If you think just looking at and "kicking the tire" to see if it's got air, I think you are doing it wrong...
Yesterday I go out to ride to class, look at the tires, give a quick kick. Yep they feel stiff. Off I go. 2 miles into my trip, I go over some train tracks, and then my rear end is all goofy on me, like holy cow why am I going sideways goofy. I pull over and look at the rear end thinking I broke the axle or something crazy. Nothing obvious is glaring at me when I get off the bike and look at the wheel. The ride side is still straight and even with the bike.
Then I look at the left side. I discover this "minor" problem. Well, somehow, by magic it must be, the tire had gone flat and the entire left half of the tire was off the bead!!! The rear tire, a Pirelli, has such stiff side walls, that I couldn't even tell it was flat riding it, looking at it, or kicking it. So I figured, I came this two miles, what the heck, go back home, off the bead even.
Now I've got to set the bead, I'm getting my tools all ready. Speed Air chuck used to air up tires off the bead, like at the tire shop. Valve stem puller, and what not. Then I just decide to give it a try by just seeing if airing it up on it's own will happen. I put on the air chuck squeeze the trigger and magic happens. The tire just goes on and airs up. I've never seen this before on a tire that didn't have a tube. There was just enough pressure from the shape of the tire pressing against the bead, that it kept a good seal even with no lube!
I was on a 35mph road, just after train tracks, going probably 15-20 when it happened. It's a very odd feeling to have a complete flat like this and "crabbing" to go straight.
Use an air gauge to check your tire pressure. Ideally every day you go out, or at least once a week.
Yesterday I go out to ride to class, look at the tires, give a quick kick. Yep they feel stiff. Off I go. 2 miles into my trip, I go over some train tracks, and then my rear end is all goofy on me, like holy cow why am I going sideways goofy. I pull over and look at the rear end thinking I broke the axle or something crazy. Nothing obvious is glaring at me when I get off the bike and look at the wheel. The ride side is still straight and even with the bike.
Then I look at the left side. I discover this "minor" problem. Well, somehow, by magic it must be, the tire had gone flat and the entire left half of the tire was off the bead!!! The rear tire, a Pirelli, has such stiff side walls, that I couldn't even tell it was flat riding it, looking at it, or kicking it. So I figured, I came this two miles, what the heck, go back home, off the bead even.
Now I've got to set the bead, I'm getting my tools all ready. Speed Air chuck used to air up tires off the bead, like at the tire shop. Valve stem puller, and what not. Then I just decide to give it a try by just seeing if airing it up on it's own will happen. I put on the air chuck squeeze the trigger and magic happens. The tire just goes on and airs up. I've never seen this before on a tire that didn't have a tube. There was just enough pressure from the shape of the tire pressing against the bead, that it kept a good seal even with no lube!
I was on a 35mph road, just after train tracks, going probably 15-20 when it happened. It's a very odd feeling to have a complete flat like this and "crabbing" to go straight.
Use an air gauge to check your tire pressure. Ideally every day you go out, or at least once a week.