onewheelgone
New Member
- Local time
- 7:45 AM
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2011
- Messages
- 7
Okay.....so my shiney brand new Worksman showed up via UPS yesterday. I spent an enjoyable evening finishing the assembly, planning for its first ride this morning. A motor is in its future, of course.
I read the instructions, noting that 40psi is the recommended tire pressure. The tires already had air but were low, so I carefully brought them up and took off down the street. I noticed the forks seemed a tiny bit sensitive, but of course I haven't ridden since I was 14......and I'm 62 now, so maybe I've just forgotten what it's like to ride. I also noticed the front tire tread was running a little crooked. Faulty tread pattern perhaps?
I got home and put the bike in the house, then went to poke around on the computer, my two boxer dogs laying next to me on the floor, when suddenly..
KA-BOOM!!!!
The dogs came off the floor about two feet, looking around wildly while I tried to figure out if we just had a gas explosion or an aircraft crash in the yard. When I went into the living room, there was my front bike tire, half off the rim, with what was left of the tube hanging out in shreds.
I called Worksman and talked to Al, one of their tech staff. He surmised that the tube either had a weak spot or perhaps an un-noticed fold. My airing it up had put a strain in that spot and she let go....fortunately while "parked". If it had happened with a motor at say, 25mph, I'd have been face down on the asphalt. Al recommended puncture resistant tubes and offered to send a pair, but buying them locally will be faster so I'll go that route.
The lesson learned? Tires are the weak link in the chain...don't scrimp on them and check them constantly.
I read the instructions, noting that 40psi is the recommended tire pressure. The tires already had air but were low, so I carefully brought them up and took off down the street. I noticed the forks seemed a tiny bit sensitive, but of course I haven't ridden since I was 14......and I'm 62 now, so maybe I've just forgotten what it's like to ride. I also noticed the front tire tread was running a little crooked. Faulty tread pattern perhaps?
I got home and put the bike in the house, then went to poke around on the computer, my two boxer dogs laying next to me on the floor, when suddenly..
KA-BOOM!!!!
The dogs came off the floor about two feet, looking around wildly while I tried to figure out if we just had a gas explosion or an aircraft crash in the yard. When I went into the living room, there was my front bike tire, half off the rim, with what was left of the tube hanging out in shreds.
I called Worksman and talked to Al, one of their tech staff. He surmised that the tube either had a weak spot or perhaps an un-noticed fold. My airing it up had put a strain in that spot and she let go....fortunately while "parked". If it had happened with a motor at say, 25mph, I'd have been face down on the asphalt. Al recommended puncture resistant tubes and offered to send a pair, but buying them locally will be faster so I'll go that route.
The lesson learned? Tires are the weak link in the chain...don't scrimp on them and check them constantly.
