Mountain bike punctures: Need some advice

Mizu_Ger

I've started commuting daily by bicycle over the past 6 months and I am getting a puncture about every 2 weeks.

My cycle is 10k and mostly on backroads that are in decent condition. I cycle approx 1k along the Royal canal where the surface is muck with imbedded rocks. I suspect this is where I am getting the punctures as I have never found an foreign objects in my outer tyres and the punctures seem to be stress related (splitting along the seam of the inner tube or on the inner circumference of the tube and outer tyre undamaged). I try to keep the tubes at at least 40psi (back wheel outer tyre says at least 40psi is needed, front says 40-60psi), should this be higher to reduce this type of puncture?

I tried the Slime Smart Tubes and these seem to be better, but still getting punctures (just less frequently). Any ideas how I can reduce further? I'm just cycling for my commute and don't want to stop because of the punctures, so any advice appreciated!

Seaswimmer

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

I've started commuting daily by bicycle over the past 6 months and I am getting a puncture about every 2 weeks.

My cycle is 10k and mostly on backroads that are in decent condition. I cycle approx 1k along the Royal canal where the surface is muck with imbedded rocks. I suspect this is where I am getting the punctures as I have never found an foreign objects in my outer tyres and the punctures seem to be stress related (splitting along the seam of the inner tube or on the inner circumference of the tube and outer tyre undamaged). I try to keep the tubes at at least 40psi (back wheel outer tyre says at least 40psi is needed, front says 40-60psi), should this be higher to reduce this type of puncture?

I tried the Slime Smart Tubes and these seem to be better, but still getting punctures (just less frequently). Any ideas how I can reduce further? I'm just cycling for my commute and don't want to stop because of the punctures, so any advice appreciated!

Assumng your tyre pressures are ok and it sounds like they are then you need to see if the puncture is in the same area each time. Have a look at some old tubes and see where the damage is in relation to the valve. There may be something on the rim that is causing it.
Is there a chance the puncture is a "pinch puncture"? This would be 2 small holes slightly apart. This would be a sure sign of under inflated tyres.
Make sure you are using good quality tubes.
Use good quality rim tape of the correct size.
Are you using a good tyre or stock tyres which came with the bike.

My father had a lot of punctures on a new cheap Halfords bike. Turned out there was a bad weld on the rim with a tiny piece of rough metal not smoothed out. Is your bike new?

topcat77

Going tubeless would sort out your problems. You can do a relatively cheap ghetto setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3Zej_9cVg

railer201

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

I've started commuting daily by bicycle over the past 6 months and I am getting a puncture about every 2 weeks.

My cycle is 10k and mostly on backroads that are in decent condition. I cycle approx 1k along the Royal canal where the surface is muck with imbedded rocks. I suspect this is where I am getting the punctures as I have never found an foreign objects in my outer tyres and the punctures seem to be stress related (splitting along the seam of the inner tube or on the inner circumference of the tube and outer tyre undamaged). I try to keep the tubes at at least 40psi (back wheel outer tyre says at least 40psi is needed, front says 40-60psi), should this be higher to reduce this type of puncture?

I tried the Slime Smart Tubes and these seem to be better, but still getting punctures (just less frequently). Any ideas how I can reduce further? I'm just cycling for my commute and don't want to stop because of the punctures, so any advice appreciated!

You may have a spoke protruding through the rim tape and rubbing the tube. It eventually punctures the tube on the inside. Feel around the inside of the wheel, along the rim tape for any sharpness. Spoke ends can be filed back to remove any sharpness and new rim tape should take care of the rest. From experience I've found 30psi/2Bar sufficient for MTBs and less stressful on tubes and tyres.

WMP

Have you tried Stans No tubes sealant?

You can even inject it into your inner tubes. A mate swears by it and says he never gets punctures anymore. I just ordered some last week and am looking forward to trying it. For 25 quid you'll get half a litre of sealant and an injector syringe. You need tubes with removal valve cores. You only need to put 30 - 60 mls in one tube depending on the size. Lots of videos on youtube to show you how to do it.

Peter T

WMP wrote: »

Have you tried Stans No tubes sealant?

You can even inject it into your inner tubes. A mate swears by it and says he never gets punctures anymore. I just ordered some last week and am looking forward to trying it. For 25 quid you'll get half a litre of sealant and an injector syringe. You need tubes with removal valve cores. You only need to put 30 - 60 mls in one tube depending on the size. Lots of videos on youtube to show you how to do it.

You can do it with other tubes too but you need to remove the threaded nut bit (very technical term) let the valve drop back in and feed it all the way back up again when you've the slime put in. Bit of a pain in the butt first time but you get the hang of it pretty quick after

comanche_cor

Mizu_Ger wrote: »

I tried the Slime Smart Tubes and these seem to be better, but still getting punctures (just less frequently). Any ideas how I can reduce further? I'm just cycling for my commute and don't want to stop because of the punctures, so any advice appreciated!

I've cycled this route on MTB for commute and never had a issue with punctures.

What tyres are you running - are they old/frayed? Are they perhaps letting through thorns that otherwise would not get through?

What type of punctures are you getting i.e. are you getting pinch flats (will look like a snake bite on the tube)? If so you are running too low a pressure for you.

Steoller

If it's puncturing along the seam of the inner tube, would that suggest that the rim is catching the inner tube? It would be helpful to see a photo of the damage.