I went for a recovery ride this afternoon, a short 1+ hour spin to Foothill Expressway. When I got my bike out of the garage, I noticed the front tire pressure was quite low. The back seemed fine — after all, I had just changed the tube a few days prior while on the Death Ride — so I just pumped the front to my normal 100 psi. Off I went on my ride, intentionally taking it easy since I’m still a bit sore from the weekend.
On the way back, I felt the bike handling to be a bit too squirrely. At first, I thought it was my front tire, but it turns out, my rear tire was going flat again! This was no slow leak, either, this was a wobbly, you-must-fix-this-now, type of leak. I don’t recall running over anything that could have caused the flat, and I’m pretty sure that I installed the tube correctly on the Death Ride. If I hadn’t, that downhill stretch from Carson could have been very dangerous.
While replacing the tube along Homestead Avenue, I remembered that Felix had purchased solid tires for his communting bike a few months ago. Later on in the evening, I went to read his experience with AirFree Tires, which turned out to be fairly positive. There are dissenting opinions, but I figure I’ll trust a friend’s opinion over a stranger. At $50/pair, the Daytona TT AirFree tires are actually cheaper than the pair of Michelin Pro Race tires on my bike. They most likely will not have the same performance as tubulars, but who am I going to be racing against anytime soon?
I’ll provide an update once I get the tires. In the meantime, I hope I don’t get anymore flats, as I’m out of tubes at the moment!
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