First Snow of the Season

Here's a picture I took, yesterday, in 80 degree F temps:

It's a Cannondale M700 on which I installed the ENO-hubbed wheelset from the pink bike, along with a few other parts, to turn it into a flip-flop fixed-free singlespeed commuter for a local customer. Turned out really nice. I used the ENO on my (now my nephew's) Cannondale with good results. I just couldn't get the thing to stay in place in the Fisher dropouts.

Here's a picture, from this morning, as I got home from Kaladi Brothers Coffee:

Thirty-four degrees F, wet, heavy snow and a cold wind. What a difference a day makes.

I had, of course, another flat while I was out. The rear tire went down while I was at the coffee shop. So, I just took my CO2 cartridge and reinflated it, thinking I could get home before it went back down, since I had gotten there without noticing it being low. I figured it must have had a small, slow, leak.

Nope. Air in...air out. I had apparently run over an idustrial staple or a small nail in the alley as I rode up to Kaladi's, because I later found a largish square-edged hole in the tube.

Naturally, I only had the one cartridge with me, and the pump I usually carry on this bike is on the Miami Vice bike. So, it looked like I was either going to walk home, or hitch a ride. Or, ride home on a flat, which is what I did.

I figured the snow on the ground and the big-ole tire would protect the rim, and I wasn't concerned with the tire, itself, since I don't like these tires anyway. So, I rode slowly home, making that flat-tire sound as I went, and put the bike in the stand when I got home.

To my surprise, the tire was not only undamaged, but it was still securely seated in the rim. I would bet these tires work nicely as tubeless tires, if you do the "Stan's conversion" on them.

I squeezed some latex sealant into a new tube, and reinstalled the tire and called it good.

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