Nature's way of telling me to get a new back tyre...

[Apollonius]

Three punctures in less than 20 miles.

The first one was a whopper. Something sharp had cut through the tyre and caused instant and noisy deflation. I had to stick some self-adhesive patches to the inside of the tyre as it looked as if it could (or had already) hernia. Back tyre - Schwalbe Lugano - overloaded, I know with my 97kg. It has done about 3000km I suppose. Hard life!
The second one was about 20 minutes later, but in a different place so no relation, if you are thinking, "Ah, sharp thing left in tube." Had to borrow a spare tube from mate. The final one was, fortunately, metres from home.

Last week, I bought three tubes on the "I need a couple of tubes." "Certainly, they are £8 each or 3 for a tenner." "Ooo, that's a hard call," basis.

They know, you know, those puncture gods.

Also discovered a bit of play in my rear wheel- bearings, so it looks like a messy morning for when I get back from the shops.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Well my front Gatorskin has 9,000 miles (nearly 15,000km) without a puncture, the rear did about 5,500 but hitting a stone took a chunk out of the rubber (though it ran well enough for a few hundred miles after), the new rear is on about 2,500 miles (without issue), I would say at £22 each or there about's, that represents good value in terms of puncture resistance.

 

[Turbo Rider]

Mmm, I've had that sort of Big Brother moment before!! Bought 5 tubes from Halfords one day, having spotted a deal & thought 'why not,' thinking I'd never ever ever go through them all. Did the lot in the space of a week, got completely paranoid and bought me some Marathon Plus. On the extra plus side, the whole experience has really helped with anger management, I can now change a tyre in double quick time & have become a dab hand at puncture repairs...though I have developed a glue sniffing problem, which doesnt seem like much of a problem to me

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Mmm, I've had that sort of Big Brother moment before!! Bought 5 tubes from Halfords one day, having spotted a deal & thought 'why not,' thinking I'd never ever ever go through them all. Did the lot in the space of a week, got completely paranoid and bought me some Marathon Plus. On the extra plus side, the whole experience has really helped with anger management, I can now change a tyre in double quick time & have become a dab hand at puncture repairs...though I have developed a glue sniffing problem, which doesnt seem like much of a problem to me

Smells nice doesn't it.

 

[Apollonius]

In case anyone is still interested, my afternoon proved quite surprising. (By the way, I have put this in Beginners as, for modern bikes anyway, I am a beginner, though I have ridden 531 things since 1965).

I work on the basis that if something broke then it wasn't good enough so buy a better one. I liked the ride and the grip of the Lugano so I decided to upgrade to Durano. Close examination of the remains of the Lugano showed that the first, catastrophic puncture had cut the tyre deeply and caused a bulge. It was clearly a write-off and the same could have happened to any tyre. I also discovered that my third and final puncture wasn't one really, as my mate had given me his spare which was a repaired tube and the patch was leaking.
So, take the tyre off and have a look at the wobbly wheel-bearing issue. Much to my surprise the entire cassette assembly and most of the freewheel structure fell into my hand! Somehow the threaded end cap which retains the freewheel bit had come loose. There was no play whatever in the bearings, it had just somehow undone itself. I took the chance to clean out the four freewheel pawls and regrease them before re-fitting the screwed end cap retainer. It looks as if the bearings are sealed units which was again a surprise as I was expecting some modern version of cones and balls. Either way, wheel now sound and freewheel ticking nicely again. I had been worried by its unusual silence.

Time to turn my attention to the tyre and tube then. Obviously a new tube, but the tyre was another surprise. You know tyres? Yes, round black things. Not these! I had never come across a folding tyre before (Just justifying placing this ramble in Beginners) and getting it on the wheel looked like a challenge akin to fitting a condom after 6 pints. Now, don't be silly. You don't fit condoms to wheels. Eventually the tyre sorted itself out to the expected boringly round kind of expected shape and seemed quite keen to clinch. (Perhaps I do need a condom after all...) Not entirely trusting it I put a couple of BAR into it with a mini-pump, and it looked the part and seemed quite reassuringly tyre-like. Encouraged, I fetched Joe the Blow and read the max pressure on the side-wall. 10 BAR! In this flimsy thing! I usually ride on 7, and I'm not light so I go to 8.
Proof of the pudding time, then. It is dark and raining by now, but I can do an hour. A mix of main road, bumpy lane and a surfaced bridle path which is a bit on the rough side led to these conclusions. Duranos are fast! With 8 BAR the ride was unsurprisingly a bit on the harsh side, but boy, did I feel powerful. I didn't push the grip in the rain with new boots on the bike, but perhaps not quite as grippy as the Luganos. I am a pretty confident rider and the tyres felt good. I also like a narrow and sensitive tyre so quite happy with 23mm, which I should probably have mentioned earlier.
I hope my experiences will help others to take on their own bikes and sort out problems for themselves. Bikes are quite simple things really.

 

[Davos87]

You lost me at taking out the four freewheel pawls. Sorry.

 

[Apollonius]

Oh, I didn't take them out! That sort of malarkey leads to springs pinging and bits flying everywhere. I just cleaned and lubricated them in situ. Just been out for a mixed 25 miles (40km in my preferred system) and the bike went well. 1 hour 50minutes, which is rapid for me over mixed terrain, including getting held up in some traffic. I also discovered that you can get those sensor equipped traffic lights to "see" you if you weave about a bit.