Well I got my first flat in a long time with an extra present

Eastwood

100 kW
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Jan 13, 2021
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So long story short riding through a neighborhood going about 15 mph about to connect to a bike trail/Greenway and construction vehicle backed out of a driveway so I swerved into the grass but the oncoming driveway had a big 90 degree ledge. Front wheel cleared it with no problem but my back wheel hit with instant snakebites on the tube. Well the best part is it also busted my rim, halo SAS. Thanks to the weight of the mxus 3k.


A couple of takeaways from this. the first being I will never run that low of tire pressure anymore. I was running 25 psi which I know is low with a heavy hub motor but so comfortable and squishy lol
I think from here on out maybe 35+ psi. If I would’ve been running something like that it probably wouldn’t of cracked the rim.

Good thing is I had an extra tube and I was able to change. The pinch flats were so long that my patch wasn’t even long enough. The ride home wasn’t too bad as the wheel radius was out of whack lol
I’m just thankful I was able to make it home.

This rear wheel build is only a few months old I’m guessing the spokes are still good to recycle right? The spokes didn’t get bent just the rim where it made the hard impact
 

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ZeroEm said:
Make sure the rim is the same or close to reuse the spokes. spokes are cut to the rim motor combo. I would be tempted to reuse them.

Right, I ordered the same halo SAS rim.
Yeah I’m tempted to use the spokes especially since I just built this wheel a few months back
 
Be sure to undo the broken rim spokes evenly all the way around, meaning start off with a 1/4 turn and keep doing 1/4 turns.
 
Eastwood said:
Front wheel cleared it with no problem but my back wheel hit with instant snakebites on the tube. Well the best part is it also busted my rim, halo SAS. Thanks to the weight of the mxus 3k.

Boo! That sucks. But at 15 mph, it's surely also a matter of insufficient tire pressure.

You can reuse the spokes and not even have to relace the wheel. Just tape or ziptie the new rim to the old one, loosen the spokes most of the way, then transfer them over one at a time.
 
Chalo said:
Eastwood said:
Front wheel cleared it with no problem but my back wheel hit with instant snakebites on the tube. Well the best part is it also busted my rim, halo SAS. Thanks to the weight of the mxus 3k.

it's surely also a matter of insufficient tire pressure.

Yep exactly, tire pressure was too low! I’m so cautious with running low psi but in this instance I had no choice but to swerve into the grass and that darn driveway edge was hidden by taller grass. I would’ve bunny hopped it but seen it at the last moment where I just had a brace for impact lol That being said my 200mm travel fork handled it with ease.

So as you remember I just built that front wheel and installed that fork. Well on the positive side of things it did it’s job because I probably would’ve broke my old front rim too if I would’ve had that old set up on there.

But yeah as far as the rear wheel that’s cracked lesson learned with that low psi.
 
Chalo said:
Eastwood said:
Front wheel cleared it with no problem but my back wheel hit with instant snakebites on the tube. Well the best part is it also busted my rim, halo SAS. Thanks to the weight of the mxus 3k.

You can reuse the spokes and not even have to relace the wheel. Just tape or ziptie the new rim to the old one, loosen the spokes most of the way, then transfer them over one at a time.

Nice tip! Yes that sounds very efficient. Thanks
 
If you're running low pressures you might want to look into a tire liner. I installed a vittoria air liner a couple weeks ago and have been happy with it. It saved from pinch flats on my last ride and has some run flat capability. However it only works for tubeless setups.
 
COAR said:
If you're running low pressures you might want to look into a tire liner. I installed a vittoria air liner a couple weeks ago and have been happy with it. It saved from pinch flats on my last ride and has some run flat capability. However it only works for tubeless setups.

Tannus Armour works with tubes. That way you don't have to trifle with curdled diarrhea in your tires.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, if it turns you on.

Armour-cross-section.jpg
 
Chalo said:
Eastwood said:
Front wheel cleared it with no problem but my back wheel hit with instant snakebites on the tube. Well the best part is it also busted my rim, halo SAS. Thanks to the weight of the mxus 3k.

You can reuse the spokes and not even have to relace the wheel. Just tape or ziptie the new rim to the old one, loosen the spokes most of the way, then transfer them over one at a time.

Well got the rim changed out and just tested 👍👍👍
Very satisfying to have my bike back to normal. The wheel trued up real nice 👍

Regards to the old bent rim, well now I have a cool halo souvenir to hang on the wall lol
 

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spinningmagnets said:
Consider trying out "ghetto tubeless" for a couple weeks.

Yeah I run tubeless on my normal mountain bike but tubes with the heavy ebike. I use tire liners with my ebike which have saved me countless times from punctures. I had around 3000+ miles without a flat until I smashed my rim into the edge of a driveway lol it even put a hole through the tire lol But as mentioned above I was avoiding a truck backing out of a driveway.
 
COAR said:
If you're running low pressures you might want to look into a tire liner. I installed a vittoria air liner a couple weeks ago and have been happy with it. It saved from pinch flats on my last ride and has some run flat capability. However it only works for tubeless setups.

I use a regular tire liner that helps with punctures but not pinch flat. I’ve never tried the liners you’re suggesting. That being said I’ll be running more psi from now on. Also in this situation nothing would’ve save me because the impact was so hard it put a hole through the tire. It’s kind of crazy the tire liner didn’t puncture though lol busted the halo rim put a hole through the tire and tire liner looks new lol
 
Tubliss in my motorcycles prevents pinch flats and a lot of rim damage, allows low pressures and tubless on tube type rims. cSchwalbe ProCore with half a bottle of sealant is the same thing for MTBs.
 
I just fixed the first ever pinch for the front of my weight weenie bike (new hub motor increase front wheel weight by 40%).

So while I was at it, I have had a slow leak on the rear wheel (takes about three days to lose pressure). I took the tube out and could not find a leak. So I air it up and put it in a sink of warm, soapy water.

All I got for my efforts was a nice clean inner tube. :lol: :roll:
 
LewTwo said:
I have had a slow leak on the rear wheel (takes about three days to lose pressure). I took the tube out and could not find a leak. So I air it up and put it in a sink of warm, soapy water.

All I got for my efforts was a nice clean inner tube. :lol: :roll:

If you have an actual leak in a high pressure tire, it will be flatter than flat overnight. Rubber isn't totally impervious to air at elevated pressures; the higher the pressure and thinner the rubber bladder, the faster it will lose pressure. It's not uncommon for lightweight sporting bikes to need topping up every day.

My advice to customers is to check (and top up) fat tires weekly, and skinny tires twice a week.
 
Chalo said:
If you have an actual leak in a high pressure tire, it will be flatter than flat overnight. Rubber isn't totally impervious to air at elevated pressures; the higher the pressure and thinner the rubber bladder, the faster it will lose pressure. It's not uncommon for lightweight sporting bikes to need topping up every day.

My advice to customers is to check (and top up) fat tires weekly, and skinny tires twice a week.
Thank thee for the advice.

The other thing I did while it was off the bike was put it on the truing stand (first time since I built the wheel some years ago). I figured a 'nice clean inner tube' should also be a 'nice straight inner tube'. A few small tweaks here and there but nothing of significance. :)
 
I do have some tire liners at home but never used them since between the time I ordered it, My new Schwalbe Marathon Plus 50 kms/hr ready tired arrived. They incorporate a 5 mm liner.

However after 5000 kms, I traversed a construction zone and did puncture a tire, which developed over 4 days. I then had to repair it, at home. It was a 30 gauge, 1 cm long steel shard. It was protruding about 2mm into the tube. Rebalancing the wheel, yes like a car, and done. This thing can to up to 55 kms/hr so balancing the wheel worth it. I use some 1 gr golf club lead strips to counterbalance the valve, the reflector and the speed sensor magnet. The difference is very noticeable. Was barely able to reach 50 kms/hr without balancing.

No big deal, repairing a flat is easy, especially, when done at home. Nevertheless I always carry a hand pump and a flat repair case with glue, sandpaper and patches.
 
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