Originally Posted by
geneg
Took a picture of my patched tubes based on your advice....almost the same spot, all 4 tubes. Tried to post it, but did not have 10 post to qualify for posting. Any trick here?
Anyway, went thru the tire and the rim, nothing to be found. No puncture marks on the tire no inside neither inside.
Are the patches on the inside or outside of the tube? (Laying the tube in carefully without twists is a big help here.) If inside, is the rim strip properly covering the spoke hole? And if it's outside, look for that tire wire or tiny thorn tip. You know to within a 1/2" where it is. Circle that with a pen. Pull the tire off. In really good light bend the tire to open up the tiniest of holes. Both sides, cord and tread. You know it's there. Find it! Or put on another tire. (It will work its way through any patch or boot you put over it and cause another flat. Not tomorrow but you'll see it.)
And next time, before you patch, look at the shape of the hole. Hairs make very small punctures or short, fine rips. Bead issues - usually long slits in line with the rim edge. Rimstrip issues - probably the shape of that portion of the spoke hole edge.
The three things that enable bicycles to work so fantastically well - the roller chain, inflatable tires and ball bearing. Thankfully the ball bearing behave very nicely once we have them rounded up and trapped. Chains are an ongoing expense and as much labor (or filth) as we are willing to put up with. Those tires - both a curse and a joy.