migrantwing

Wet your tongue, like you would to roll and stick a cigarette paper, and run your tongue over the tube. You'll find the leak every time. The spittle on your tongue will bubble and you'll feel the escaping air on your tongue tip. Not as cool as a Lekzoeker, but most likely more effective.

noglider 

It was a joke. Reread it and you'll see.

Wilmingtech

Im pretty sure those cheap travel neck pillows are filled with tiny styrofoam balls. There may be other stuffed animal or pillowed products you could salvage small sturofoam particles from.

Papa Tom

Dohhh! I guess I didn't read beyond "The Rivendale model..."

Now, speaking of jokes, remind me never to tongue-kiss migrantwing.

Papa Tom

Gonna be away from 9/23 to 9/29 with no time to play. Don't think I'm another one of those OP's who starts a fire and then doesn't stick around to help put it out. I look forward to reviewing many more designs when I return!

CliffordK

How effective are those on the really really small leaks? So small that it is tough to find them even after one has found bubbles in a water tank?

Papa Tom

Don't know about the ones from Simson, but one of the fine engineers here at Bike Forums is bound to come up with one that is fool-proof.

Have a good week, everyone.

dedhed

These are filled with small foam balls. Pull a few out and sew it back up.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/big-...table-hot-seat

2_i 

A vide showing the finder in action:

canklecat

Clever bit of unnecessary overengineering. I can't see carrying something like that in a small saddle bag. Usually when I have trouble finding a leak I just pass the tube along my ear. The ear is sensitive enough to feel tiny air flow even when roadside noise and wind are so loud you can't actually hear the leak. Wetting the ear helps -- just lick a finger and give yourself a wet willie.

2_i 

I see some window, for finding the leak again, after you started working on it, still know where more or less it is, but need to identify again the exact location. if you bring the tube close to your face, you are not tracking it and maybe you do not want to put saliva there anymore. Is it enough to justify carrying it? Most people will not even carry a pump.

canklecat

Right! Roadies are the worst. I've had to use my tubes, patches and pump to help stranded roadies who discovered their single CO2 cartridge just blew most of the contents into the air. Or they didn't check inside the tire and rim for the thing that punctured their first tube, so now the second tube is flat.

I don't do group rides for PRs or competition, so a few extra ounces to be fully prepared seems reasonable. But some folks still go out barely prepared, as if the 8 ounces it takes to carry a mini-pump and spare CO2 cartridge will matter for a guy on a 17 lb bike who's 50 lbs overweight, especially on our mostly flat terrain with rollers and few serious climbs.

I used to patch my tubes on the road rather than replace them and still do when riding solo. But I'll swap tubes on group rides to make it a little quicker. Although sometimes if the puncture location is obvious I'll pull out just enough of the tube to patch it (those self-sticking patches from Lezyne and others are great), which is much quicker than taking the wheel off the bike and doing the whole routine.

At home I'll just dunk the tube in water to find the punctures. But I can see how that styrofoam bead doodad would come in handy for loaded touring. Wouldn't take up much room, no need to waste water on the road.

sweeks

It's easier to just carry one or two tubes. Change the tube on the road, and fix the flat at home with a tub of slightly soapy water.

2_i 

The tube is heavier. Personally, I ride bikes with 3 different tire diameters on a regular basis. Swapping tubes to take along when swapping the bike is building in an extra failure point in the operation. I need to repair the tube anyway after the puncture so why not do it right away then as I dismantle the tire. Repairing the puncture and swapping the tube take nearly the same time for me and I save time overall.

Darth Lefty 

Why did they have it in the Netherlands? Aren’t they all riding around on Marathons?

WizardOfBoz

Earlier posts allude to engineering. I suspect that the Simson people spend considerable time determining the type of styrofoam balls (additives to add conductivity, or to minimize static, reduce and stickiness, etc). I don't think just any foam balls will work. Interesting idea.

2_i 

Indeed, when I first took out the Detector out of its packaging, I had problems with the balls sticking to the top of the Detector box, due to static charges. I learned to swipe my hand over the top, to remove the charges and have the balls drop to the bottom. Right now the problem seems not to be there anymore, most likely because the balls absorbed some humidity.

vane171

One technique finding small punctures is to stretch the tube longitudinally and in transverse direction. With a bit of luck and patience and lots of repeated stretching (grasping the tube several inches apart at a time), you have a good chance to detect the hole visually as a darker spot in otherwise uniform rubber expanse and with a bit more extra stretching, you might even see the hole itself.

Even at home, testing in water and seeing bubbles, it can be hard to pinpoint the location when you pull the tube from the bucket. But you narrowed down the general location and stretching the tube in that area is the final homing technique to pinpoint the hole.

The above mentioned checking the inner tire wall with you finger (if you can help it, use your spare finger and BTW it is really tire ceiling, not walls ) to possibly catch the offending culprit also helps to narrow down the search for the hole. It helps if you keep track how the tube was oriented in the tire, else you have two possible tube locations to search for the hole.

If I was building the detector gizmo, I'd look in faucet spare parts section in any hardware shop. But I have a notion it would probably fail you for the tiny holes, precisely when you would need it most.