Quote:
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Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran
...any of you ever blow up [as in explode] a bicycle tube at a gas station?
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Back in high school I and a couple of friends were on PCH in Seal Beach and one of my friends (Mark) decided the rear tire on his bike was too low (we had Schwinn Varsitys, but he had a nice light foreign road bike--don't remember the brand anymore). We pulled into a service station (kids, back then you could get air for free right on the dispenser island. Yes way) and as he was topping off his tire, we sauggested that he might be overfilling it (no pop-up guage for whatever reason). He replied, "I know EXACTLY how much air to put in."
He finished and proceeded to add air to his front tire ("As long as I'm doing the back tire..."). He finished up and we were rolling our bikes away from the island and his bike stops, like his brakes locked up. A quick glance showed the problem--a huge bulge in the tire was jammed behind his rear brake.
He reached out to feel it as he said, "Wow, I didn't--" and as he touched it, it blew.
BAM!! My other friend (Jim) and I laughed very hard. :lol: "Oh, I know EXACTLY how much air to use!" :poke2:
None of us had tools to fix a flat, so Mark and Jim went to see if the gas station guy would loan us anything to get us back on the road. I was left to watch the bikes. As I'm sitting there, I hear this odd kind of creaking sound. Lo and behold, before my eyes, Mark's front tire is developing a bulge just like the one on the back tire had looked.
I jumped up and ran after Mark and Jim. "Mark, Mark, your front tire is--"
BAM!!
I don't think I have ever, EVER, laughed so hard. For years, if Mark ever disagreed with us on ANYTHING, we'd say "We know, Mark, you know EXACTLY how much air to use." Ow. My ribs hurt just from thinking about it.