Issue Not Solved

As I mentioned yesterday I had an issue developing with my bike which I attempted to rectify last night.  I needed to do a bit of maintenance anyway, so I changed my clothes and headed to the garage after dinner.

My first order of business was to replace the front tube.  Fortunately I have a couple of tubes here that I purchased as back-ups so I wouldn't have to run to the store if I was ever in need.  Unfortunately the valve length on the one I choose was a bit shorter than what I had on the bike.  My wheels are very deep V in order to provide more strength and shorter valves just don't work. I believe I had 75 mm valves on the bike and the one I was replacing it with was only 45 mm. It was barely long enough.

I installed the new tube and paid particular attention to how true the tire was within in the wheel.  I've had issues before where I've not seated the tire properly and had the tube blow out on me.  Once I was assured it was evenly mounted, I inflated it to the recommended max of 84 psi and put it back on my bike.

Next I wanted to make sure it was true so I gave it a few fast spins and the front tire looked great.  I checked all of the spokes to make sure none were loose and it was good.

Then I turned my attention to my rear wheel.  I gave the pedals a few spins and notice a slight imperfection in the tire as it went around.  It wasn't much but I could see it.  I slowly applied the brakes to see if I could isolate the spot. the wasn't any real high spot as the distance from the pads to the wheel never varied.  I was able to find the spot and it appears to be a slight imperfection in the rear tire itself.  It wasn't seated quite right in that spot.

I let out some air and tried to make sure the tire was seated properly on the rim.  There is a reflective whitewall on my tires that I tried to make sure was evenly spaced around the rim.  I seemed to have taken care of the issue, but checked the spokes, just to make sure and one seemed slightly loose to me in the same area of the wheel. I tightened it up a bit and gave it a spin. Things seemed to be better so I cleaned up and went in.

This morning I went for another 4:00 am ride and it seemed that the bike was indeed better, at least at first.  As the ride progressed, however the thumping and slight wobble came back and seemed to get worse the farther I rode. It became very noticeable by the time I headed back in after 6 miles.  So, tonight I need to look at the rear wheel again and I think I may need to change the rear tire.

Get on your bike and ride!