Ouch

[nobrakes]

I'll probably go back to tubes for now. I've straightened the rim as best I can and tidied it up, but I'm sure it won't be 100% perfect so I wouldn't trust another tubeless tyre even if it did inflate. The other option is to get the wheel rebuilt with a new rim but I think it's easier to go back to tubes for now, this crash is causing me some serious financial pain already!

I'm going to put Duranos on until the worst of the weather is out the way and the roads get a bit cleaner. I've just ordered a new left hand Force 22 brifter and I'm waiting on Garmin getting back to me about my options for either a blank for the left pedal or whatever else is possible. New bar tape is ready and waiting for the brifter. I'll keep the old one as a reminder to myself as to why lightweight carbon components are not going to feature on my shopping list for any future builds. Just too fragile. Back to Shimano SPD pedals for now.

I don't think I had quite realised what a blowout meant on a tubeless tyre - the mess was substantial and I was completely unable to get the tyre to seat properly to try and blow it back up. I did have tyre levers, emergency tube etc with me so I could have got going again if I really had to, but after 30 minutes in low temperature with significant wind chill (I was soaked through after a rain storm as well), I was starting to think that I had to get somewhere warm before my core temperature dropped too much. Lucky I was quite close to home and was able to hail a ride.

In 18 months and around 7000 miles I've had 2 snakebites on tubed tyres (both times on Kojaks), and both were fixed with a spare inside 15 minutes with no mess or fuss. It's this side that is appealing to me again right now. The mess on a tubeless blowout is not something I had considered. I'll ride tubes again for a while and see how I feel about it in a few months.

I was thinking about this crash again last night. I wondered if I could have done anything different but I think it was just the luck of the draw. I wasn't pushing the envelope or riding stupidly. I am aware that my skills on the V are not on a par with my ability to throw the Fuego around yet, so I was taking it easy on the bits where I felt I had to. Short of riding really slowly I'm nor sure there's anything else I could have done.

 

[LarryOz]

I was running 75 PSI front, 80 rear.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. Heal quickly
I have had quite a few front flats (with tubes) - lots of scraping of bike parts and lots of road rash - usually at speeds in excess of 25mph. I have had none with tubeless.
My observation for what it is worth. I usually run between 90-100 psi in my tubeless tires. Perhaps running higher would have prevented the rim from contacting the thing that bent it, if the tires was under-inflated enough to not compress down to the offending obstacle. Hard to know unless you found the exact thing you ran over.

 

[Gary123]

I had the same experience as yours on my vendetta while riding tubes. Pothole at about 20mph on flat level road, eased up to check for flat and immediately went totally out of control and crashed in the middle of the road. Luckily no major damage just scrapes to me and the bike. Walked home trying to figure out what happened and after similar post as yours the best answer was don't have a front flat. I have switched to a tougher tire and slime tubes hoping for a slower leak and time to get stopped before a crash. Tubeless' wheel were recommended but I didn't want to go that route right now. Sorry about your crash but a front blowout is still a big concern for me after a couple years if riding this bike.

 

[ak-tux]

Glad you are O.K. and I hope you will get a replacement of all that was damaged soon.

..
I was running 75 PSI front, 80 rear.
..

I think all FWD MBB bicyles have more weight in front when the rider is seated on it than at the rear. I usually inflate my front tyre higher than my rear.

Mine are 700x28mm schwalbe marathron at the front at 85PSI and 700x28mm schwalbe delta cruiser at the rear at 70 PSI (total weight of bicycle+rider is 87Kg).

 

[Gary123]

I also run 28s and keep them at 90-100. Installed a different seat with more upward curve at the shoulder for more comfort and better view if the road.

 

[ed72]

Going down with catastrophic loss of front tire pressure is not limited to MBB front wheel drive.

I don't understand why but in hundreds of thousand of miles on an upright bike, a front or rear flat has never once taken me down.

I had a blowout from hitting a pothole on different non-mbb design bent and there was zero steering response. The pavement was like ice. I barely kept it vertical as a slithered into the ditch at 15 mph. It hurt. A lot.

 

[Gary123]

That's very interesting. I've never front flatted on other recumbents (1 rear flat on Bacchetta with no problem. Many front and rear on db with no issue. Maybe it's a recumbent thing.

 

[Bill K]

Well, I know nothing about this technology except I find it interesting, and it might solve most of these catastrophic front flats, and most likely rides better than a solid tire.
It is designed for mtn bikes, and consists of a high pressure inner tire inside a standard tubeless outer tire.

https://www.schwalbe.com/en/schwalbe-procore.html

 

[Gary123]

I've dreamed of something like this but didn't know it existed. Looks like it could be used for road bikes also.

 

[nobrakes]

Some interesting discussion on tubes vs tubeless. I do have to say that my confidence in tubeless has been 'dented' by my experience, both in the risk of blowout due to structural rim damage and also the mess it entails when you are trying to get going again at the side of the road. I don't think I would have blown out if I had been running tubes in this instance but also recognize that similar things can happen when running tubes. Most folks seem to find tubeless less hassle and fewer punctures which was my whole reason for trying them, so maybe I've just been really unlucky.

The good thing is when you come off on a recumbent, you don't have as far to fall and your head is generally not in the impact path. Legs are not so bad to take a beating. I think the V20 has good inbuilt crash support too - the rear QR skewer, pedal and bars seem to take all the hit, the frame and seat were untouched. One advantage of having wide road bars.

The idea of an emergency 'run flat' tube like the procore Bill K mentioned is something I find very attractive, something that is enough to stop you wiping out while you bring the bike to a stop would be great. However it also seems to add even more complexity, I imagine if you have some serious issue to fix at the roadside these tubes are going to be even more bother.

I'm going to run tubes for a while and see how I feel about it all in a few months. Got some work to do over the next week or two getting the bike back to its running state. Still really upset about the Vector pedals. I was surprised at the damage to the pedal, it doesn't look to be particularly strongly constructed. There's a lot of plastic and thin metal that has snapped / bent. Just FYI if you were considering a pair. Perhaps a Powertap hub would be a more durable solution. If I'd known then what I know now that's the way I would have went when I got the wheels built.

 

[Gary123]

I just think any bother with repair is better than a Wipeout. Also snakebite flats deflate very fast on narrow tires. I was down within a couple of seconds after pothole so I don't know if tubes are the answer. Sounds like these tires have all the advantages of tubeless with backup safety of another tube.

 

[DavidCH]

Hey @nobrakes ... really sorry to read about your plight. It could have been worse. It could have happened if you were riding a DF. At least you didn't brake your bones. It's a great idea to have an aluminum handlebar too. It doesn't crack... a few grazes can be covered up. I've had a blowout on a tube and that's why I went tubeless. Since then no slides across the road. The other asset is that on a cruzbike you are quite low to the ground so less impact. These bikes fly... i would rather be fast on a V than on a DF. Hope your recovery is quick.

 

[nobrakes]

Hey @nobrakes ... really sorry to read about your plight. It could have been worse. It could have happened if you were riding a DF. At least you didn't brake your bones. It's a great idea to have an aluminum handlebar too. It doesn't crack... a few grazes can be covered up. I've had a blowout on a tube and that's why I went tubeless. Since then no slides across the road. The other asset is that on a cruzbike you are quite low to the ground so less impact. These bikes fly... i would rather be fast on a V than on a DF. Hope your recovery is quick.

Thanks. I agree with you and the accident had nothing to do with the V. Just one of those things. I love the bike and the way it rides. Got the wheels back on today - new brifter ready to be installed too. SPDs are on so once the brifter is on and bars retaped the bike will be ready to go. I’m going to take the race case off and spend some time seeing what I can do with that.

 

[ed72]

I love the bent kool-aid.....when you fall you don't have far to the ground.....tell that to my 3 broken ribs.

 

[1happyreader]

I love the bent kool-aid.....when you fall you don't have far to the ground.....tell that to my 3 broken ribs.

mmmmm , not many people practice falling off a bike.
maybe a gymnast or martial artist on a DF would tuck n land on their shoulder/back rather than arm/head.
common DF injury = front fall ? wrist, collar bone , skull , neck .
common recumbent injury = side fall ? wrist, shoulder, (ed72) ribs.
the only time I fell at speed I had no clue and rode the handlebars to the ground, probably kept my elbows in all the way to the ground protecting my side ???
Apologies to your ribs aside, my butt and CG are definitely lower to the ground than on a df.

 

[DavidCH]

I love the bent kool-aid.....when you fall you don't have far to the ground.....tell that to my 3 broken ribs.

I've done the superman impression on a DF. It wasn't going on a descent balancing on the seat going 90kph but going head first over the handlebars to avoid a dog shooting out in front of me as I was sprinting. I landed on my rib cage. It's agony for 3 months. You have my sympathies

 

[bladderhead]

I did the superman thing. I think it was more like a swallow dive. I got a bash on the chin which caused a cut - looked like I had lost a fight. I had grazes all down my throat and my shirt buttons were ripped off. I think my head bent back as I hit the road. Someone said that this spread the impact and saved me from a broken collarbone. I crashed the Grasshopper. I got a broken elbow and nearly broken ribs. Man, but the ribs were painful. I got up off the road but I could hardly move. The ribs felt far worse than the elbow. I could not breathe properly for six weeks. The sawbones said the ribs were not broken. I would rather have a broken arm than broken ribs. I sometimes think that if you are on a 'bent, skateboarders' elbow-pads would be more useful than a skid-lid.

 

[Gary123]

I Wear elbow pads. I hit them every time I go down. Needed stitches once. Twice on df once on cruzbike.

 

[DavidCH]

It's embarrssing to say but sometime. Once in a royal blue moon I would be clipped in and I would forget my centre of balance just for a moment and I would keel over.

Just remember to relax and let the handlebar take the impact. Novices usually ding their elbows and knees.

(I am still a novice as it doesn't usually happen and when it does it surprises me).

 

[Uphill]

I Wear elbow pads. I hit them every time I go down. Needed stitches once. Twice on df once on cruzbike.

Elbows for me on my current low racer, nothing else. Do you use pads with D3O in them?