So I got a tube, and when I took the tire off to remove the old tube, I found that the rubber strip that is supposed to protect the tube from the spoke heads wasn't there.
I'm amazed the thing ever held pressure. What to use short of heading to the bike shop to buy that rubber liner?
Gorilla Tape. It's hefty stuff and it has a sticky side to keep it in place. So I cut strips of it and put it over all the spoke heads going around the rim.
Aired up the new tube, got the wheel back on Daisy and me and Mo headed out to commit mayhem in Gardner Manor, with Em riding her bike like a remora at Daisy's mouth.
As we got down the street I realized I was hearing a sound not unlike when you pinch the opening of a balloon to let a small stream of air out.
The balloon wheezing was coming from the tire I just swapped the tube out on, so apparently whatever poked a hole in the old tube wasn't a spoke head.
We turned around and came back home. I didn't want to be a mile or two from the house when that tire went fully flat and have to drag Daisy home. We only lost five pounds of pressure, but we also only went half a block up the street.
The tire itself is no spring chicken, I suspect something is either sticking through it or out of it that punctured the tube. I bet a cheapie Wal-Mart tire will fix things up.
Speaking of cheapie Wal-Mart cycling stuff: I was floored the other day to see a Mongoose mountain bike with 29" wheels and disc brakes on the rack at Wal-Mart for, get this, $199.
Even a year or two ago, I don't think you could have got a bike with disc brakes or 29" wheels without going to a bike shop and dropping a grand or more. Yes, it's made in China. Yes, it's probably loaded with lead and cadmium and radioactive to boot, but damn.
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