🚀 go-pugleaf

You know...I *tried* riding into work saturday...

The black Raleigh ATB still has a rusted chain and sprockets (tho I did 
finally fix the alignment on the rear derailleur), so I took Freddy Fender 
to work.

I have been neglecting those before-ride "once over" checks...baaaad 
mistake.

The tires were a little soft (as Freddy has been sitting idle for several 
weeks), so I stopped at the local shell station for some air.  Thus 
fortified, I set out on down 84th to Nordel way...

BANG!

Front tire blew out...just as I reached the bottom of the hill on 84th.

dang.

Got the burst tube swapped for a fresh one in under 10 mins...it was dark so 
I couldn't tell what, if anything, had burst the tube and I assumed that I 
had over-inflated it...

wrong.

Second tube burst at the bottom of Nordel as I was riding the 
brakes...happened at slow speed, so I didn't eat any pavement.

Hmmm...two blow-outs...each at the bottom of a hill...while the brakes were 
being applied, hard.

You'd think I would have clued in by then...

Found a payphone (that accepted cards...gotta remember to carry change!)and 
called a cab.  Got to work on time, left Freddy chained up to the rack at 
the Planet Ice Sports centre.

Went back and had a close look at that front tire in daylight, after work...

A section of sidewall had been sliced clean away from the wire bead on the 
clincher tire...by what?

A brake shoe.

An ever-so-slightly mis-aligned brake shoe.  Set just a millimeter too high 
on the rim...so that as the pad wore down, a thin little spur developed that 
got closer and ever closer to the tire sidewall, and eventually began 
digging into and abrading away the tire at that one spot.  Black rubber 
pads, and evidently a little harder than they need be...

Ah well, live and learn...

Mebbe I should look into equiping the new bike I'm building (named "Bender") 
with disc brakes?

B.