trickybilly

I'm totally noob when it comes to bikes. My brand new bike is an MTB level 9.5 Capriolo Crno Plavi which has Chao yang a-809tr (56-622) tyres. I'm 126 kg. In less than one hour of riding I noticed that the front tyre is going flat. There was no loud "explosion-like" sound before the tyre went flat just a "sssshhhh" sound. Now the tyre is totally flat. I'm taking the bike back to the shop to fix it. Did my weight cause the flat tyre? What should I watch out for when buying new tyres or new components to avoid this happening again? The name of my shop is Capriolo.

Chuck M 

Sometimes flats just happen. But converting your weight in kg to pounds makes me think you may need to consider inflation based on your weight. Hopefully the shop you are taking it to is familiar with recommendations based on rider weight, tire and wheel size and riding conditions and they can help you. They will possibly be able to tell more after a postmortem examination on the tube.

There are many online pressure calculators too although I've never cared for any of them I've tried. Probably just because I have had good luck just finding what works for me personally.

RH Clark

Every cyclist needs to learn how to fix or change an innertube. If you ride in areas where flats are more apt to occur, there are options of flat protection tires or going tubeless.

10 Wheels

Flats are part of riding. Learn how to change the tube and locate the cause of the Flat.
I now carry Five Spare tubes.

delbiker1 

No tire is immune to flats. They can be minimized with good quality tires and tubes, going tubeless, inspecting tires for cuts and foreign materials, replacing as necessary. I probably change tires before it is really necessary, but IMO, it helps with flat protection. I understand the benefits to going to tubeless, but for me, I do not get many flats and 95% of my riding is on paved roads that are in good to excellent condition. The benefits do not outweigh what I consider to be downsides.

I suggest practicing the removal and remounting of tires and tubes at home. Watch a couple of videos that show a proper way to do it, and figure out what works best for you. That can save a lot of frustration when it becomes a necessity.

Kai Winters

Well first figure out what caused the flat...was is a snake bite/pinch flat? if so the tire was under inflated for your weight or you hit something, pothole, curb, etc., hard causing the pinch flat or a combination of your weight and hitting something.
Second, was it a puncture? If so keep an eye out on the road in front of you and try not to ride through debris fields of sand, dirt, etc. as they often hide sharp and pointy bits of glass, metal, etc. that causes flats.
Learn how to change a tube...I'd suggest tubeless but at your weight you are likely to blow a tire.
Buy and use a tire pump...check your tires before a ride to make sure they are at the proper pressure especially at your weight.
It is part of being a rider...flats happen but you can greatly reduce them by following the above.

trickybilly

Thank you for your advice. I rode on asphalt. There were no holes, bumps or debris on the road. After external examination I cannot see any thorns, glass, etc. or similar defect on my tires. I guess I will get the final answer after the shop examines the bike.

Chuck M 

Given that you are new to this I think getting the shop's help to sort this out is the best. But as other's have said, learning to fix a flat is something you will want to skill yourself in. Good luck. That has to be frustrating and disappointing to flat within an hour of riding your new bike.

Iride01 

Do you check your tire pressure regularly? Bike tires with tubes will loose pressure as the tubes are thin and permeable for air. Higher pressure smaller volume tires for road bikes can loose way too much air in less than a week to survive going over bumps and stuff that causes pinch flats. Wider lower pressure tires might take longer, but eventually they too won't have enough pressure to survive things that will give you pinch flats.

When you start fixing flats yourself, it's important to figure out why you got the flat. Some, maybe many are just bad installation of the tube. If you take it to a shop to be fixed, then be certain to tell them you want them to look for why it flatted and then find out from them what they found.

If your tires are tubeless, then others will have to tell you about them. I have no experience with them, but they have their issues too.

Ogsarg

Flats happen and it has nothing to do with the age of the bike or tire. Watch some youtube videos on how to change a tube and learn how to repair a punctured tube so you can re-use them. Carry a spare (and tools required to remove wheel/tire) with you and a means to fill it; mini pump or CO2. If you can't or don't want to deal with flats make sure you have someone on speed dial that will come and get you when it happens the next time.

79pmooney

Yes, learn to repair flats. (I am assuming you have a traditional tire and innertube. If yours is the new tubeless, disregard this post.) Get good at removing tires and innertubes. Find that hole in the innertube and patch it - even if you can afford to use brand new tubes each flat. Because, by doing this, you learn what caused that flat. Your new patch will be located exactly where the issue on the tire is. Now look at that spot on both the inside and outside of the tire. There may be a tiny piece of glass or wire (car tires have wire belts that break down to little steel hairs 1/16" long; short enough to stay completely buried in your tire and cause flat after flat. Small pieces of glass do the same. If you don't know where to look, you will never find them. (And those holes in the tubes may be equally small and hard to find. Sometimes impossible out on the road. I always carry two spare tubes as well as a patch kit. But often those tiny holes can be found blowing the tube up and running it through water in a sink or bucket. Another issue that can happen is big cuts in the tire. When that happens, often the tube is trash and the tire must be repaired to keep the replacement tube from squeezing out the cut. Patch kits come with a rectangular sturdy patch for just that but it isn't always big enough. A time honored trick is to lay one or more dollar bills inside the tire overt the cut. Air pressure in the tube keeps them in place. Dollar bills are surprisingly strong and have been nursing tires home forever. I try to carry at least 5 bills. I've needed that many to get home with big cuts. (Denomination doesn't matter. The big ones are probably stronger simply because they are in general, newer. Bills survive even extended "boot" use very well, sometimes needing laundering later.

Edit: Pinch flats - from too little pressure and hitting stones, far edges of potholes and the like and having the tire bottom out and the obstacle pinching the tire and tube against the rim. Typically it happens on both rim edges simultaneously, leaving two small slit holes side by side on the tube. Known as (and looking just like) snake bites. They can be a challenge to patch because they are often exactly the wrong distance apart for either just one or two side-by-side patches. Solution? That spare tube and more air next time. (Your first ride flat could have been a snake bite from too little pressure. The speed of deflation can be anywhere from instantaneous to very slow depending on how hard the hit. More rider weight and less rider skill (some people ride "gently" on their tires, others hit everything out there hard) make a big difference in how much air you need to prevent those flats. Bigger tires also help a lot.

Tools you will need - pair of tire "irons" (quotations because the vast majority are plastic including many of the very good ones), a patch kit, an innertube or two, a wrench to remove the wheels if needed and an air source; pump or CO2 cartridge and dispenser. I keep my tubes in a sock in my tool bag to keep sharp objects off the tubes. I carry a full frame pump but that probably is not an easy carry on your MTB, Mini pumps are easy to mount but considerably more tedious to inflate especially large tires. For the home, a floor pump or compressor is a big help, especially through the learning process when you may be making mistakes (that you want to do and learn from at home, not out on the road with your last innertube!)

All this said - welcome to Bike Forums and bike riding!

And a fun, related story - there's a 12 yo girl at the farmer's market, daughter of a vendor I've been buying from for years. She loves riding bikes! We talk bikes. She's told me her grandpa is one of us; that he's been riding as long as I have. She's frustrated now because her bike has two flats and her parents are working 70 hour weeks (spring is peak time of year for their business). I've been gently pushing her to ask grandpa to teach her to repair flats. A skill she will always have and a great bonding moment between the two.

Troul 

Could just be an unfortunate event in such a short time by debris or a parts interference issue (ie: spoke poke, rim strip pinch etc)
Hopefully you get a blow out of a deal for the replacement tube.

Polaris OBark

If it is debris, it is usually more likely to happen with the rear tire. I think the tube got pinched, either during the installation, or while you were riding it (due to under-inflation for your weight, like others have suggested.) But you need to take a look at the tube and determine where the leak is. A valve stem leak could be a loose valve stem, or a tear near the base. Pinch flats usually are distinguished by two holes or indentations ("snake bite"), and are usually caused by the rim with an under-inflated tire, by trapping the tube between the tire and the rim under compression.

If there is something in the tire corresponding to where the hole is, then you have your answer: debris/random bad luck

cxwrench

It takes less than a second to flat.
ETA: This is a mechanical question and as such should be posted in the proper section "bicycle mechanics" and not GD.

indyfabz

Interesting how the bike’s name seems to be the same as the shop’s name, and the name is mentioned in at least one other OP thread.

tempocyclist

Flats happen, it's part of cycling. If it's a modern / new MTB then see if it can be set up as tubeless!

Kai Winters

Have you inflated the tube to try to determine the type of puncture? I always inflate the tube just to see if it is a "snake bite"...two holes ...or a single hole.
I also check the inside of the tire carefully if it is a puncture to make sure there isn't a tiny bit of something in the tire protruding just enough to cause another flat...had it happen...it sucks especially on the road.
Check to make sure the rim strip covers the spoke holes...they can be sharp and have caused flats.
Check the valve and the valve hole in the rim...sometimes the valve hole can also be sharp and can abrade the valve stem as it moves during a ride.
It would be so easy if a flat was caused by only one thing but it can be caused by many things and most can be prevented by proper care and maintenance.

trickybilly

Thank you very much for all the kind answers. The repairman told my parents something that the valve was badly installed in the factory, that caused the flat. So the repair was free.

ClydeClydeson

'Defective tubes' are often blamed for flat tires, but in my experience, truly defective tubes are extremely rare. Especially when it is a flat caused by damage around the valve stem, the most likely cause is rough handling during pumping, or when detaching the pump from the valve. Another cause can be running pressure too low, which allows the tire and tube to shift, but the valve stem hole remains in the same place and this puts stress on the tube. There are tubes that are better and worse in this regard (often more expensive tubes are better, IME), but actual 'defective' tubes are rare.

delbiker1 

Whoever repaired your tube, did you a solid. In the LBS world, it pays to reciprocate. Just do not expect to get anything for free, but if you do, show appreciation.

Kai Winters

We have recently had a bad batch of tubes. We buy a lot of tubes and one recent lot had roughly 10 or so tubes that didn't hold air. I was leaking at the valve stem and looks like it was incorrectly glued?/joined? to the tube itself. We'll get a credit from our supplier but it is a pain in the ass to deal with because we have to test each tube when we sell a tube to a customer. We always partially inflate a tube when we do a flat repair but not when a customer comes in to buy a tube.
I've worked in bike shops for over 20 years and this is the first time I've encountered this problem. The owner of the shop says the same thing.
It generally is not a bad tube but then again...

njkayaker

Looks like it's a Serbian manufacturer.

https://www.capriolo.com/en/bicikli/mtb-26

rekmeyata

Like others have said, at 277 pounds I think your tire pressure was too low, you could got something in the tire to cause it to flat but your weight is high and without proper inflation the tube when poof. I assume it was the rear tire? That is where most of your weight is at. As one poster pointed out a snake bite flat is a dead giveaway that your psi was too low. So, if it was the rear tire, I recommend getting another tire that is at least 2 sizes up from what came on the bike, 2 sizes up also supports higher weight limits, so the larger the tire you can put on the better. but check with the bike shop to make sure it will fit. The other thing, those tires you have are very poor quality, you need to get more of a mid range priced tire, not sure what tire option your bike shop carries, but you need to improve the tires.

If your tube does not have snake bite damage, then something penetrated the tire to cause the flat, in that case, your tires, being of poor quality, does not have adequate protection built into the tread to prevent flats. If flats concern you, you can take a precaution that will all but stop flats by using a tire flat liner, the best one on the market is the RhinoDillos, they come in various widths so make sure you get the correct one for your tires, which will probably be the tan coded one.

No one needs to carry 5 spare tubes; I only carry two when I'm touring! Just riding around out in the country not far from home I carry 1 spare tube. Why do I not carry so many spare tubes? Because tubes can be repaired on the side of the road, and I can repair my tube as fast if not faster than another person who opts to change their tube. You need to watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix a flat tire, then you need to practice, but you also need the right tools to fix a flat with. First you need a pair of tire irons, I found a pair of very strong tire irons, those are the Lezyne Power XL levers, these are stronger than even the much tooted Padro's yellow tire levers. If you have very tough to install tires then you also need a Kool Stop Tire Bead Jack, neither of these tools are expensive but crucial to have. YouTube has videos too show you how to use the Kool Stop.

If you get a Kool Stop Bead Jack you will need to make sure that whatever saddle bag you buy is long enough to carry that tool, the tool is 8 inches long, so the bag needs to be at least that long.

You will also need a patch kit, Rema makes really good patches, again you have to watch YouTube videos. They're very easy to put on.

After you watch a lot YouTube videos on how to fix a flat, then try my very old school method of fixing a flat that was well known back 70 years ago and more, not so much anymore though. This method will work for most tires, not all, but most. Here is the old method: I can fix a flat tire without EVER removing the tire, IF I can find the object or hole in the tire which is about 75% of the time. This works for front and rear tires. All you do is leave the wheel on the bike, once you have located hole on the tire, you move the wheel to a location so you can remove about 1/2 of one side of the tire easily without rear stays getting in the way, with the hole in the middle of that 1/2, next you pull out about a 1/4th of the tube with the hole in the center of the tube you pulled out, then simply fix the tube as you learned on YouTube, and put it all back together, put air in, and off you go.

koala logs

They should change the name of Chaoyang tires to Ssssshhhhh.

The wall thickness at the tread is ridiculously thin. A feral wire on the road can easily poke through it and into the innertube.