[email protected] Tubes

I have only been on my bike 4 times and have blown 3 tubes. What gives? I have only made it back home pedaling once.

 

check out the holes position and size, if they are similar then the same imperfection -on your wheel- would be to blame, rather than random events on the road. It could be a spoke head, lack of rim tape, a hole in your tyre, a glass or metal on your tyre, excessive air pressure.. etc

 

make sure you find out where the air is leaking out of the tube

if it's leaking out at the same place each time, that's the place to look

 

Let's make that four tubes. This happened cause I couldn't avoid bad concrete. As soon as I hit it went .....pssssssssssssss. I'm riding a cheap bike, if this keeps occuring would new rims and tires solve the problem?

 

Not necessarily. Not sure what "bad concrete" means, but from your previous punctures, it's clear that the concrete was not the main problem. Like the previous posts said, check where the leak is. If it is hard to tell, put some air in the tube and submerge it in water until you see bubbles. Then check where on the tire/rim might be causing the problem.

 

New rims would do nothing but take money from your wallet. New tires might help, but it depends on the reason for the punctures. If the punctures are because of bad rim tape or summat, then new tires won't do a damned thing.

There are a host of things you should do:

1. Be sure, before every ride, that your tires are properly inflated. Both over inflating and under inflating can lead to more punctures.
2. Be sure that the tire is mounted properly and that the inner tube isn't pinched between the tire bead and the rim.
3. Be sure that the rim tape is in good shape and doesn't allow the inner tube to come into contact with the spoke holes. If the inner tube does contact spoke holes, I can guarantee that will cause punctures.
4. After a flat, before inserting the tube, be sure that anything that may have caused the flat is removed from the tire carcass. Run your fingers along the inside of the tire to feel for anything sharp protruding through the carcass. Remove anything embedded in the tire. In fact, you should periodically check your tires and remove anything embedded as such things can work their way through the tire to puncture the tube.
5. Replace any tire that is showing threads or has cuts that extend through the carcass.
6. When riding be sure to regularly scan the road surface for debris that needs to be avoided. Most flats can be avoided just by seeing and avoiding glass and the like.
7. Don't plow through potholes, if possible. Potholes are great for causing snake bite flats, where the inner tube punctures/tears because it is pinched so sharply by impact.
8. Make sure you understand how to properly replace a tire and/or tube. Go to your LBS and ask them to show you how it's done if you're unsure.

Alas, flats are something that all riders get, no matter what. We've all been through stretches where it seems the flats keep coming. I went through a two week stretch a few years ago, where I was in flat hell. In two weeks, I had 10 flats, all from goatheads (a Satan spawned thorn from the Puncture Vine plant) which couldn't be seen on the road surface.

Good luck.

 

Everyone covered every conceivable reason except for one other possibility. You said you hit a chunk of cement and pssssst. When you removed the tube was there two small puncture holes about 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch apart?

It sounds like to me, especially if you discovered two holes, your pinch flatting. A pinch flat happens when you don't have enough air in the tires or riding to narrow of a tire for the weight it is having to carry and you hit something like cement, or pot holes etc and the tire bottoms out against the rim and the tube gets pinched between the rim and whatever external hard or sharp object.

 

Yes thats exactly it on every tube. Kinda looks like a snake bite. I was wondering if I was to fat for my bike.

 

As I said in point #1, make sure your tires are properly inflated. Note that proper inflation does not mean inflating to the stated max pressure on the side of the tire. Under inflation can cause what you're experiencing, while over inflation makes it easier for objects to penetrate the casing and increases the likelihood for tread cuts.

What size tires are you using, and how big are you?

 

25" 700c. I am 5' 8" and a hovering between 195 -200 lbs.

 

I'm going to assume you mean 25 x 700c. The 25 indicates a 25 mm tired width (although the actual physical dimensions may vary significantly). I think you should try inflating your tires to 110-115 psi front and 115-120 psi rear. That'd be an ok starting point. Finding the right tire pressure is a matter of finding what prevents pinch flats while providing satisfactory ride comfort, grip (contact patch size), and rolling resistance (a function of contact patch shape and size for a given tire).

 

Your not a Clydesdale so the 700x25 is fine, you just need to put more air into the tires. Experiment a bit, but I bet if you started using 5 psi less then the max rated on the rear and 10 less then max on the front you'll be fine; at the very most you'll need is the max rated psi in the rear and 5 less then max on the front.

 

As alienator said in #7 ploughing through potholes or riding straight into curbs is not the way to ride. Just sayin, these obstacles need to be negotiated with care and skillful riding, but even so I had a bad run of punctures not from pinching, not the rim, but from random piercings through the cheapo tread. Buying more expensive puncture-resistant tyres solved the problem.

 

+1

Add to that #6. You can't avoid every piece of glass or pebble on the road, but you can avoid a lot of it if you scan the road ahead.

If you are riding and you start hearing that telltale rhythmic tick...tick...tick, then you have probably picked something up on one of your tires. As mentioned in #4 on checking for embedded debris, if I start hearing that sound I'll stop and run the palm of my glove around both tires to knock off anything stuck in the tread.

 

Had a busy week but went and bought a pump with a gauge. Problem fixed. It really changed the ride to. I was probably riding at somewhere between 60 - 80 psi (just guessing). Thanks for the advice.