flat due to getting wet?

[Elias Friedman]

i had two flats in the course of a few hours last night. while riding
home from work in a heavy rain last night, my front tire went flat for
what seemed a good reason- i found a sharp edged hole in the tire.
changed tube, boot for the hole, and got home colder & wetter than i
planned. parked the bike inside my apartment and went to bed. i was
awoken to a bang! hiss! my rear tire blew out just sitting there! can
tubes fail just from getting a soaking?

--
Elias Friedman A.S., EMT-P ⚕
אליהו מתתיהו בן צבי
elip...@gmail.com
http://elipongo.blogspot.com/

[Peter Rosenfeld]

No, wet doesn't hurt tubes at all. But wet streets can make it more likely that pieces of sharp glass will stick to your tire and cause a puncture. A lot of times your tire will hit a piece of glass and it will just scoot out of the way. When it's wet, the water can sort of glue it to your tire for a rotation or so, allowing it to work into the tire and puncture your tube.


--- On Thu, 5/7/09, Elias Friedman <elip...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Joe Ward]

I've always thought that the wet makes little shards of glass and sharp
rocks, pieces of metal, etc., stick to your tires so that a few revolutions
of the wheel can push them through the inner tubes. I commuted to work for
25 years, and most flats seemed to happen in the rain, in the dark, on the
rear wheel. It seemed perverse, but I think it makes sense.

-Joe Ward

[Bob Sutterfield]

During the rainy season, I commute on beefier tires (Specialized Armadillos) and thorn-resistant tubes.  This reduces my puncture frequency but doesn't completely eliminate them.  It's a hassle to patch a tube in the rain (hard to maintain a "sterile field") so I carry a replacement tube.  And be sure to inspect the inside of the tire before re-mounting, to look for whatever caused the flat.

I suspect the increased frequency of flats in the rain has to do with the rain and traffic lifting the teeny glass debris up from between the grains of asphalt, where they can do you harm.  Then the bits adhere to your tread as your wheels revolve.  It's the same strategy to avoid flats in the rain as in the dry: ride farther left.  That helps with lots of other traffic issues too.

[Sauerwald Mark]

I am a firm believer in Murphys law.  If you are going to get a flat, it will be in the rain (or snow), when you are late for a dinner date.

I am also a big fan of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, they don't get flats, and they last forever.

Mark

---

From: Joe Ward <wa...@bellsouth.net>
To: bicyclec...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2009 2:31:21 PM
Subject: [Bicycle Commuting] Re: flat due to getting wet?

[Matthew Bergin]

That is why I like Continental Ultra Gator skin tires. I have had a set on my bike for 8000Km's without a flat. Gotta love that Kevlar.
                    Matt

[Elias Friedman]

An update. After I sent this email to the groups I tried to fix my
rear tire and blew out my two spare tubes in the process- despite a
thorough cleaning & assessment of the tire & rim interior. I decided
to ride my folding bike to work- and the chain broke about three miles
into the trip. Luckily I was just three blocks from the 125th st &
Lexington subway station. I rode the 6 train to Zarega ave and used
the bike as a scooter to get the rest of the way to work. I got home
very late too because I foolishly tried, via three transfers, to get
to the station closest to home rather than just get off on the East
Side and walk across the park. Anyway on Fri my LBS quickly noted that
the tire's sidewall was torn and sure enough it matched up with the
holes in the tubes. I can only figure that the different rates of
drying & temperature change between the wheel, tube, and tire proved
to be too much stress...