<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Hey here’s a fun one for you. I ride a recumbent bicycle nearly every day, not to get somewhere in particular but just to ride and exercise. If I get a thorn puncture, I carry a spare tube rather than patches. Patches work but tubes aren’t expensive, and it is typically over a thousand miles between flats. It is always the back tire on a recumbent, since all my weight is over the back tire. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Yesterday I had a flat close to home, longer than I wanted to walk, so I got out the spare tube only to discover that they had packaged a 26 inch tube in a box labelled 20 inch, so of course the tube didn’t fit. I walked the bike home mumbling and cursing a pox on Walmart for mislabeling the tube.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Then it occurred to me: that longer tube might have worked anyway. It would have a section which folded back on itself, which would make the tire unbalanced, but for low speeds such as on a typical recumbent, that wouldn’t matter much.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Question: can anyone think of a reason why a longer inner tube wouldn’t work?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>