Both my wheels are well worn and well due for replacement but I've been putting it off a bit until I could afford it, my new neighbour who rides strolled over as I was setting off a few weeks ago and immediately remarked on the wear
To compound that I wore the front brake pads right down to nothing a few weeks ago and heard a slight bad noise for a couple of commutes, a pin inside the pad had scored a nice shiny line by the time I fitted some new ones, yes, I know
Anyway tonking home down the Mile End Road on Friday I felt the front wasn't right when I braked, felt like a ding and then just like when I cracked a rim on a pothole a year ago, best check that when I get home I thought, in a complacent, lets get home for a nice beer, way.
Then a very loud bang and it all went very wobbly and hard to stay on, the three motorcycle coppers ahead all jumped just like someone had fired a gun and then watched with a mixture of relief and amusement as I tried to stop without coming a cropper. One of them did run over to hold me up as I stopped, good man.
At first I thought the wire on the tyre had come away but then it was clear that the rim had, umm, exploded, and parted along the line of the aforementioned score for about a third of the circumference of the wheel, leading tyre to come off and inner tyre to quite understandably deflate very fast indeed.
Fortunately it was a 15 minute walk to Liverpool Street and home, LBS had a brand new handbuilt 36h front, so sorted
But anyway, for any other gamblers out there, perhaps it's a false economy to push the rims toooo far, and I promise it's very hard to stay on when one goes.
Dodgy picture, the missing rim I had to snap off and leave in a bin so the wheel would go round for pushing.
the all too ghastly score didn't look that bad in real life I promise, the afternoon sun seems to have caught it in a very dramatic way
