Tire stretching time
My wife suffered a baffling mechanical failure on her bike this week. She got a flat on her rear (studded) tire. Being in a hurry to fetch kids, she decided to try to ride on it. That quickly proved impossible so she locked the bike up and jogged home.
That night, I picked up her bike and set to fixing the flat. However, the tire no longer fit on the rim. Huh? It was way too big and wouldn’t stay clinched. I was perplexed — she’d ridden on this tire since I swapped slicks for studded back in November.
So what changed this 700mm tire to a ~710mm? Does anybody have a theory? I don’t know if the stretched tire caused the flat or was a consequence of the flat (or riding it flat).
Rim still properly round at all? Enh, maybe the studded heavier nature of the center of the tire strained the sidewall enough to separate it just enough?
Where’s the flat show up in the tube?
The rim seems to be just fine. I switched to another tire, and all is well. The flat was a little pinch on the side, IIRC, like half of a snakebite. Not a blowout or a piercing.