Even though I wasn't at my sharpest, a nail lurking on the road was. I don't know exactly where I picked it up but I didn't notice it until I tapped my rear brake as I rolled up the the intersection at 150th.
"Thkk, Thkk, Thkk" with each revolution. At first I thought I'd busted a spoke or cracked a rim but a quick inspection revealed the truth.
Now some people say Schwalbe Marathon XRs are too heavy and their sidewalls are way too over-built. Other people say I carry too many tools in my pockets. And even I admit that sometimes it pays to be both cautious and lucky. The nail completely missed the inner tube. I yanked it out and continued on my way. The most time consuming part of the entire incident was pulling my camera out to snap these pictures.
Keep 'em rolling,
Kent
12 comments:
Stinks about the nail.
I just wanted to say thanks for your writting. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I've learned much from you. Many thanks.
The God of P*nct*res is watching over you. You must be doing something right... :-)
When I saw the subject "Nailed" I at first thought you'd been hit by a car. So very glad it wasn't that! (and you didn't even get a flat, amazing!)
You are riding the bike karma train...=-)
Niiice.
So you're saying that a garden variety Pasela wouldn't have faired as well? How about one of those extra squishy "supple casing" Jan tires? Let's see if we can get Jan to do a nail test for the tires. I would especially love to see the repair times comparing tubulars to clinchers, angle of nail approach, etc.
Marathons may be heavy but they are SO worth it.
Nice photos.
Running late and the nail DIDN'T go through the tube? Some seriously good Karma at work there.
amazing. dont know anyone whose survived a nail. i do regularly ride my Armadillo tires thru thorns w/o a flat. armadillos would probably survive a nail as least as well as schwalbes.
lucky day!
that's a neat leatherperson, Kent... does it have scissors too?
My Leatherperson is the E4 Squirt, the same model as the Make Magazine "The Warranty Voider." It doesn't have a scissors, but I got it to complement my Swiss Army knife, which does have scissors as well as bigger cutting and screwdriver blades.
I think after I read this post I must have caught some of your karma. I pulled a very similar sized nail out of my vittoria randonneur tyre yesterday and was amazed not to have a flat. Keep em rolling indeed.
Cheers Mike
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