Really not digging the goatheads...

I'm just not loving these things.  I actually discovered this (well actually just a soft tire) when I went to ride in yesterday.  Since I hadn't actually seen the goathead at that point, I did the "logical" thing.  Pumped it up and road to work on it. 

When I got to work I saw what you see below.  The cool part about a goathead is that once they're in, the leak is often very slow.....until you remove them.  It's always kind of amazing to me that they actually act as their own plug.  Then of course you remove them and the tire goes down in about 30 seconds. 

Needless to say I'm getting really good at the sub-five minute patch jog....oh yeah, and this one held.

I seem to be finding a lot of these this year.  Here's the latest culprit.

For the record.....Goat Heads suck!

Yeah, that flat I fixed yesterday morning.  It held through the day, but by the time I got home it was going soft again.  Found about 3 more goat head spines in the stupid thing upon closer inspection.  Soooo....that's why the 4 minute patch job is not really that cool!

Opps....wrong one.

Ok....this one is the problem.

What a prick.....

I bet you think this is another angry rant about an experience on the road.....but it isn't!  It's about how awesome my new Schwable Marathon Supreme tires are!  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Shit, another goat head.

Removed goat head....wait shouldn't I hear a hissing in the background?

That's the thing....I found this sucker (and it's not the first one in these tires) and gingerly removed it, waiting for that inevitable hiss that follows this most times.  But....but....no hiss!  Sweet!!  And p.s. there are no tuff strips in these babies!

A little background.  Most of my (and wifey') bikes have Pasela Tour Guard tires complete with tuff strips for added flat protection.  In general this combo makes for (knock on wood) a pretty puncture resistant set up.  However, once in a while a goat head will get just to the side of the tuff strip and cause a problem.  I like these tires because they are inexpensive, puncture resistant, are light weight, and has old school gumwalls.

So why bite the bullet and get the most expensive "puncture resistant" tire on the market?  Well, I needed something that came in a relatively huge size 2.0 x 29.  This limits one's options.....and it's supposed to be the best...and we're doing Cycle Oregon this year......and I hate flats.....and, and, and....

So anyway, so far they seem to be up to the challenge.  We'll see how the miles add up and look back on this again in the future.

Double trouble.

The problem.

The solution.

There was a lot of riding last weekend with farmers markets, the 3 foot ride, and the poker ride.  All told we bike a little under 70 miles.  Not too bad for a weekend.  Now the costs of all that fun have caught up with me.  Monday morning found my front tire flat.  The tell tale spine of a goat head wasn't hard to find.  I was a little grumpy about this because I have Kevlar tires with tire liners that are supposed to prevent this.  Just goes to prove even the best precautions don't always work.  Fortunately, this flat repair actually went as planned.  Unseat the bead, popped the tube out the side, sanded the area, smear with vulcanizing fluid, apply patch, pop tube back in, re-seat the bead, and inflate!  Perfect under 5 minute patch. 

The offending area marked.

Until I realized the rear tire was looking a little on the low side.  Quick inspection didn't find anything in the tire to indicate a puncture.  So the wheel was removed and the tube pulled for a more thorough look.  The problem turned out to be one too many patches and the failure of one of said patches.

Failed patch.

So now the question is do you re-patch or give up and go with a new tub.  This particular tube already has 5 patches so I opted for the new tube approach. 

So for now, I'm back up on two Kevlar tires with tuffy tire liners.  Let's see if the technology or nature prevails.  Unfortunately, I think the safe bet in the long run is still on the goat heads.