Help with Punctures

warrenaldo

I have my bike over 2 years. Cycle it to and from work every day. But I am very prone to punctures.

I seem to get one every3 weeks or so - it drives me mad. To fix them I usually have to put the tyre in water to find where the hole is and then patch it up.

I have heard people talk about this foam you can get and tubeless tyres. and even plugging it - but I am not sure what that exactly means.

I am sick of getting punctures then walking my bike to work. Please help.

Chips Lovell

First thing's first, are you inflating your tyres to the right pressure?

Secondly, what tyres are you using?

Thirdly, how long have you had the tyres? If you're riding on them every day for two years, then they could be worn out.

murphm45

From what i hear the foam tubes can buckle the wheels so you might be better givin them a miss.

Continental and schwalbe both do puncture resistant tyres which are supposed to be fairly decent

i suppose another alternative is to bring a pump, tyre levers and a few tubes in case you do get a puncture. it can be messy but better than walking to work i suppose

ba

what tyres have you got? a decent set of tyres should solve this as most of us on here all know. sure most of us havent punctured in 2 years!

slap on a pair of bullet proof Specialized Armadillos or Continental Gatorskins.

blanco

What kind of bike/tyres do you have?
If it's a mountain bike, look for some GEAX 'slicks'. They're an the Chain Reaction Cycles web-site. They're very easy to get on and off. And are virtually bulletproof
Best thing is to always carry one or two spare tubes with you. They don't take up much room in your bag. And, they'll save you a crappy walk.

Muller_1

I never bother fixing tubes put always use a new tube. As other posters mention a good set if tyres, and having them at the right pressure is the key.

warrenaldo

I have no idea what type of tyres I have. I usually fix the bioke myself, but the last time I dropped it off to get repaired and was told that I might need new tyres soon. The bike is a hybrid.

Changing the tubes on the bike means I have to take the old one off and pump it - its not a quick job.

So you dont reckon its the tubes - the tyres is what I should look at. Ill get cracking.

blanco

warrenaldo wrote: »

the last time I dropped it off to get repaired and was told that I might need new tyres soon. .

Changing the tubes on the bike means I have to take the old one off and pump it - its not a quick job.

Bike shops will always say you NEED SOMETHING soon. Even though there may be another 100 miles in the part.

Before you change the tyres, you might want to try this stuff http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=32392.

And, also check the rim tape (the stuff between the spoke nipples and the tube) it may be too thin.

Changing the tube will only take about 10 mins - if it's quicker to walk...

short circuit

ba wrote: »

sure most of us havent punctured in 2 years!

LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE ... !!!!

seamus

Make a note of where you're getting the puncture. If it's occuring on the inside of the tube (i.e. the but facing the rim), then it's probably a case of your rim tape being too thin/soft/old. This happened to me with thin rim tape - the tape would move slightly when I was putting the tyre on, I'd pump it to a high-ish pressure and then it would suddenly puncture anything up to a month later. In the end I put two loops of wider rim tape on each wheel and the same thing hasn't occured since.

If the puncture is occuring on the outside of the tube, then there are obviously a multiple of things which can go wrong. The type of puncture you're getting though will point to the problem. Since you have to use water to find it, you're not getting snakebite punctures, which means that your tyres are adequately pumped up. Also, it indicates that it's a small puncture and not a tear, so it's likely to be caused by small pieces of glass or pin-like pieces of metal. If the rubber on your tyres was a very soft kind, you would be getting larger punctures.
These annoying little bastards will usually embed themselves in your tyre, so always inspect the tyre very well after one of these punctures. Don't assume that it's fallen out. If you can't find it, you're just not looking hard enough

It's possible that all of your punctures have been caused by just one or two earrant fragments.

BostonB

warrenaldo wrote: »

....
Changing the tubes on the bike means I have to take the old one off and pump it - its not a quick job.....

Takes me 5~10 mins max, and I haven't a clue what I'm doing.

Sean02

My theory regarding puncture prone cyclists. Not looking where your going, Tyre pressure, Not shifting your weight over bad surface. Of course if your route has a crap surface or rim tape needs replacing thats solved by previous replies. Hope this has not put the mojos on me now!!

mmclo

I've had a recent spate of them after about 6 months with nothing even with commuting everyday. Now I have looked inside the tire and run my fingera aorund it maybe not enough though, can they be turned indside out as I reckon I need a real detailed look

Annoying thing is wheel and tire were brand new, is it possible I was sold a dud by reputable bike shop?

Also seems to be most prevalanet after I lift up bike on back wheel i.e. going down steps or up into shed etc. (have changed things to avoid this!)

What if I find nothing in tire after detailed inspection...I'm getting one every second time I go out, presume normal consumer stuff applys to the wheel, tyre and tube I got form shop...i.e. they seem to be the cause of the entire problem!

ROK ON

Despite the 'love in' that this forum seems to have with the punture resisitance of Conti Gatorskins, I would highly recommend that you dont go near this tyre.

I changed both bikes to this tyre in January. I have had no end of punctures, on both front and back wheels.

This morning, my back tyre just exploded outside the four courts.

Maybe I am unlucky, but I have had as many punctures on Gatorskins in 2 months as I have had in the past 4 years. They are not bombproof. I would not recommend them on the basis of my limited use of them. They will be coming off my bikes in the next few weeks.

All the other advice that you have rec'd is worth following however.

kenmc

Can I have them?
I've only had 1 puncture in over a year of using gatorskins, and that one was a pinchflat, entirely my own fault for not checking the pressure.
I would suggest you exhaust all other avenues before dumping the gators though.

ROK ON

kenmc wrote: »

Can I have them?
I've only had 1 puncture in over a year of using gatorskins, and that one was a pinchflat, entirely my own fault for not checking the pressure.
I would suggest you exhaust all other avenues before dumping the gators though.

Well the one that exploded this morning is probably in a skip in Cycleways. Wouldn't be any good to you anyway, due to the large hole in it. But when I get around to changing the others you can have them in return for armadillos.
I heard so much good about them, but I have just had awful bad look with them.
I find them very difficult to get on/off the rim.My rim tape is clean, tyres are regulalry inflated to correct pressure, and after every puncture I have spent a quite a while exaimining tyre for debris. Maybe its just bad luck or a dud batch, but am heartily sick of them.

Jawgap

I went through a phase of a puncture every few days recently - very annoying!

It turned out my tyre was over-inflated. I reduced the pressure and - touch wood - no problems since then.

Is it possible to change your route to work?

Raam

Could even be a rim imperfection

Seaswimmer

Using them on Dublin roads for almost 3 years and had 3 punctures. 2 from glass and 1 from bad pothole. My only complaint against them would be that the outer compund is fairly soft so you need to remove any embedded glass about once a week. Also keep them about 100-110psi (700 X 23c).

jollylee

How careful are you about removing glass and thorns when you're fixing your punctures. You won't feel glass but it might be hiding in a cut in the rubber!!

blorg

In my experience Gatorskins have about the same puncture resistance as a GOOD puncture resistant race tyre but are cheaper, a bit heavier and have maybe slightly less grip.

They are not "unpuncturable" like Armadillos but they are a hell of a lot grippier and nicer to ride; there is a trade off. Personally I will take the occasional puncture for a nicer ride and confidence fast cornering (why I got rid of the Armadillos after 20,000km of puncture-free riding.)

BostonB

I have Armadillos on my MTB and got a puncture 2 weeks after fitting them. Glass shard clean through it. That said that was last april and I haven't had a puncture since. Might depend on the route your are on. Mines pretty clean for most of it.

kylith

Attack of the zombie thread!

Having gotten 3 punctures in as many days (if I ever catch the feckers who scatter glass in bike lanes I'll puncture them) I'm a bit fed up. I just got a new back rim so it shouldn't be that, but examining my tyre this morning it's looking a bit ratty so that's probably not helping.

The problem is that despite having the bike for a good few years I don't really know anying about 'bikes'. I taught myself to cycle in my teens, and learned to change a tube mostly through trial and error. When I go to buy tubes they usually give me 28" ones. Would I then buy a 28" tyre, or how do I check what size to get?

BostonB

Read the markings on the side of the tyre that will tell you what you have.

BTW I've only had one more puncture on mine, since my previous post. But it wasn't on my regular route.

seamus

kylith wrote: »

but examining my tyre this morning it's looking a bit ratty so that's probably not helping.

It's probably the most appropriate thing to look at
I had no punctures in 6 months, then I got a number of them in the space of 3 weeks. Tyres were knackered, so I replaced them.

As BostonB says, check the sidewall of your existing tyres, this will tell you what size any new tyres and tubes need to be.

kylith

That's great, thanks folks.

I must enroll myself on a basic maintainance course so I can learn all these things.