Keith Oates
Janner
- Location
- Penarth, Wales
On this mornings commute I got forced into the ditch by a truck coming the other way and in so doing went into a pool of water. However the pool was hiding quite a deep pot hole and so one bang and some shaking of the handle bars followed. On continuing along the road I heard a sound like a hiss coming from the front wheel and thought it was an air leak from a pinch flat. I was rushing to catch the ferry so thought I would go as far as possible and hope to reach the ferry before I had to stop. However the further I went the hiss got a little louder on each rotation of the wheel but a slightly different sound so I thought I would just lightly pull the front brake as that might be rubbing on the wheel. I did this and there was an almighty bang as something seemed to go through or around the wheel but then silence and the bike running much more freely. I therefore continued to the ferry but when I applied the front brake to stop 'nothing' but I used the back and all ended well. When I got to work and looked carefuly at the front brake I found that the brake block had turned (MTB cantilever type) had turned on one side and was upside down and below (clear ) of the rim on one side. I put it all back the right way and now full braking service has resumed. I think what happened was that the allen bolt holding the brake was slack and the bang into the pot hole moved the block so that the noise (hiss) that I heard was the brake block on the tyre.When I applied the brake it dug into the tyre and was forced around. All's well that ends well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
