Punctures....aaarrrrgghh!!!!!

AlanD

I've got a hybrid bike. Didn't cost an arm and a leg, but it's an aluminium frame, decent gearset. Pretty alright bike for a little bit of cycling.

But I've had punctures pretty much every bike ride, or at least every second ride. I get half way around my route and spend an hour walking home. It's driving me mad!!!! :mad:

A few things:

• All the punctures are on the inside of the tubes.
• I've started to be very careful about how I put in the tube to make sure it's not kinked so there should not be any pinched tubes
• The holes are not a split like at the start, where the tube may have been kinked. The holes now are just simple pin holes
• The tube is clean
• The rim is a double rim so the inside of the rim is clean too
• Could the tube be the wrong size? I am buying the tube with the same size as the tyre, but I think it might be a bit thick. So the last tube I bought I got a slightly narrower one.
• What's wrong!!!

Only thing I can think of now is that either I'm too heavy for the bike and I'm just bursting the tyres. I'm just under 15st. Or. The tyre, which has slightly nobbly bits on the inside from manufacture of it perhaps is knicking the tubes. But then, remember the punctures are always on the inside of the tube!

I'm sick to the teeth of walking home.

Civilian_Target

A number of possibilities.

- Your tube is too wide or long for the size of wheel. Ask in your bike shop when you replace it.
- A spoke is sticking through your rim
- Your tyres are underinflated or overinflated in such a way that the result is not round. A classic signature of this is a pinch puncture that looks like a devils fang in the inner tube
- Something is sticking through from the tyre into the tube.

Is it always the same wheel?
Perhaps you're cycling over glass or over an area near a large number of thorny bushes (they tend to shed thorns into the road which are almost invisible when embedded in tyres)

My recommendation to you is to invest €50 or so in a pair of puncture proof tyres. They'll last you thousands of miles and your inner tubes should be pretty safe.

I've tried Specialized Armadillos and Schwalbe Marathon and found them both to be pretty bombproof. Continental Gatorskins also have a good reputation.

Dirk Gently

as above^^^

also, check your tyres every day for any small bits of glass or stones caught in them. When you put a new tube on make sure there is nothing in the tyre itself when you put it back on.

I recommend the Armadillo tyres. Also might be worth getting yourself a saddle bag and throwing a spare tube into it. I use to get punctures all the time but it was because I cycled along the canal over bad surfaces and always broken glass around the place. I haven't one yet on the new bike thanks to the Armadillos.






/ man I know I'm going to rip my tyre apart tomorrow after saying that

peterk19

i was having the same trouble recently i was getting a puncture every 60km, recently changed to continental gatorskins and ive done about 400km totally puncture free

AlanD

Civilian_Target wrote:

A number of possibilities.

- Your tube is too wide or long for the size of wheel. Ask in your bike shop when you replace it.
- A spoke is sticking through your rim
- Your tyres are underinflated or overinflated in such a way that the result is not round. A classic signature of this is a pinch puncture that looks like a devils fang in the inner tube
- Something is sticking through from the tyre into the tube.

Is it always the same wheel?
Perhaps you're cycling over glass or over an area near a large number of thorny bushes (they tend to shed thorns into the road which are almost invisible when embedded in tyres)

My recommendation to you is to invest €50 or so in a pair of puncture proof tyres. They'll last you thousands of miles and your inner tubes should be pretty safe.

I've tried Specialized Armadillos and Schwalbe Marathon and found them both to be pretty bombproof. Continental Gatorskins also have a good reputation.

Recently I thought that the tube was too wide for the tyre, but I can't be certain. The puncture is always on the inside of the tube and never a puncture from outside. I always check the tyre for stray bits anyway and make sure it's clean. I also avoid glass and bad surfaces like the plague when cycling. The punctures then to alternate front to back and so on.

There's something basic wrong, so I am going to bring the wheels to a bike shop and get them sorted out. I think Halfords sell those gatorskins so I might fit those too and get them to do a proper tube fit. Sick to the teeth of it.

Oh I forgot,I pump the wheels to 80psi. I check them before every cycle too. Too much?

blorg

You don't mention it, but I am presuming your rim has rim tape around the inside?

Correct pressure depends on the tyre and should be marked on it (min and max.)

AlanD

blorg wrote:

You don't mention it, but I am presuming your rim has rim tape around the inside?

Correct pressure depends on the tyre and should be marked on it (min and max.)

yes sorry, should have said, it has rim tape. Plus the double rim means that the spoke ends are submerged in the rim, meaning a smooth rim.

Yeah 80psi is within the range on the tube.....

cunnins4

i went through a puncture phase a couple of months ago-the tyre was the problem. It didn't look too bad, a couple of bumps/scratches on the inside of the tyre. Bought a new tyre and the problem was sorted. When you say on the inside of the tube, do you mean on the side that makes contact with the rim? Mine were appearing around there too-i think it was due to the lip of the tyre pinching everytime i rode it.

AlanD

cunnins4 wrote:

i went through a puncture phase a couple of months ago-the tyre was the problem. It didn't look too bad, a couple of bumps/scratches on the inside of the tyre. Bought a new tyre and the problem was sorted. When you say on the inside of the tube, do you mean on the side that makes contact with the rim? Mine were appearing around there too-i think it was due to the lip of the tyre pinching everytime i rode it.

yes, that's what I mean, the inside as in the side of the tube touching the rim. The tyre has a few bumps on the side of it too like you said. Actually, seeing as you said it, the tyre may pinch the tube....hmm.....tyre looks as cheap as chips really. Think I'll go get the lot replaced......

cunnins4

AlanD wrote:

yes, that's what I mean, the inside as in the side of the tube touching the rim. The tyre has a few bumps on the side of it too like you said. Actually, seeing as you said it, the tyre may pinch the tube....hmm.....tyre looks as cheap as chips really. Think I'll go get the lot replaced......

yeah, €20 isn't too bad. The only problem is if it doesn't sort the problem you're 20quid outta pocket! Best thing would be to take the wheel to a bike shop and show it to them, maybe bring the punctured tube and tyre too. They'll be able to tell ya fairly quickly. My problem was the tyre, but it had the appearance of being the rim.

oobydooby

I had something similar years ago in a bullet-proof tyre. Turned out the tyre had frayed at the edge and a fibre was puncturing the tube each time.

AlanD

Brought my wheels in to a bike shop last night and hopefully have the problem sorted. The problem may have been the holes in the rim where the spoke screws are. Remember I said the rim is a double rim, so the spoke ends are submerged. The hole edges seemed a little sharp in places. So I've put on an extra layer of nice rubbery rim tape. Should do the trick.

Only problem now I think might be the tyre. The edges of the tyre that go inside the rim are thick, so when blowing the wheel up, the part of the tyre at the valve doesn't seem to fit along with the tube and valve. It seems to get pushed out. Is this an issue? I finally managed to get the tyre to stay flush with the rim, but after multple inflates/deflates. Looking at more expensive tyres, the edges of those seemed a lot thinner and could easily slide down beside valve inside rim.

Fingers crossed now for some puncture free riding!

daymobrew

AlanD wrote:

Only problem now I think might be the tyre. The edges of the tyre that go inside the rim are thick, so when blowing the wheel up, the part of the tyre at the valve doesn't seem to fit along with the tube and valve. It seems to get pushed out. Is this an issue?

I had something similar last week with a new Nimbus Armadillo tyre, which is a decent bit thicker than the UltraGatorskin it replaced.
I was pulling the valve stem out (toward the hub) as far as possible, then inflating. The tyre edge at the valve didn't sit right.

To fix it I deflated the tyre, pushed the valve stem in a bit (into the rim), inflated the tube a bit before pulling the valve stem out. This partial inflation allowed the tyre edge to get positioned against the rim, so the rest of the tube inflation worked correctly.

Make sense?

AlanD

daymobrew wrote:

I had something similar last week with a new Nimbus Armadillo tyre, which is a decent bit thicker than the UltraGatorskin it replaced.
I was pulling the valve stem out (toward the hub) as far as possible, then inflating. The tyre edge at the valve didn't sit right.

To fix it I deflated the tyre, pushed the valve stem in a bit (into the rim), inflated the tube a bit before pulling the valve stem out. This partial inflation allowed the tyre edge to get positioned against the rim, so the rest of the tube inflation worked correctly.

Make sense?

Makes perfect sense. I know exactly what you mean. Thanks for the advice!

seamus

AlanD wrote:

Only problem now I think might be the tyre. The edges of the tyre that go inside the rim are thick, so when blowing the wheel up, the part of the tyre at the valve doesn't seem to fit along with the tube and valve. It seems to get pushed out. Is this an issue?

It can be. When reseating the tyre bead, you should always start at the valve and work around. Even push the bead down, if it doesn't just pop in. If the valve is threaded, wait until you have the tyre seated and partially inflated before screwing the lock nut on. This should ensure that the tyre sits right.

Got a blowout last Friday on my way home. Had to walk an hour from Ballyfermot. The sidewall ripped open on my Crossroads Armadillo, only four months old. So I'm a little peeved. Still though, got about 700 miles puncture-free riding but the damn thing cost €40. Specialized say they have a no-quibble guarantee, but I'm going to ring cycleways to see if this applies to four-month-old destroyed tyres with no receipt.