The cat ate my tyres

droidus

So I was babysitting a few weeks ago, sitting in the living room with my cat locked in the kitchen along with my OH's new Giant Rapid.

Suddenly I hear this incredibly loud hissing noise, so, thinking the boiler is exploding or something similar, I go running in to see whats going on. As I open the door I see the cat lepping away from the back wheel of the Giant and I hear the hiss fade away. I check the tyre (28mm kendas at pretty high PSI I think) and its completely flat. Nothing else came into contact with the bike or the wheel as far as I could tell. Nothing sharp on the ground.

Now, when my OH brought the rapid down to our LBS, they didnt believe a word of it - though they did put a free tube on. They might've thought she was spoofing as she hit a pothole a week after she took the bike out for the first time, and this was her second puncture in the space of a few days.

I may not have believed it if I hadnt been there, and Im still not sure how the little bollix did it... anyone else had their tyres punctured by animals?

seamus

I've seen tyres spontaneously burst, but it usually takes a specific set of circumstances - in the case I saw, it was a high-pressure tyre with inadequate rim tape on an extraordinarily hot day. The wheel was fine for a number of days, but when it heated up just that little too much, the additional pressure caused it to puncture on the inside of the rim.
Cats have sharp teeth and claws. I doubt that claws could get in far enough to do that (unless it's a big cat), but teeth definitely could.

ednwireland

guessing the claws could go through the sidwall of the tyre on some tyres easily enough (they dont have the puncture protection on a lot of tyres) my cat goes for the wheels when i wheel it along (but only on the bikes with silver spokes) but he's cross eyed so he usually misses !

A couple of times I've had tyres spontaneously explode with the bike sitting in the kitchen. Once was when there was a slit in the sidewall of the tyre that I hadn't noticed and the tube was bulging out through it. very glad it didn't blow when I was riding cos it was really violent and sudden.

Another time I had a cheap halfrauds tyre on the back wheel at 120psi. Instead of the threads being moulded into the tyre they were cut into it. The tyre gave way at one of these cuts. It didn't sound like a puncture, it sounded like a bomb. Noone in the house could figure out what the hell had just hapened, even the dog was scared. It was only sometime later I noticed the wheel was flat and I was able to figure out what happened.

Maybe the cat is innocent? Or else it's been reading the daily mail and hates bikes.

bbosco

Bizarre.

My cats are scared of my bike, especially when I wheel it through the house and the noise of the Campy freehub sends them scurrying. They generally stay away from it, although I do find fur stuck to my chain.

It would take significant effort and determination for a cat to get its claw through the tyre though. That's pretty impressive work!

droidus

seamus wrote: »

I've seen tyres spontaneously burst, but it usually takes a specific set of circumstances - in the case I saw, it was a high-pressure tyre with inadequate rim tape on an extraordinarily hot day. The wheel was fine for a number of days, but when it heated up just that little too much, the additional pressure caused it to puncture on the inside of the rim.

Cats have sharp teeth and claws. I doubt that claws could get in far enough to do that (unless it's a big cat), but teeth definitely could.

Thats what I was thinking. Hes not too big, but an incisor through the sidewall sound plausible. The tyre/tube was almost brand new and it was put on at a good LBS, so I doubt it was a spontaneous puncture.

Lucky it wasn't my new Cannondale or he would've been in serious trouble!

droidus

Didn't a cat kill a cyclist a while back? Are cats and bikes just a bad combination?

droidus

droidus wrote: »

Didn't a cat kill a cyclist a while back? Are cats and bikes just a bad combination?

Yes, but it works both ways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4kV2SjKxhU

Beasty

We were thinking of getting one of them feline things for Xmas. Will have to think again now - sod the kids, I'll get a fixie instead:D

blorg

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes, but it works both ways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4kV2SjKxhU

I've seen that before, but not with the "enhanced" soundtrack (and before anyone says, no I do not hate cats, but I did find that amusing.)

victorcarrera

Ive had the spontaneous puncture syndrome which I think was due to a combination of poor rim tape and high temperature in the house.
I would suggest buying the cat a scratching post for christmas, they love them. You can also buy a scented spray which attracts them to it until they get used to it. Saves your bike and the furniture too.

Lumen

Is it wrong for be searching for an approproate lolcat picture?

I can't find one, regrettably

bbosco

victorcarrera wrote: »

Ive had the spontaneous puncture syndrome which I think was due to a combination of poor rim tape and high temperature in the house.
I would suggest buying the cat a scratching post for christmas, they love them. You can also buy a scented spray which attracts them to it until they get used to it. Saves your bike and the furniture too.

I tried various approaches like that and ended up employing a zero-tolerance one instead:
Cat scratches furniture; cat gets squirted with water-pistol.

Three benefits:
- it's like a free game of paintball in your house
- the look of utter shock and bewilderment on the cat's face
- they never do it again

And before anyone accuses me of cat-abuse, this was suggested to me by our vet.

Captain Havoc

Careful what ye say about cats, we get very vengeful

morninwood

i had a spontaneous puncture once while having a breather in the middle of nowhere in the wicklows. sat there with a mate joking about how awkward it would be to have a puncture there (neither of us carried spare tubes) when all of a sudden that magic hissing noise came from my back wheel. two hours of walking followed. :mad:

i wouldn't blame the cat. i think it's highly unlikely that it got through the tire.