Punctures every week - what the hell?

zzzzzzzz

I use those red michelins too. No problems here. Haven't had a puncture in about 3 months... touch wood. I inflate to about 100-105 psi

kenmc

A bit leftfield here maybe. Have you looked to see how your brakeblocks line up on the the rims. If they're touching the tyre during braking then they could be doing the damage. Are the tyres rubbing off anything - mudguards, framestays etc either? Could be something wierd like that. I'd second going for a more expensive tube though. You can get them in decathlon for around 6 euro a pop IIRC, rather than the 2 for 2.50.

pickarooney

I ditched the rear mudguard yesterday as a precaution (not like I need them for the next few months anyway). The brake-blocks aren't lines up particularly well (I always have trouble getting them centred around the rim and they tend to go askew after braking hard) so there might be something in that. The guy in Decathlon offered to do a forensics test on the rim/tube/tyre if I brought them by, so I might get some clue this evening.

Meanwhile, I'm off bike-hunting at lunchtime...

Raam

pickarooney wrote: »

I ditched the rear mudguard yesterday as a precaution (not like I need them for the next few months anyway). The brake-blocks aren't lines up particularly well (I always have trouble getting them centred around the rim and they tend to go askew after braking hard) so there might be something in that. The guy in Decathlon offered to do a forensics test on the rim/tube/tyre if I brought them by, so I might get some clue this evening.

Meanwhile, I'm off bike-hunting at lunchtime...

I think it might be a bit of over kill to get a new bike. Certainly without first identifying the cause of the punctures.

Canis Lupus

I recently got a foot pump and have been pumping my tires up to the recommended pressure.

Since I bought the bike months and months and months ago I had no punctures.

Since I started pumping to recommended pressure I've had a blow out and numerous punctures within 3 weeks.

I've just bought some armadillos because admitedly my tires were ****ed anyway. Charmingly enough when I put the armas on I pinched the tube between the rim and the tire and shredded a tube. Wasn't impressed.

This has all been in the last few weeks but touch wood no issues now and I've slightly underinflated the tires. My own personal experience tends to be the more inflated a tire is the higher the chance of a puncture. Whether there is any truth in that I have no idea.

Raam

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Since I started pumping to recommended pressure I've had a blow out and numerous punctures within 3 weeks.

What pressure did you pump too?

Canis Lupus

I believe it was circa 100-110 PSI.

My armas are currently in or around 90ish although they should be around 115 or more now I think about it....

Admitedly in the above example my tires were getting old anyway however just from general experience I've always found that once I decide to pump my tires to correct pressure I get a puncture soon after.

Could it be argued that an underinflated tire will roll and mould over an object that would puncture a highly inflated tire because it has less resistance?

blorg

Raam wrote: »

I think it might be a bit of over kill to get a new bike. Certainly without first identifying the cause of the punctures.

It's definately overkill to get a new bike, there is no guarantee that it will help either. Other things worth trying would be wider tyres at a lower pressure (you should be able to go to 700x25c on just about any road bike, often 700x28c.) This will be putting you in basically the same category as a sporty hybrid regarding tyre/pressure.

Also- get Armadillos.

pickarooney

It's definately overkill to get a new bike,

I've spent a couple of months trying to identify the problem and have got no closer to it. The bike was a freebie someone offered me (poisoned chalice!) after mine got stolen, so I figure I should cut my losses - I can't really afford any more late arrivals to work and I'm pissing money away on petrol in between unsuccessful attempts to navigate the simple ride to work.

there is no guarantee that it will help either

Ooh, please don't say that!

Also- get Armadillos.

There's unfortunately no guarantee that will help either.

Seaswimmer

1. Get new rim tape.
2. Get good tubes.
3. Buy gatorskins/armadillo's
4. Check for glass/other objects every week and remove any using pointed implement.
5. Straight after checking for glass, pump to about 100psi.

This is my routine and I commute every day with 1 puncture in 2 years. I change tyres every 6 months (approx 2500 miles) and tubes every year. Its probably overkill but for €50-€60 twice a year its worth it not to have punctures.

Raam

I went through a phase of getting a puncture in the exact same place on my tube. I must have punctured about 6 tubes in a very short space. It was doing my nut in. In the end I retired the wheel as it was a stop-gap solution anyway. I went over the wheel/rim tape and tyre with a fine tooth comb, but couldn't see what was causing the problem. It's very annoying.