Last evening, Nicole and I experienced our first crash on our Ruegamer tandem. It was a minor incident and not much happened. Here are the details. About 1/4 mile from the start we were rounding a corner and some railroad tracks. Immediately after passing the tracks as we were traveling somewhere around 10mph we had a front tire blowout. Now a blowout or flat is not usually something that is of much consequence if it is on the rear wheel, but this was a front tire blowout. With the added weight of two riders and the sport geometry we have on our tandem suffice it to say it was a bit squirmy as well as unnerving. Instead of crashing in the road and suffering all sorts of road rash I had the idea that we would head straight for the lawn of the house next to us. Fortunately here in our riding area there are few curbs or sidewalks so I did not have any problem rolling into the yard. What we do have here are drainage ditches and we ended up going down one side of the ditch then attempting to climb the other, at least we missed the large bush as well as the mailbox. That ditch is where we finally went down.
Other than a bit of dirt and grease and a very small scratch on Nicole we were fine, although a bit shaken. I pulled off the tire from the rim, pulled out my spare and it was punctured also. I guess the cycling gods were not looking favorably on us that time. Besides it was 97° out there!
Back home I inspected our bike for damage. Other than the brake levers turned in as well as some grass in the lever all appears to be well. One other note. Since we roll on tubular tires the tire did not come off the rim but stayed firmly glued on. This allowed us to roll fairly well into the yard as well as protect the rim from scratches. Last night I glued up two new tires that I had stretched for the past two weeks and mounted them on the rims, good as new. I am using the other tire that was on the bike as an emergency spare. It is still in good shape, I just need to touch up the base tape with a few spots of tire cement and it will be as good as new. Rolled up in a saddle bag I hope we never have to use it. I have yet to examine the tire to see where the damage is but my preliminary guess is that we had a small tear in the sidewall allowing the tube to bulge and eventually pop.
On a side note. I am also trying out a new tire sealant in this new set of tires, it is called CaffeLatex. It is very similar to Stan’s NoTubes Sealant with the addition of a foaming agent that works when the tire is agitated (rolling). I have had great success with sealing agents except in the rare cases where a tire valve has failed or such as last night with a suspected sidewall blowout.
Despite the wee bit of excitement we are not deterred and will be out riding our tandem again at the earliest opportunity.
Tags: accident, sealant, tandem, tire
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Glad you and Nicole came out OK! I have a question Bud, why do you use these “tubulars?” What’s good or not good about regular tires + inner tubes?
Jan.
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Jan,
Of course riding tubulars is more like a religion rather than practical, especially when it comes to performance. The key advantages to riding tubulars is that they are round rather than U shaped. This means that you can really dive into a corner with the full knowledge that you will have good traction from the tire. Another advantage is that they do not suffer from pinch flats. There is no rim bead that can pinch the tube when you hit a pot hole or other obstacle. As a result you can run lower tire pressures and gain comfort without sacrificing protection . A third advantage is that the wheel structure (rim, tire, tube can weigh less than comparable clincher wheels, less weight means lower moment of inertia, faster acceleration. In case of a failure you can ride a tubular flat as it will not come off the rim when not inflated.
Of course there are disadvantages, they must be glued on, gluing is an overnight process, you can use some of the new tapes that will let you ride in just a few minutes. Harder to repair, a patch kit will not work (this is partially solved by using tire sealant in the tubular). Not readily available, if you are stuck somewhere in a small town it is nearly impossible to walk into a local bike shop and walk out with a tubular tire. Expensive, good clinchers can also be cheap clinchers, cheap tubulars are never good tubulars.
It is important to note that any equipment you use in cycling be something you are comfortable with. If not you will only be asking for problems down the line. I hope this short explanation was enough to get you thinking about wheel alternatives.
Hope to see you on the road soon
Bud
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