Our bicycles and small holes

Living with a large family in The Netherlands means we've got a nice collection of bicycles. One for every family member.

They're a cheap form of transport.
We don't have a car, so we're relying on those bicycles.

Flat tyres are a piece of cake to deal with, lights which won't work are no problem at all. We can deal with nearly every problem with ease.

But there are times....

One of the girls has experienced one of the most annoying bicycle problems: a tire that slowly loses air. It's bad enough to arrive on a nearly flat tire, and not bad enough to see it happening and to hear the soft hiss that accompanies little holes.

This morning her bicycle was the one to be repaired.

I've witnessed the problem, so I know it's not phantasy.

But after a lot of work the tire was put in a bowl with water and no hole could be found.

It happens now and then.
It means there's no hole at all, or the hole it too small to be found, even when the tyre is blown up almost too well and nearly explodes. The hole doesn't need only the stretch of the tyre, but also the increased inner pressure of someone sitting on the bicycle.

And today we're dealing with such a hole.
Such a tiny annoying little one that hides so well that it can't be found, but which causes problems enough.
It means I have to leave the house at the most inconvenient times, in the middle of cooking, for instance, to fetch the girls and walk home with them. Some of their friends alive outside the town so it means sometimes the loss of more than an hour.
But safety first!

Well, that tiny hole can't be found at all.
I have seen the tire causing problems after a while of bicycling.

So the problem is solved in a non-repairing way: she'll use, today, my bicycle.

As easy as that.

A new attempt to repair hers will be tomorrow.