Got honked at by some loser in a Benz on the way to the market. He didn't know how to drive and wanted me to pull over and stop. It ended in tyre spin, black exhaust smoke and a stupid close pass. 50 yards later he came to a stop because of a street protest. He probably spent 20 minutes sitting there. I resisted the pull of a face to face, and went my way. I was surprised how angry this idiot made me. We parked up the Yubas and I was told to sit and read the newspaper over a coffee while Mrs Yuba did the shopping, its usually me who does this so it makes a change. Some "me" time sans kids...
On the way back I noticed that the rear tyre was getting very squidgy and that my slow flat is no longer slow. At this point a bus starts honking at me. I thought the driver had spotted my soft looking tyre so I waved thanks and carried on. But he carried on honking and driving along side me. When I stopped the doors swung open and I braced myself for some abuse.
" Wow, really cool bike dude ! Where did you get it ?"
Amazed, I told him quickly, and watched as the traffic built up behind the halted bus and the driver tried to engage me in conversation. There were dozens of people nodding in the packed bus and a couple of them joined in talking. I tried to be engaging but we were blocking a main street in the town centre. I got the feeling that some of the passengers were in a hurry, and there was also the matter of my deflating tyre, and the fruit and veg warming up in the paniers.
I said bye and made it home without destroying the tyre. I am looking at some brown fat franks. Anyone know if these have kevlar in them like the black ones ?
You are never alone or bored on a Yuba Mundo....
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThe Fat Frank usually allways has Kevlar Guard, no matter which colour. Look here: http://schwalbe.de/ger/de/produkte/tour_city/produkt/?ID_Produktgruppe=37&ID_Produkt=143
Glas Slivers can get through any Kevlar Guard in very rare cases. But only very rarely!
You should check the exakt location of the hole in the tube. Is it facing towards the tire or towards the rim? If it ist facing towards the rim and exatcly opposit of the valve, then check the rim joint! The OEM-rims that came with your green Yuba are very simple quality. The joint of the rim is opposit to the valve and the two ends of the rims may have sharp edges that may cause a slow flat, that gets faster and faster over the time.
Get some sanding paper and smoothen the edges on the joint.
I hope I have described my view of your problem clearly. If you didn't understand me, I could rewrite my description in German,
Happy cycling!
Stefan
I have the brown Fat Franks on my Yuba and they are Kevlar guarded and they also look rather spiffing too. Cream might be a good option too
ReplyDeleteThanks guys I think I will order them. (brown) I am really impressed with their thoughness.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Jim- Thanks. Its amazing the type of questions/interest you get riding a long-tail and especially a Yuba. I was outside a shop one evening with my Ute when a local charachter came out- a well known construction worker/machine operator. He looked at the Ute, did a double take, and turned and came back to talk to me. I thought "here we go". His first words were "So thats a Ute, I want to get one". Cheers.
ReplyDeleteI have been known to be a bit short with people asking about my bike. I do average about 2 fairly in-depth conversations about my bike every trip but I must try and be more friendly. For those who remember the Young Ones it's a bit like "yes we've got a video!"
ReplyDeleteFat Franks are good but make sure you rim is wide enough or the ride is a bit squirrelly. I have had one flat in 1000ks: a metal sliver got through.
I've had the honking thing happen numerous times. It gets my ire up and I often feel like I want to get confrontational, but half of the time people are doing it to ask about my bike or to wave to us or to let us know they are there. I would prefer they actually didn't honk to get our attention. However, while researching our very first cargo bike, one owner told us not to buy one unless we were extroverts since it will be a constant source of discussion. So true.
ReplyDelete