (3) weekends.

This morning, I was surprised to see the flat rear tire and replaced the tube.  Then, in the afternoon, there's another surprise, the front tire was flat too.  What happened?  I didn't know; and, I just replaced the tube too.

The culprits were the same -  torn base of the Presta valves.  But, how they got torn whey they are just parked?

Maybe, she just sulked and had her two tires out of air to attract my attention.  So, I talked to her and made amends.  Then, I explained that I have to buy spare tubes first before using her.

Flat rear tire on my way home

There's one more free overnight parking slot for the month in our building parking. And, I decided to use it last night.

I left my car at the parking and went home biking using my KHS Alite 150. However, along C5 at the corner of Mercury Avenue in Libis, I was having a hard time pedaling. So, I stopped and saw that my rear tire was flat.

After removing the tube, I checked the tire (Kenda Nevegal) several times but found nothing that caused the flat. So, I replaced the tube with one of my two spares. In less than 5 minutes, I was done.

At home, I checked the tube and found a hole at the seam on the inner side. I'm now thinking of retiring this tube considering that it has four patches already. Or, perhaps, I patch the new hole and make it a spare.

Flat tire

Last Sunday, I pedaled from home all the way to Antipolo church and back.

On my way down along Sumulong Highway from the church, I felt something's wrong with my bike. I looked down and saw that my rear tire's soft. I dismounted and pressed it. It's soft, all right. I pumped the tire in the meantime and proceeded to my pit stop at the Cloud 9 Restaurant for lunch, which is just about a hundred meters ahead.

Before it got flat.

I arrived at the restaurant with my rear tire still hard. When I finished eating, I again checked the tire. It's now totally flat. I got my tools and patches. I checked first what's the culprit. It's a big staple wire that punctured the tire.

Since I bought my bike last June, this was the first time I experienced a flat tire. And, this was the first time that I fixed/patched a flat tire.

Looking for the puncture was somewhat difficult; but, I managed to do so after several attempts.

After fixing the flat tire, I proceeded home.

Fixing flat tire myself

BikePot (my first bike) was flat again. This time it's the front tire. I tried first to pump it; but, it's not fully inflating.

Last week, it's the rear tire that's flat. And, I had it replaced at the store where I bought it.

Okay! This time, I'll fix it myself. I now have the gadgets and the knowledge (through the internet) to change the tube. I already bought a spare tube, a tire lever, and a portable pump.

First, I reviewed some instructional videos from the internet. Very confident that I could do it myself, I began the procedure.
Not a single drop of perspiration, I finished the job in no time. The job's as easy as falling off a log.

BikePot has flat tire

I arrived home last night at around 9:00 PM. After changing my clothes, I decided to bike around inside our village for about 30 minutes before eating my dinner. I got out and took BikePot. But, Luigi (my son) warned me that BikePot had flat rear tire. "What happened?", I asked him. He didn't know and just saw that the tire was flat. But, I just used it yesterday morning!

I pumped the tire; but, when I rode it, it got flat again in no time. Another pump, another flat.

This morning, I brought BikePot to the store where I bought it to have the tube vulcanized. However, the store doesn't do vulcanizing; so, I had it replaced. The cost of the tube is P85. I just gave P10 tip for the labor. I also bought a spare tube and a tire lever. Next time, I'd just do the replacement of the tube myself.

Once again, BikePot is in tip-top condition!