Last updated on July 1, 2026
Yesterday I decided to see if I could easily get near the Lakeside / shopping area via bike, with as little riding in roads as possible. This worked out well, except while riding along a small connector road which runs behind Meijer and Costco and whatnot, I got a flat. It was a sheet metal screw stuck nicely into the thin part of the new tires. Uggh.
It wasn’t particularly hard to change the tube, it was just a bit dirtier and colder than I would have liked. The area near there is still under construction, so there was a bit of water and mud that I had just gone through. It was also just above freezing, so the tire was really stiff and took a bit of effort to get back on to the rim. Oh, and the Blackburn Shorty pump took quite a while to get to get the tires actually full enough to ride on.
Ah well. At least it got sorted out. If you are interested, here is the route I took, with start and flat tire points marked, and here is the KMZ itself.
Oh, and those tires? They do great on the pavement, in snow, in a bit of mud where there was no sidewalk, and on grass. I’m pretty happy with them.
spray some fix-a-flat in that tire. that’ll fix it good.
Ha, it’s just the tube, which only costs $4 or so to replace, provided I don’t try and fix it.
I rode with Slime in my tires for a while. Out of the three punctures that I got during that time, I found out what it’s for. Slime is for spraying green crap all over your bike and making it messy to change the tube and harder to patch it.
It’s a bummer putting a screw into a brand-new tire like that, but it happens.
That’s what I’d heard, coupled with tubes that are noticeably heavier than normal ones. Thankfully the hole looks just like a little puncture in the tire, but it’s all still holding up. Tomorrow after it’s a bit warmer I’ll wash things off and be sure it’s all okay.
There’s two holes in the tube (looks like as it folded over it put a second on the opposite side) so I’ll give it a go patching, too.
Yup, most folks that have been riding a while change the tube then patch it when they get home. A proper rubber cement vulcanized patch is stronger than the tube and takes just a few minutes to do. I don’t get many flats so I only have 3 patches in one of my tube, but I’ve read accounts of people riding with 12 patches in a tube.
Oh, that’s good to hear. I’ve got a patch kit (sandpaper, rubber cement, orange/black patches; the cheap Performance Bike kit) which I’ll use on the tube then. I’m hoping the two holes are close enough together that I can just use one patch, but we’ll see.
I’ll probably grab a series of photos about it, just because.
Oh yeah, pumps.
Topeak Road Morph. Unless you buy a full-sized frame pump, it’s the best you can get. It’s hardly any worse than using a shop floor pump.
Huh. That’s a nice looking pump. If this one gets to be too much of a hassle (I’ll find out what I was able to get it up to later today when I clean my bike) I’ll give that one a look.
If you ever buy another pump (for on the bike, versus a floor pump), make it that one. Pump discussions on bikeforums tend to end up with something along the lines of “you can buy a Road Morph, or you can buy a series of other pumps first, then give up and buy a Road Morph.”
What really makes it attractive especially to people with Presta valves is the hose. Pumping a pump with no hose and a rigid air stem tends to break the stem.
Of course, people who are in really horrible areas (I have read accounts from people who regularly get 3 or 4 flats a week) would probably be better off getting a full frame pump like an hpx just in the interest of speed, but that’s overkill for most people.
This afternoon I cleaned up the bike and gave that rear tire a check, and it was actually at just about 55psi. Since I had pumped to where it was difficult (but not impossible) it looks like that hand one works. I should probably just carry a pressure gauge, if I’m going to be anal about it.
Which floor pump do you have? I bought an SKS Airworx via eBay, thinking that it’d be a nice, shiny, well-made German pump. Instead it keeps having it’s check valve leak, the handle come shooting back up, and strokes just not pressurize the tire. It’ll sometimes take 4-5 pumps to get one to actually stay in. :(
A friend in the UK recommended the Topeak JoeBlow, but I’m hesitant to buy another without multiple recommendations or buying one myself. Then again, buying it from REI would make it easily returnable even if it turns to crap in two months.
Honestly, I’ve got a $14 “X-Factor” floor pump from Meijer. It works totally fine. I’m sure the Topeak would outlast it in the long run, but this one is already 5 years old and working fine, and I once put about 15 PSI into a pair of car tires with it while on vacation. It came with a pair of tire levers and a patch kit.
I bought a new, more compact air compressor last year when I started a new construction project, and I moved my work area out into the garage, so I just use that now. I bought an inflator with a gauge on it at HF for about $10, and I have enough hose to reach out into the driveway across two cars and hit every tire in the place without moving the compressor. So I haven’t actually used the floor pump for a while.
Huh, interesting. Maybe I”ll just give one of those a go…
I’ve got a small tankless compressor, and it works good, but I actually can’t stand the sound of it running. It’s a very loud piston + cheap electric motor sound, and I really don’t like having it running. Maybe if I picked up a small pancake one with a dryer on it… Hmm… That’d also be good for general cleaning, too… Hmm…
Yeah, I’ve got a little tankless Craftsman compressor. It takes forever and it’s noisy as hell.
I wound up with a Hitachi pancake compressor from Lowes; I think it was $149. I tried one from Harbor Freight, and it basically worked but it couldn’t start properly when cold (< 50*F) and for about $120 it didn't have a pressure regulator on it or the female fitting, so in the end the Hitachi was the better deal. It was also rated quieter than the more expensive competition and has a slightly bigger tank (4 gal instead of 3 I think).