A Bike in Need of Repair
Back in May of this year, at the start of a 20 mile bike ride on a late Saturday morning, the inflatable tube in the rear tire of my Trek Bikes Hybrid FX 2.0 bike exploded. Not only did the inflatable tube explode, there was a long gash in the rear tire. As a result, I had to walk back to my mother's house while pushing the bike. I was disappointed, but I wasn't exactly angry. I knew that my bike was a ticking time bomb. It was just a matter of time before I needed to make a major repair of some kind.
Some Background
 |
| The Bike Lane of Reston, VA |
I originally bought the hybrid bike from a bike shop known as The Bike Lane that used to be located at the Reston Town Center in Reston, VA, during the summer of 2014. The Bike Lane used to be a short walk down the street from the infamous Jackson's Mighty Fine Food and Lucky Lounge. The Bike Lane is now located at 11150 Sunset Hills Drive near Wiehle Metro station. The Bike Lane was a pretty good store to just walk and look around. I knew nothing about Trek Bikes, but I liked what I saw. One Sunday afternoon in July 2014, I was walking around Reston Town Center and noticed that The Bike Lane was having a sale. Moreover, there were people inside and outside the store, which was unusual. Curious, I walked into the store for the first time. I discovered that The Bike Lane had reduced their prices on all of the Trek Bikes they had in stock. For some time, I was thinking about buying a hybrid bike, so I could ride the bike trails in Reston and Herndon since I developed osteoarthritis in both knees and could no longer go jogging. I gave my driver's license to the store manager and took the bike for a test ride around Reston Town Center. I had a fun time riding the bike. The regular price for the Hybrid FX 2.0 bike was $650. However, with the promotion, the bike was on sale for $500. Plus, the store manager reduced the price of the bike by $50 since the bike already had some scratches on the frame. I ended up buying both the bike and a bike helmet. I then rode the bike along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail through Reston to Herndon, VA and on to Ashburn, VA. Due to a fortunate series of events, most of the parts on my hybrid bike never needed maintenance of any kind. When I rode my bike on the bike trails around the Reston-Herndon-Ashburn, VA area, I never had any problems. Not even a flat tire. When I moved Columbia, MD, in 2016, I still didn't have any problems with my bike. However, when the lease on my apartment next to Columbia Mall expired in June 2017, I had the moving company ship my bike to my mother's house in Sun City, AZ. For several years, my Trek Hybrid FX 2.0 bike collected dust in the garage, while getting baked by the Arizona heat.
Presta Valve versus Schrader Valve
 |
| Southwest Bicycles of Peoria, AZ |
When I moved back to Arizona from living in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, MD area for 13 years this past November, one of my goals was to get my bike back up and running. One of the first things I did was go over to the nearest bike shop, Southwest Bicycles in nearby Peoria, AZ, and buy two new inflatable bike tubes for the tires. When I went to buy the new inflatable bike tubes, I had a decision to make. Was I going to buy inflatable bike tubes with a Presta valve or inflatable tubes with a Schrader valve? Not really understanding the difference between the two different valves, I went with the Presta valves. After all, inflatable bike tubes are inflatable bike tubes, right? Big mistake. There are big differences between the two bike tube types. My Trek Hybrid bike originally came with inflatable tubes that had Schrader valves. I should have bought two inflatable bike tubes with Schrader valves. That's probably a good rule of thumb to remember when buying replacement parts for your bike. When you buy replacement parts for your bike, try to stay with what your bike originally came with.
 |
| Bike Tube with Presta Valve |
After buying two inflatable bike tubes with Presta valves, a brand new Trek hand pump, and some other miscellaneous items for my bike, I took everything back to my mother's house to get to work. After some difficulty, I managed to replace the old inflatable bike tubes with Schrader valves with the new inflatable bike tubes with the Presta valves. I then inflated both tubes with my brand new Trek hand pump. Something didn't seem quite right. There was an issue with the inflatable bike tubes. Knowing that my hybrid bike had never received any kind of maintenance, I went ahead and made an appointment with Southwest Bicycles to perform a tune-up on my bike.
 |
| Bike Tube with Schrader Valve |
On the day I picked up my bike from South West Bikes, I took my bike for a ride on the New River Trail that is literaly right next to Southwest Bicycles. After riding as far north as Happy Valley Road in northern Peoria (or is it Glendale?), I heard a loud PSSSSHHHHH!!!!!! sound come from my bike as I was heading south near Beardsley Road on the New River Trail. The front tire was completely flat. I tried using a CO2 cartridge to inflate the front tube. No luck. After taking a short break, I walked my bike all the way back to Southwest Bicycles. After explaining what happened, Southwest Bicycles explained to me that several customers had similar experiences to mine. The apparent cause was the Presta valve in the inflatable tube of the front tire. One of the repair technicians replaced the inflatable tube with the Presta valve with an inflatable tube with a Schrader valve. The repair technician even inserted a thorn guard between the inflatable tube and the tire. The repair technician also inflated the tires to the appropriate level. Belive it or not, Southwest Bicycles performed this repair for FREE. I was surprised. I was prepared to pay for the replacement inflatable bike tube, but they turned me down. For the next couple of months, I didn't have any problems with my Trek Hybrid FX 2.0 bike, riding on the New River Trail and on roads in Sun City. Then, the inflatable tube in the rear tire exploded on a Saturday in May 2024. The reason? You guessed it, the inflatable tube had a Presta valve.
Another Problem
I removed the rear tire from the bike and took it back to Southwest Bicycles. Since it was already after 4:00 PM on a Saturday afternoon, I was told that the repair technicians would not be able to take a look at my bike's tire until Monday at the earliest. Not a problem, I said. Then, on Sunday afternoon, I received a phone call from a repair technician at Southwest Bicycles. He said that the issue was with the Presta valve. He said that when the bike tube exploded, it created a long gash in the tire. He said that he installed a new inflatable tube with a Schrader valve. Additionally, he replaced the original tire with a new one. When I brought back the new rear tire to my mother's house from South West Bikes, things got rather interesting.
Since it had been so long since I had to replace a rear tire, I had to watch a couple of videos on how to do the task. Since I don't have a bicycle repair stand, I had to remove my cell phone holder, my headlamp, my saddlebags, and the rack. With some difficulty, I managed to mount the rear tire. I had enonormous difficulty with the bike chain. I also had problems with disconnecting the brake pads from the brake cable. Still, I managed to get the rear tire mounted to the bike frame. Yet, there was another problem. The new problem was that the brakes no longer worked properly. The brake pads clamped shut on the tire. Additionally, the brake handle no longer worked. I disconnected the brake pads a second time. I then removed the rear tire from the bike frame. Then, somehow, the bike chain inexplicably twisted upon itself. I went to YouTube and watched a couple of videos on how to untwist a bike chain. None of the techniques worked on my bike chain. With no way to transport my bike to Southwest Bicycles, my bike sat in my mom's garage.
 |
| My Trek Hybrid Bike with Twisted Bike Chain |
SeaSucker Bike Rack
My car, a Nissan Maxima 2010 SV, has a rear spoiler above the trunk. Finding a bike rack for my car has been very difficult. Because of the rear spoiler, I cannot use a bike rack that attaches to the trunk. Sorry, Thule, Yakima, and Saris. In order to use a hitch bike rack on my car, I would need to have a hitch attachment installed underneath my car. Then, I am not too interested in spending several hundreds of dollars on a roof bike rack. While looking through the REI webpage one day, I came across the Talon MAX 1-Bike Rack by SeaSucker. I was disappointed to discover that the Talon MAX 1 bike rack is an online-only item. As a result, you can go to your local REI store and take a look at it. Curious, I went ahead and ordered one from the REI webpage. The Talon MAX 1 bike rack is a roof bike rack that utilizes suction cups to stick to the roof of your car. The Talon MAX 1 comes in two pieces. One piece has three suction cups. This piece is where you attach the front tire. The second piece consists of one suction cup. This is where you attach the rear tire. Unlike bike racks from Thule and Yakima, the Talon MAX 1 bike rack has a simple set up and doesn't require buying any extra equipment. I am really interested in trying it out.
 |
| SeaSucker Talon MAX 1 (Front) |
 |
| SeaSucker Talon MAX 1 (Back) |
 |
| SeaSucker Talon MAX 1 (Inside Box) |
 |
| SeaSucker Talon MAX 1 (Instructions) |
Here is a video from SeaSucker on how to set up the Talon MAX 1.
Stay tuned for updates.
