6320 Miles: Rear Flat Tire

Today I was getting ready for a ride and pumped up my tires. The rear tire pumped up then immediately released all of the air. This was the original tube (1135950808 was stamped on it). I can't complain getting 6320 miles out of it. The cause of the leak was a crack around the valve base-- probably from age. I replaced it with a CST 10066132   700X20-25c tube that I got from Nashbar.

Ready for another 6320 miles!!!!

5102 Miles: Slow Leaking Front Tire

I had a slow leaking front tire. I would fill it to 100 psi and in 4 to 5 days it would be down to less than 30 psi.

When I removed the tube and checked it in water, I did not see a leak. It must be really small.

I replaced it with a CST 700 x 18/25 model 29117193 made in China that I had purchased from Price Point. I always have 2 or 3 spares.

The last flat I had was also the front at 2808 miles. So I got 2294 miles from that tube. I still have not replaced the back tube yet!

3402 miles Front Derailleur Replacement

Today I replaced the front derailleur. It was actually pretty easy with the included detailed directions. I received the Shimano Tiagra derailleur from JensonUSA today. It only took 5 days from the order.

First I removed and cleaned the chain.

I have a quick link on this chain so it is easy to remove.

Then I removed the old derailleur. The spring retainer broke off so the spring did not function. The retainer is a small piece of metal so I am wondering if the tiagra derailleur is susceptible to this failure. If this one fails, I will upgrade next time.

Old derailleur with broken spring retainer.

New derailleur with alignment block pre-installed.

The derailleur has an alignment block installed and a marker tape to get the proper alignment when you attach the derailleur to the bike frame.

You use the cable adjustment barrel to adjust the cable tension to tweak in the settings when the chain is on the intermediate chain ring.

In no time I had the derailleur properly adjusted.

2808 Miles: Slow Front Tire Leak

I noticed over the last few weeks that I had a slow leak on my front tire and I had to keep pumping it up about once a week. I decided to change out the front tube today.

I suspected that the valve was leaking since it was very slow. I did not think I would be able to find the leak since it was so slow but I was wrong. There was an easily identifiable leak. It was about 5 1/2 inched from the valve on a seam. The leak was on the side facing the rim not the outer tread. I did not see any foreign material that could have caused the leak. The seam is probably just the weak point and will fail first. I can't complain-- this is the original tube having 2808 miles of service and almost 2 years.

The tube was a Kenda 28-U-021. There was a stamp "13", perhaps the inspector and a number 1115650806 stamped on it. I replaced it with a tube I got from PricePoint.

1733 miles Loose Spoke

After today's ride I noticed a slight rub on my rear brake pad. One of the spokes was very loose, so I trued the wheel. It was one of the spokes I had replaced earlier. Maybe I did not have the spokes properly tensioned. They all seemed about the same tension by feel.

I will keep an eye on this to see if I need to do anything different.

1713 miles Rear Tire Swap

I noticed that my rear tire would "thump" with each revolution. The wheel seemed true but there was still this "thumping" feel. It looked like one point of the tire had a kink in it and was the cause of the thumping.

The kink is between the white caulk marks in the picture on the left. The IRC Red Storm Street tires were pretty cheap at only two for $25. I will contact PricePoint to test out the customer service. I can probably use the tire for the front and not feel the thump if they don't give me a replacement.



While the tire was off I took the opportunity to true the wheel since the new spokes could have relaxed a bit. I took some time and got the wheel right on true.

I used the old Vittoria Zaffiro front tire on the rear. There is plenty of tread.

I also reset the Cateye Computer back to 2105 tire circumference for the 700 x 25 mm tire.

The bike rides very smooth now.