The bike tire has been replaced! The sidewall of the tire had broken down, causing it to warp. How does it happen? First off, the bike tech asked me if my tire had been near the exhaust of my car. It hadn’t, but heat near the tire could be one cause of damage. Another possibility is wearing the tire down on the trainer over the winter, then the tire continues to break down as you ride outside. One other possibility…and this is just a theory here on my part… There is a little arrow on the tire showing you the direction that it is supposed to rotate:
It isn’t really obvious and I didn’t even know it existed until I was changing my tube out just before Wasa. It is entirely possible that I had the tire on backwards at some point, which would also cause the sidewall of the tire to break down (since it is stronger in one direction). Although I reserve the right to be wrong on that! So trust me guys, I’m learning a lot about taking care of a bike as I go along. After awhile you realize that cleaning and lubing a chain isn’t that difficult, and you learn who to ask for advice!
It isn’t really obvious and I didn’t even know it existed until I was changing my tube out just before Wasa. It is entirely possible that I had the tire on backwards at some point, which would also cause the sidewall of the tire to break down (since it is stronger in one direction). Although I reserve the right to be wrong on that! So trust me guys, I’m learning a lot about taking care of a bike as I go along. After awhile you realize that cleaning and lubing a chain isn’t that difficult, and you learn who to ask for advice!
Since my bike needed some TLC this evening I decided to get my run in today. Have I mentioned that it is taper week? Just because there are no really long workouts that doesn’t mean that the workouts aren’t quality ones. And today’s quality workout involved speed intervals! It was essentially a repeat of Sunday’s run, except it was 8 x 2:00 speed intervals instead of 10. Given that I rode hill repeats yesterday I was actually really happy with how the intervals went. I was about the same pace range as Sunday on the intervals and felt pretty strong the entire way. Tomorrow? Bring on the bike!
Yay for good bike repair! You’d be pisssed if that happened on race day, better now than later. Oh, and save old shitty tires and put them on your bike when you’re on the trainer or get a training tire so you don’t kill the good/new one!
Much like I had no idea that there was a proper “side up” to put paper in a photocopier (apparently there is..who knew?), I had no idea there was a proper direction for a wheel to spin. Though I’m not shocked that I didn’t know about the bike tire…I’m not very mechanically inclined.
Glad it happened now and not on race day!
lol. i would be someone who puts the tire on backwards 🙂 the trainer sounds like it could be the culprit. maybe the trainer was set up near a heat vent too?
Glad you have your bike all fixed up and great job on the intervals! Enjoy the ride today.
There’s a correct way to rotate your tire? Is that true for cars too? Weird. And a correct way to copy paper? How do you know which way? I learn all kinds of things on this blog.
Wow, I learn so much from you! I never would have known about the tire direction thingy.
I like Missy’s idea about crappy tires on the trainer good tires for the roads, again, something learned….THANKS.
I did know about the rotation arrow, but did NOT know the trainer could be so detrimental to tire health. Learning vicariously though blogging? Check!
Hmm, I’d better check to see if my tires have arrows too as I didn’t know some had a specific direction they were supposed to go in.
Though I don’t use the trainer much, I actually have an extra back wheel with an old tire that’s still good for indoor use. Esp. when I am going long (and often by myself) I don’t want to take any unnecessary chances with tire problems. That said, in San Diego, I did have a tire fail on me because the bead, the part that goes against the rim had worn down so much it couldn’t seal well so it was bulging outwards and cause the tire to rub against the brake a little. I think that was the result of having used tire irons to pull it on/off so many times to fix flats (it was one of those more flexible kevlar beads, not a wire bead). Luckily, I had a spare tire with me in the hotel and the problem was noticed as I was pushing my bike back to the hotel room, not while riding. Could have been disastrous if I’d been riding and all of a sudden the bulge had gotten so big that the rear wheel stopped moving completely.
Oh, the fun about riding bikes!!
PS – Just mentioned to my husband, who’s a bike geek, about the tire arrow and he says that putting tire on the wrong way (if there is an arrow) will only affect the tire’s performance, not its structure. Namely, the tread pattern is optimized to grab a certain way, common for those that are designed for harsher conditions such as wet weather or off-road use. He definitely thinks heat from being near an exhaust pipe of your car could have caused the tire to soften in a spot and then while rotating under pressure during your ride it would have begun to fail. His ex-wife did the same thing once.
Who knew that tires had arrows? Somehow, I did know that there as a proper way to put paper in a copier.
I’m glad you wee able to get it fixed and it didn’t cause a huge problem while you were riding!
Okay, I thought it was a tread pattern thing vs. a structural thing. That’s a relief.
I wore my tires to death on my trainer over the winter. First ride out on the road, the sidewalls collapsed. So my vote is that the trainer weakened it.
I keep two sets of wheels now (well, three between the two bikes, I guess): one for the road, one for the trainer. That way I don’t kill my road tires on the trainer, and I don’t have to continuously change tires, either.
Now, I need to go check my tire and see if it has arrows!!
Who knew about arrows on bike tires! Now I hafta look too…