What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[PretentiousHipster]

Somehow being MUCH close to the fires than NYC was, it wasn't the worst here. The skies were just a hint of yellow, but the smell was there. I guess most of the winds were going south.

[Ziggy]

Wednesday was pretty rough here on Long Island. It looked like Armageddon. The air quality was awful. Everything had an orange tint, and the sun looked like a crazy red-orange dot in the sky. It seemed hazy or foggy, but it was smoke. The air even smelled of a wood fire. It very much reminded me of the Sunrise wild fires in the mid 90's. But the crazy part is, those wild fires were local. This time it was hundreds of miles away.

[REPO Man]

If you have ever seen Night of the Comet, that's pretty much NYC these days.

Hopefully without random piles of clothes and calcium dust littering streets filled with mutants.

[REPO Man]

On my way to work this morning I stopped at the gas station to pump up my back tire on my bike and the damn thing blew out hard! Took out a portion of the inner tube.

Bad enough this was the loaner bike my Dad found that doesn't have brakes. Even worst that my brother bailed on fixing my old bike in favor of Frankensteining a new one, which he also apparently bailed on before getting arrested.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Have you considered learning about bike repair? Since that is your primary means of travel, it might be a good idea to learn more about it.

[REPO Man]

Especially since I plan on buying a new bike. Usually I just ask my brother or dad to fix it but 99% of the time they usually just give me a loaner bike that I end up riding until it stops working.

[Limewater]

:cry: On my way to work this morning I stopped at the gas station to pump up my back tire on my bike and the damn thing blew out hard! Took out a portion of the inner tube.

Assuming here that you are telling us that the inner tube popped and now there is also a hole in the tire.

In this situation, typically the tire was the problem. A weak spot in the tire wall will give way and the inner tube will bulge out the hole and then blow. I have had this happen to me on a set of very old, dry-rotted mountain bike tires.

I'll second the suggestion to start learning about bicycle repair. And also start keeping two bikes if you can. That way you'll feel less stressed about needing to get your bicycle fixed immediately and can take the time to learn to do it yourself.

Good luck!

[stickem]

Your rim probably needs a new liner, your spokes may be poking through busting the tube. My kids redline keeps doing the same dam thing.

[Limewater]

Your rim probably needs a new liner, your spokes may be poking through busting the tube. My kids redline keeps doing the same dam thing.

He probably does need new rim tape.

He probably does need new rim tape.

However, I don't think a hole from a spoke poking through would lead to tire damage like I think he's describing. He'd just end up with a flat or blown-out tube.

Another possibility would be that the tire was not well-seated in the rim, but that is also not likely to result in tire damage, just another popped inner tube.

[Ack]

I think you probably nailed it with dry rot. If he's borrowing bikes like that, I doubt the tires have been properly maintained.