mrund3rd09

where can i find some good resources on flat tires?

last week, i got a flat from my 27x1-1/4 rear tube. it was after I finished my first paper route using my cargo bike trailer, so I assumed that the flat was caused by the amount of work the tire had to do, so I switched my delivery to a mtb.

Now, a week later, I got another flat. The new tube is a 27x1-1/8. The tire was fine all week and before I left home today. I'm not sure when the tubes gave out, but I discovered that they were completely flat after I finished playing tennis.

I'm going to do the bubble test in a moment, but I suspect the cause is not a hole in the tube.

Lastly, I'm looking for some durable tubes that are also inexpensive. Where can I get them? Amazon? bike shop?

crazzywolfie

do you have rim tape on your rims? if not then it may be the reason you could be getting flats. those rubber bands on the rims sometimes fail and will allow the spoke or nipple poke a hole in the tube. could also possibly be a loose valve. i have had that happen before.

Big_e

For 27's I go to walmart. Their prices are good and even they can't mess up on tubes and they even carry the hard to find 26x1 3/8, For 700's I go to my LBS.
Make sure that you aren't pinching the tube between the tire and the rim, a very common mistake. Wneh placing the tire back on the rim, you should be able to do most, if not all the work by hand with little help of your tire tools.
Run your fingers along the inside of your tires to feel for any sharp object that may be lodged in the tire, even an unseen thorn can cause problems.
Ernest

mrund3rd09

I just found a hole on the 1/8. the hole is on the outer diameter

cyccommute 

First, flats are random events. They have little or nothing to do with the tube or the tire. They just happen. I've had more flats than I can count on new tires, old tires, mountain bike tires, road bike tires, tire liners, kevlar belts, etc. I've had flats caused by goatheads (look it up), wires from tires, tacks, 16 penny nails (at the bottom of a 25mph + mountain bike hill just before an uphill), screws, tree thorns, glass, and under inflation. With the exception of the under inflation (it's a mountain bike thing), none of those was the result of something I did. Learn to fix the flat and move along.

Second, flats that result from the bike standing unused for a few days to a few weeks aren't random events. That's just physics. The tube is mostly impermeable to air but not completely air tight. Air leaks out over time. The higher the pressure the faster the leakage...generally. Check your tire pressure before every ride, especially if you haven't ridden the bike in a while.

Finally, a patch costs less than a tube. Learn how to patch tubes. You don't have to stop patching at 1 or 2 or 10 or even 20 patches. The most I've ever had is 25 and the only reason I quit was because the stem pulled out. That, and a blowout, are about the only reason a tube is unusable.

mrund3rd09

sweet. I found holes in both tubes. they're at different locations so I don't think the rim or the tire is at fault.

Another thing, do I have to worry about holes that you can't detect using the bubble test? Can there be holes so small that the water pressure won't make bubbles in the tube?


lastly, what if the tubes develop lumps?

abdon 

The kind of micro holes that make you pump air once a week are just par for the course. My front tube has four patches on it and will keep getting repaired as long as I can get away with it. It can hold air for months, which to me it makes it better than a brand-new tube.

Lumps on the inner tube doesn't matter. All of the strength of the inner tube comes from being held in place by the tire.

Carry a piece of canvas or other material to fix rips on the tire itself. If a rip is big enough, the tube will pop through it every time you try to pump pressure on it.