The bike is a Specialized Camber 29, about five months old, from a shop about 220km away.
Something feels different in my ride, and I'm wondering what it is.
- the rear goes sideways in sand much more often,
- there's an different running sound from the rear tyre, at a different pitch than before,
- the rear tyre is about 3mm taller than the front tyre, measured with callipers from the inside of the rim to the valleys in the tread,
After a flat rear tyre last Thursday, I took the wheel to a local bike shop 70km away, who took the initiative to insert the old tube as a covering for a new tube. There was already a protective layer of some sort between the tube and the tyre. The region is known for thorns, but there was no evidence that a thorn caused the flat. I put the wheel back in. I'm wary of blaming this event, because I don't have enough experience.
I ride twice daily for half an hour each time, on dirt roads, for about 6km.
I lack the tools and strength of hands to repair the wheel myself, and have no other riders nearby.
There's a possibility that my failure to maintain the suspension system may have caused the problem; but I don't know enough about it to tell. It has been left alone for the life of the bike.
There's a possibility that recent light rain may have changed the sand.
The rotation markers on the tyre are pointing in the right direction.