Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Bicycle Mechanics
Reload this Page >

Tube replacement

Notices
Bicycle Mechanics Broken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

Tube replacement

Old 07-10-22, 05:39 AM
  #1  
442dude
Newbie
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Middle of The Garden State
Posts: 28

Bikes: Giant Cypress DX, Trek 800. Liv Sedona DX (hers)

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Liked 5 Times in 2 Posts
Tube replacement

Hello!

Here's my story: Went out for a ride last week only to find that my front tire is flat. Pop it off, pull out the tube...don't see anything obvious. Feel around the inside of the tire...nothing pointy or sharp. Inflate the tube, can't find the leak. Inflate the tube some more and give it a listen...nothing. Inflate it some more and I find it! It's leaking at the base of the tube stem. So now I check the rim - no burrs or anything rough around the hole...rim tape looks good. So here's my question:

This tube has about 5000 miles on it - Does anyone change tubes every once in a while to avoid this? Do you think I missed something when I was checking the rim? Or do you think it was just one of those things that happens? Schrader tube BTW.

Thanks for your thoughts.
442dude is offline  
Old 07-10-22, 07:05 AM
  #2  
flangehead
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 903

Bikes: 2017 Co-op ADV 1.1; ~1991 Novara Arriba; 1990 Fuji Palisade; mid-90's Moots Tandem; 1985 Performance Superbe

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 385 Post(s)
Liked 562 Times in 328 Posts
I have had similar valve base failures on different rims. Not frequent enough to be worth chasing down a root cause.

Originally Posted by 442dude
Or do you think it was just one of those things that happens?….
flangehead is offline  
Likes For flangehead:
Old 07-10-22, 07:31 AM
  #3  
Crankycrank
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 3,651
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 835 Post(s)
Liked 1,056 Times in 741 Posts
Check the stem hole in the rim. Make sure there are no burrs and I like to put a small bevel around the edge of the hole to reduce cuts. Nothing fancy, just take some fine grit sandpaper and lightly take the sharp edge off the hole. Not unusual for stems to get a cut at the base after enough miles but less likely if you don't wrestle it around when inflating and make sure it's perfectly straight coming out of the rim. You can also make a rubber washer from an old tube to slip over the stem and cover the base before installing the tube which adds a little more protection from cuts.
Crankycrank is offline  
Likes For Crankycrank:
Old 07-10-22, 08:40 AM
  #4  
Road Fan
Senior Member
 
Road Fan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 16,853

Bikes: 1980 Masi, 1984 Mondonico, 1984 Trek 610, 1980 Woodrup Giro, 2005 Mondonico Futura Leggera ELOS, 1967 PX10E, 1971 Peugeot UO-8

Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1851 Post(s)
Liked 654 Times in 498 Posts
To protect the next tube, I think those are great ideas. But bottom line now is, you need a new tube.
Road Fan is offline  
Likes For Road Fan:
Old 07-10-22, 12:05 PM
  #5  
442dude
Newbie
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Middle of The Garden State
Posts: 28

Bikes: Giant Cypress DX, Trek 800. Liv Sedona DX (hers)

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Liked 5 Times in 2 Posts
Thanks for the replies - Next time I have the wheel off I'll take a closer look at the hole again just to make sure I didn't miss something. Was wondering if there was something obvious I didn't know about. I like the "rubber washer" idea - will definitely do that. New tube already installed from my spare parts pile and so far so good!
442dude is offline  
Old 07-10-22, 01:34 PM
  #6  
DiabloScott
It's MY mountain
 
DiabloScott's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Mt.Diablo
Posts: 9,991

Bikes: Klein, Merckx, Trek

Mentioned: 70 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4311 Post(s)
Liked 2,954 Times in 1,601 Posts
Could be a valve hole burr, but it could also be too much bending and such from your pump head when you put it on and off.
Check your technique as well as your gear.
DiabloScott is offline  
Likes For DiabloScott:
Old 07-10-22, 04:02 PM
  #7  
Rolla
Guest
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 2,888
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1346 Post(s)
Liked 3,269 Times in 1,439 Posts
I've had many tubes fail at the bottom of the valve stem; I think it's a spot that's prone to failure as the valve stem wiggles in the hole and gets stressed by removing the pump. I use valve stem nuts, but not super tight, and they seem to help.

Rolla is offline  
Likes For Rolla:
Old 07-11-22, 07:14 AM
  #8  
andrewclaus
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Golden, CO and Tucson, AZ
Posts: 2,822

Bikes: 2016 Fuji Tread, 1983 Trek 520

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 669 Post(s)
Liked 725 Times in 422 Posts
Riding with under-inflated tires will allow the tire and tube to rotate on the rim and stress the valve stem, sometimes tearing it at the base.
andrewclaus is offline  
Likes For andrewclaus:
Old 07-11-22, 08:14 AM
  #9  
pdlamb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
Posts: 8,847

Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee

Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2578 Post(s)
Liked 1,901 Times in 1,193 Posts
Most of my tube failures related to the valve stem start with a pump head that's too tight/small. When the pump is right, you'll still get an occasional failure, but it's generally random. No sense replacing a tube that's as likely to fail as the replacement is.
pdlamb is offline  
Likes For pdlamb:
Old 07-11-22, 09:46 AM
  #10  
MudPie
Senior Member
 
MudPie's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,190
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 114 Post(s)
Liked 118 Times in 91 Posts
Originally Posted by 442dude
Hello!

... It's leaking at the base of the tube stem. So now I check the rim - no burrs or anything rough around the hole...rim tape looks good. ...

Thanks for your thoughts.
Funny, same just happened to me yesterday. I rode Saturday, then when I started to prep for my Sunday ride, the front was completely flat. I removed the tube, and found a "tear" about an inch away from the base of the valve stem (lPresta) where it contacts the rim tape, pretty much centered in the rim. Odd, I thought, and felt around the area and nothing. I just put in a new tube and just chalked it up to some unexplainable phenomenon. Note, I have over 40,000 miles on this rim and never seen such a failure.

The only thing I could think of that I did differently, is I may have used one of those small mini-pumps to pump up that tire a few days ago. I was digging thru my junk box and "found" and old Zefal mini pump and thought I'd see if it still works and how close I could get to 100 psi with it. I think I used the front wheel for the test. I usually use a floor pump in my garage or CO2 cartridge when on the road. So perhaps the action of using the handpump stressed the valve area. Good news is, the pump was actually fairly easy to achieve 80psi without much effort and now I carry it as an alternative to the CO2 for on road repairs.
MudPie is offline  
Likes For MudPie:
Old 07-11-22, 10:26 AM
  #11  
icemilkcoffee 
Senior Member
 
icemilkcoffee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,592
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1541 Post(s)
Liked 1,702 Times in 956 Posts
Another oddball cause of puncture is the rim tape. One time I had a rim tape that was sticking up at the edge of the u-shaped depression in the middle of the rim. This sticking-up edge eventually rubbed a slit in the inner tube. I fixed this by going to a wider rim tape.
icemilkcoffee is offline  
Likes For icemilkcoffee:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.