greyfox47

I have a 2 year old Trek Domane SL6 disc brake bike. Prior to about a month ago, I was running Bontrager 25mm AT series tires and joyfully hadn't experienced a single flat since mounting the tires, about 2500 mi. I decided to switch to 28mm and chose the Conti GP500 tires. That was about 250 miles ago. Since then, I've had no issues with the front wheel, but am experiencing a slow leak flat on the rear tire almost every other ride!! After each flat, I carefully feel the inside of the tire and come across nothing, not even a little debry of any kind let alone a nail, piece of glass, goat head, nothing. I haven't used any tubes rated for less than 28mm in the wheel and am my wits end with what could be causing the flats. I'll admit that the Conti are a bit of a challenge to mount but I'm careful to avoid anything to the tube that would result in a pinch. I'm riding mainly on paved roads and on gravel only when I have to. Ditto for groomed trails. Any suggestions on how to pursue this? Nothing ruins a ride sooner than a flat anywhere along it. Thanks!!

WhyFi

Are you aligning the tire logo with the valve stem? Some people think of the practice as a purely aesthetic thing, but it's really helpful for things like this - once you find the leak in the tube, you should be able to locate the offending debris in the tire by referencing the position relative to the tire logo/valve stem.

Iride01 

So are you finding the puncture in the tube?

Once I find the puncture in the tube then I know whether to look for issues with the rim, side wall or tread of tire. As I keep rim and tire oriented the same way, I can just lay the tube on top of them both and find the cause of the tube failure.

popeye

Run a piece of cotton aground the inside of the tire looking for it to catch on something. Try it again with the tire inside out. A small piece of wire or glass and be hard to find. Listen to WhyFi.

AndrewJB

You don't mention if the punctures are on the inside, outside, or side of the tube...but make sure your rim tape/strip hasn't shifted exposing one of the spoke holes. This would be characteristic of punctures on the inside (spoke side) of the tube.

Elvo

Can you switch to tubeless?

Rides4Beer

This. I was going to say to check the rim too.

greyfox47

Well, I guess I could.... the wheels are tubeless ready, but not prefered. I think that would be my solution of last resort. Thanks, tho.

greyfox47

Yes,.... ironically, the first puncture was opposite the valve stem, which I attributed to being a pinch flat after not being able to find anything else. It was the first ride after mounting the new tires.

greyfox47

Ha! Yes, all of the above. First, outsde the tube opposite the valve stem. Looked like a pinch, I took blame for that one when I mounted the tires. The others were 2 in the side wall region (mysteries) and one outside. On the last one, found a tiny goat head that I removed with a finger nail. I'm not sure if it contributed. For the life of me, I had a hard time finding where it might have penetrated the tire tread. All the tube punctures except the first one looked like straight on punctures. The first one looked like a pinch.

Cyclist0108

If you have any, put some sealant in the tube (assuming the valve stem unscrews).

stevel610 

Sometimes squeezing the tire, thumb on one sidewall and fore/middle finger on the other will show tiny holes where a shard of glass has worked it's way through.

Good luck. That's a frustrating situation.

jnesss

I ran through some glass last weekend and have had nothing much troubles since. i had pulled out the glass embedded in my tire and ensured there was no debris between my tire and rim. since then, I've been alternating between 2 specialized presta turbo tubes and noticed they've got what appears to be a manufacturing flaw. there are rectangular seams on these tubes and the holes are almost always at these seams. anyhow, 6 patches later over the course of 1 week, straight to the garbage they go. bought some specialized presta valve tubes and so far, so good.

btw, I could only find the leaking holes when I Aired up the tube to around 10 psi, then rotated it in a bucket of water. my tire itself has been patched at the cuts