To the person/s scattering nails on the footpaths round Oxford Gardens

[Gramaisc]

There did used to be some bloke that wandered round the town with a rat on his shoulder - probably early to mid 1990s.

 

[Goldilox]

Hmmmm...I wonder if this is the same 'good citizen' who picks up all the random bits of builder's rubbish etc that the binmen don't take, and lobs them over my back fence. Because it's doing my head in.

 

[joshua]

There did used to be some bloke that wandered round the town with a
rat on his shoulder - probably early to mid 1990s.

Tbh i would prefer that to the numptys wandering about with chips on their shoulder's these days.

 

[gilesjuk]

Since buying Slime Bike Tyre Liners, I've had no punctures since I put them on 6 months ago. Before that I had a puncture nearly every other time I've been out and about.

People who get a lot of punctures aren't pumping their tyres up regularly enough or to the correct pressure. Many tyres need about 40-50 psi in them. A track pump with gauge is essential IMHO.

Even better than slime tyre liners is tubeless tyres. By not having tubes you drop weight and rolling resistance compared with slime tubes or liners, in the event of any problem (such as huge cut) you can stick a spare tube in.

As for the nails, could they not have fallen off a scrap van or pick up? there is a builders merchant not far away.

 

[That-Crazy-Rat-Lady]

There did used to be some bloke that wandered round the town with a rat on his shoulder - probably early to mid 1990s.

Yeah I remember my dad telling me as a kid that there was a bloke who had a rat that lived in his hair!
As a kid I was fascinated by this idea and is probably the reason why I have so many now!

 

[mrferret]

People who get a lot of punctures aren't pumping their tyres up regularly enough or to the correct pressure. Many tyres need about 40-50 psi in them. A track pump with gauge is essential IMHO.

Even better than slime tyre liners is tubeless tyres. By not having tubes you drop weight and rolling resistance compared with slime tubes or liners, in the event of any problem (such as huge cut) you can stick a spare tube in.

As for the nails, could they not have fallen off a scrap van or pick up? there is a builders merchant not far away.

Sadly, that isn't the case as the nails are scattered on all the footpaths, where the builders/scrap vans cannot go. And over the past year it has been the same sort of nails, small panel nails. They end up on the streets as they probably get swept there over time. The only van that drives down the access road is the scrap guy, when he is looking for stuff to 'Recycle' . I hardly imagine he drops the same type of nails all the time. Not brand new ones anyway.

On a side note, what a great chap! Even coming round early on a sunday morning when you are in bed, and kindly looking over your garden wall in case you left him anything metal like a wheelbarrow, garden tools or a bike. What a champ.

Back to the topic though, Giles I hear you on the tyres. I have a pair of Marathon XR Kevlar tyres pumped up to 60PSI with thick inner tubes. I don't get any punctures, just nails.

 

[gilesjuk]

Back to the topic though, Giles I hear you on the tyres. I have a pair of Marathon XR Kevlar tyres pumped up to 60PSI with thick inner tubes. I don't get any punctures, just nails.

Got some Marathon Plus on my bike, they're not the fastest tyre but running them tubeless at least means they roll faster than they would with tubes.

I've got a bike where the rear wheel is extremely hard to remove, so I try to ensure I never get a puncture. The only time tubeless has let me down is when I hadn't topped up the sealant in the tyres. It's very runny latex with some fine granules in it, but it dries out after a while so you need to top it up (I do it through the presta valve as I have a removable core and an injector).

Going tubeless is a bit of an effort, I ended up re-building my wheels with Stan's notubes rims. It's a little hit and miss with tyres, some seal up well and others need a rubber rimstrip fitting to the rim to increase the rim diameter a little. Schwalbe are generally fine with no rimstrip.

 

[Alesto]

There did used to be some bloke that wandered round the town with a rat on his shoulder - probably early to mid 1990s.

I remember him, I think his name was Brendan. Thinking about it though I think he was around in the 80's. Older than I thought I was!

 

[Gramaisc]

There did used to be some bloke that wandered round the town with a rat on his shoulder - probably early to mid 1990s.

I remember him, I think his name was Brendan. Thinking about it though I think he was around in the 80's. Older than I thought I was!

Mmm, you could be right.

 

[Trapnest]

Oh gosh, really? D: I'm about to move in to the area, I thought my current one was bad enough! I will keep an eye out!