Slow puncture..

Fender76

Hi all..

I have a slow puncture in my rear wheel.. I changed the tube, checked the tyre for any glass etc, checked the rim and all seemed fine.. a good few cuts in the tyre but nothing major... Rim tape is covering all the spokes..
Went to go for a spin yesterday and the tyre had gone down 50% overnight...
:mad:
Any suggestions? I don't want to just change the tube cos it'll probably go flat too....

jon1981

Is it possible you damaged the tube putting it back in? Maybe worth taking the tube out to see where the cut is? I think you have to check the tube as if there is a cut then there obviously still is something in the tyre.

smacl

Take the tyre off and turn it inside out to look for tiny pieces of embedded glass. Can be very will hidden and only come out when cycling. Failing that change the tube, could be a dodgy valve.

68 lost souls

Any chance you have bent the valve of the tube?

Fender76

Could be the tube alright but its the 2nd one I've tried...
Could be time for new tyres aswell...
Thanks..!

Danjamin1

I don't have a solution unfortunately but had a similar problem before, no visible problems with the tyre that would damage the tube but they kept deflating. Ended up just changing the tyre & had no problems since!

07Lapierre

Remove the tube...inflate the tube... Move the tube slowly thru a bucket of water and watch for bubbles...

Once you find the puncture, you can then start looking at what caused it.

Fender76

Yeah, did that.. not a single bubble... which is why I am so frustrated, if it were as simple as fixing a puncture then I would have done that in a jiffy...
The air is escaping very slowly but noticably.

jon1981

Fender76 wrote: »

Yeah, did that.. not a single bubble... which is why I am so frustrated, if it were as simple as fixing a puncture then I would have done that in a jiffy...
The air is escaping very slowly but noticably.

cheaper to try a new tube than tyre, i'd try that. Could easily be a faulty or loose valve.

07Lapierre

Fender76 wrote: »

Yeah, did that.. not a single bubble... which is why I am so frustrated, if it were as simple as fixing a puncture then I would have done that in a jiffy...
The air is escaping very slowly but noticably.

Sounds like a leaking valve. Fit a new tube.

Carawaystick

07Lapierre wrote: »

Sounds like a leaking valve. Fit a new tube.

Check if the valve is loose in the valve tube. you have the locknut, and then the valve unscrews under that.

If it's not, new tube.

Wishbone Ash

Fender76 wrote: »

The air is escaping very slowly but noticably.

I know you tried water already but if you have access to a bath fill it with a good few inches of water. Wait until all the bubbles have settled and very slowly lower the tube into the water so as not to cause any disturbance of the water. Be patient and you'll eventually see a very small bubble releasing periodically.

Do you fit your tyres so that the brand name/logo is over the valve? If so, when you find the leak spot on the tube, and if it is on the 'outside' (tyre side) you should be able to tell the area of the tyre which is causing the problem. If it is on the 'inside', the problem is with the rim tape/spokes.

It's probably not the valves as it would hardly happen to two tubes in succession.

onmebike

Did you put the valve in the water too? Maybe put a bit more pressure into your tyre and you'll hopefully see the bubbles.

Alternatively, you were unlucky and didn't close the valve properly when you were out and you don't have a puncture at all. Pump it up and leave it overnight and see how it looks in the morning.