An unwelcome pick up

[vhfman]

I just went for a quick ride on my Dahon Espresso, after a rebuild to test out the gears, brakes and new BPM hub. I only went a few hundred yards along the road, before coming back to readjust the brakes. Back at home, I put the bike on the work stand and made the adjustments. Out of the corner of my eye, a little brown mark on the tyre attracted my attention. It turned out it was not a brown mark, but the head of a nail sticking out of the tyre!

It just goes to show how quickly you can pick up a potential problem. Fortunately I was lucky, as I had not gone far enough for the nail to get through to the inner tube. But I’m sure if I had gone much farther it would have punctured, this unprotected front tyre. I have a Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour tyre on the rear wheel.
The BPM motor really pulls well, and I will be writing a quick overview of the rebuild later, including few pictures of the new set up.

Chris

 

[Fordulike]

Damn those nails
I know you're gonna do a write-up later, but could you wet our appetites with which version of BPM you're running (350w/500w) and battery voltage please

 

[PennyFarthing]

Good job you spotted it!! Grrrrrrr!

 

[Cyclezee]

It just goes to show how quickly you can pick up a potential problem. Fortunately I was lucky, as I had not gone far enough for the nail to get through to the inner tube. But I’m sure if I had gone much farther it would have punctured, this unprotected front tyre. I have a Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour tyre on the rear wheel.
Chris

As you know Chris, Marathon Plus tyres are great and I have recently fitted the Tour version to a couple of bikes, but the position of that nail might have sneaked past the edge of the protective layer on a Schwalbe.

Lucky you spotted it before it could do any damage

 

[mike killay]

Looking at a vintage (1950's) bike last weekend reminded me of something I haven't seen in ages. Flint catchers!
Would have removed this nail at the first turn of the wheel.

 

[Mussels]

Looking at a vintage (1950's) bike last weekend reminded me of something I haven't seen in ages. Flint catchers!
Would have removed this nail at the first turn of the wheel.

IIRC flecc posted a while back why these are dangerous, I can't remember the reason myself.

 

[flecc]

With a strongly embedded nail etc, it's possible for them to be bent under and suddenly lock the wheel. OK in the past with the sedate cycling speeds that were common then (8 to 12 mph), but not funny at the much higher speeds that are frequent now.

 

[Haku]

I got a flat a week ago on a night ride, had to walk 3 miles home

Most of the punctures I've had on my ebike were because of shards of glass from smashed beer bottles that **** youths leave on cycle paths, one was from a red rubber pin/badge which I initially thought was a boiled sweet stuck to the front tyre, until I pulled it out...

Just read of a novel solution to preventing flats: Puncture resistant bike tires from old seatbelts - Hack a Day

 

[flecc]

Same principle as the kevlar belt inserts Haku, should work quite well. Trouble is, like all stiff reinforcing layers, it will sap pedalling effort through higher roll resistance, thougfh if cycling at slowish speeds (10/12 mph) that won't amount to much.