Dumb question - repeated flats

[Jamie]

My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past month... and only ridden twice
in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or so miles and put it in
storage. Checked it today, and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I not looking
at? There does not appear to be damage to the tire?

Thanks,

jamie

 

[Boyd Speerschne]

"Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past month... and only ridden twice
> in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or so miles and put it in
> storage. Checked it today, and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I not looking
> at? There does not appear to be damage to the tire?
>
> Thanks,
>
> jamie

I'm not sure how new you are to the sport or how much experience you have changing tires, so don't
take this the wrong way if you all ready know. When you have a flat do the following:

1) Check the tire for cuts and embedded glass, nails, etc.
2) Check the rim making sure that the tape is still covering all of the spoke holes.
3) Put a little air in the new tube befoe you put it on the rim.
4) Make sure that you don't "pinch" the tube. This happens when there isn't enough air in the tube
when you mount the tire and it gets folded over on itself.
5) Make sure the bead of the tire is seated properly before you blow it up.

Hope this helps.

- Boyd S.

 

[M. Barbee]

"Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past
month...
> and only ridden twice in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or
> so miles and put it in storage. Checked it
today,
> and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I not looking at? There does not appear
> to be damage to the tire?
>
> Thanks,
>
> jamie
>
>
That has happened to me a few times. Apparently, I was having what is described as a blowout. Since
my bike is stored in my apartment, I heard the sudden loud sound when my tubes blew. I had to start
trying to be a little bit more careful about keeping the tubes inside the casing. I can't tell what
type of flat you're having, but here's a couple of websites that might help.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

and

http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/ This is a FAQ. Check out sections 8b.3, 8b.4 and 8b.5. As
someone else said, these could be completely random events, but if its something else, those pages
might help you figure it out.

 

[Mike Kruger]

"Boyd Speerschneider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
> > My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past month... What am I not
> > looking at? There does not appear to be damage
to the
> > tire?
> >
>
> I'm not sure how new you are to the sport or how much experience you have changing tires, so don't
> take this the wrong way if you all ready know. When you have a flat do the following:
>
> 1) .... <snip good advice>

Mark a spot on the tire that you will remember, e.g. put nail polish on the drive side, next to the
valve. (You can use the tire markings themselves for this, but that would require you to remove the
tire AGAIN. Enough of that.) This will mean that you will be able to exactly match the hole in the
tube to the area of the tire. Examine this area of the tire (and wheel) in excruciating detail until
the answer becomes clear.

Of course, it's also possible that you have just had a run of bad luck. I'm a statistician, so I
tried assuming that flats were purely random, but happened, on average, every 500 miles. I then
simulated a few tires this way. There were a number of cases in which my "random" flats occurred
very close together; your two flats may not be connected at all.

 

[Rivermist]

Last time I had a recurring flat problem, changing the rim tape took care of
it.

"Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past
month...
> and only ridden twice in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or
> so miles and put it in storage. Checked it
today,
> and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I not looking at? There does not appear
> to be damage to the tire?
>
> Thanks,
>
> jamie

 

[Eric Babula]

"Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:

> My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past month... and only ridden twice
> in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or so miles and put it in
> storage. Checked it today, and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I not looking
> at? There does not appear to be damage to the tire?
>
> Thanks,
>
> jamie
>
>
>

Last time I had a recurring flat, I found that I had a very tiny piece of glass stuck inside the
rubber tire. I searched the inside and outside of the tire repeatedly, and never found that glass!
Finally, I decided to replace the tire, rather than keep patching the tube.

After putting a new tire on, I scoured every little crack and hole of the old tire, and finally
found the scoundrel! Just a tiny little sliver, that was inside the rubber of the tire. Never felt
it by hand, but, when the tube was pumped to pressure, and I rode on it, that must have been enough
for the glass to poke into the tube, causing the pinhole, and the flat.

--
Smile!!

__O _-\ <,_ Eric Babula (_) / (_) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

 

[Smith]

MMMM, I had a tire that kept going flat, changed it to the front wheel to see if it was the tire or
the wheel, it still kept going flat. Examined inside of the tire couldn't find anything. Took a
cotton cleansing pad, kind of like a flat cotton ball, and rubbed it over the inside of the tire,
sure enough a small snag from the casing of the tire. Too little to see but the cotton snagged it,
just enough to puncture a high pressure tire after fifty miles of riding or so. Was making me nuts
for awhile. All the best, Biff "Eric Babula" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
> > My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past month... and only ridden
> > twice in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or so miles and
> > put it in storage. Checked it today, and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I
> > not looking at? There does not appear to be damage to the tire?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > jamie
> >
> >
> >
>
> Last time I had a recurring flat, I found that I had a very tiny piece of glass stuck inside the
> rubber tire. I searched the inside and outside of the tire repeatedly, and never found that glass!
> Finally, I decided to replace the tire, rather than keep patching the tube.
>
> After putting a new tire on, I scoured every little crack and hole of the old tire, and finally
> found the scoundrel! Just a tiny little sliver, that was inside the rubber of the tire. Never felt
> it by hand, but, when the tube was pumped to pressure, and I rode on it, that must have been
> enough for the glass to poke into the tube, causing the pinhole, and the flat.
>
> --
> Smile!!
>
> __O _-\ <,_ Eric Babula (_) / (_) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

 

[Rod Raisanen]

"Jamie" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> My Specialized allez sport '03 model has gotten 2 flats in the past
month...
> and only ridden twice in that time, due to travel. I replaced the first flat, road the bike 30 or
> so miles and put it in storage. Checked it
today,
> and it was flat as a pancake. Other tire is fine. What am I not looking at? There does not appear
> to be damage to the tire?
>
> Thanks,
>
> jamie
>
>

How long was it in storage. I occasionally have good tubes that will go completely flat in a week.
If the storage isn't heated they can go flat really quick with allot of temperature change. Rod
Raisanen Chillicothe, Ohio The reply take out garbage

 

[Jay]

>Smith at [email protected] wrote: MMMM, I had a tire that kept going flat, changed it to the
>front wheel to see if it was the tire or the wheel, it still kept going flat. Examined inside of
>the tire couldn't find anything. Took a cotton cleansing pad, kind of like a flat cotton ball, and
>rubbed it over the inside of the tire, sure enough a small snag from the casing of the tire. Too
>little to see but the cotton snagged it, just enough to puncture a high pressure tire after fifty
>miles of riding or so. Was making me nuts for awhile.

I add a cotton ball and a small square of emery cloth ( similar to sandpaper) to all my patch kits
and to the patch kits I give as gifts or prizes.

 

[Pureheart]

In article <BBF8F234.25014%[email protected]>, Jay <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Smith at [email protected] wrote: MMMM, I had a tire that kept going flat, changed it to the
>>front wheel to see if it was the tire or the wheel, it still kept going flat. Examined inside of
>>the tire couldn't find anything. Took a cotton cleansing pad, kind of like a flat cotton ball, and
>>rubbed it over the inside of the tire, sure enough a small snag from the casing of the tire. Too
>>little to see but the cotton snagged it, just enough to puncture a high pressure tire after fifty
>>miles of riding or so. Was making me nuts for awhile.
>
>I add a cotton ball and a small square of emery cloth ( similar to sandpaper) to all my patch kits
>and to the patch kits I give as gifts or prizes.
>

I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case gizmo
with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise (drunk
driver, hit and run, etc.).

I did, however, get my first ever death threat for suggesting this idea once before, so it must be a
controversial idea somehow.

Pureheart

 

[Eric S. Sande]

>I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case
>gizmo with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise (drunk
>driver, hit and run, etc.).

Assuming you are using that sort of valves.

>I did, however, get my first ever death threat for suggesting this idea once before, so it must be
>a controversial idea somehow.

It don't surprise me, somehow.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email protected]__________

 

[The Real Bev]

"Eric S. Sande" wrote:
>
> Somebody wrote:
> >I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case
> >gizmo with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise
> >(drunk driver, hit and run, etc.).
>
> Assuming you are using that sort of valves.

It's nicer than icepicking tires. Always flatten two, and choose curbside tires if possible. If you
only flatten one the jerk can put his spare on. Not that I've ever actually done this, but I've
thought about it a lot.

> >I did, however, get my first ever death threat for suggesting this idea once before, so it must
> >be a controversial idea somehow.
>
> It don't surprise me, somehow.

Some people are just born victims.

--
Cheers, Bev """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "We're from the Government. We're
here to help."

 

[Zippy the Pinhe]

Eric S. Sande" wrote:
>
> Somebody wrote:
> >I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case
> >gizmo with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise
> >(drunk driver, hit and run, etc.).
>
> Assuming you are using that sort of valves.

Have you ever seen Presta valves on a car?

 

[Bernie]

The Real Bev wrote:

>"Eric S. Sande" wrote:
>
>>Somebody wrote:
>>
>>>I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case
>>>gizmo with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise
>>>(drunk driver, hit and run, etc.).
>>>
>>Assuming you are using that sort of valves.
>>
>
>It's nicer than icepicking tires. Always flatten two, and choose curbside tires if possible. If you
>only flatten one the jerk can put his spare on. Not that I've ever actually done this, but I've
>thought about it a lot.
>
>>>I did, however, get my first ever death threat for suggesting this idea once before, so it must
>>>be a controversial idea somehow.
>>>
>>It don't surprise me, somehow.
>>
>
>Some people are just born victims.
>
IF one was consideriding such behaviour, and did not have the required valve removal tool, a jack
knife works fine. Simply cut the rubber valve stems on the tubeless car tires. The car is disabled,
damage is very inexpensive - this is a GOOD THING if charges are pressed later... Purely
hypothetical, of course.

 

[The Real Bev]

Bernie wrote:
>
> The Real Bev wrote:
>
> >"Eric S. Sande" wrote:
> >
> >>Somebody wrote:
> >>
> >>>I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case
> >>>gizmo with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise
> >>>(drunk driver, hit and run, etc.).
> >>>
> >>Assuming you are using that sort of valves.

You don't have to actually use the schrader valve cover, you just have to have it in your kit
somewhere. I don't think that even true gram-shavers would object to the additional weight.

> >It's nicer than icepicking tires. Always flatten two, and choose curbside tires if possible. If
> >you only flatten one the jerk can put his spare on. Not that I've ever actually done this, but
> >I've thought about it a lot.
> >
> >>>I did, however, get my first ever death threat for suggesting this idea once before, so it must
> >>>be a controversial idea somehow.
> >>>
> >>It don't surprise me, somehow.
> >
> >Some people are just born victims.
> >
> IF one was consideriding such behaviour, and did not have the required valve removal tool, a jack
> knife works fine. Simply cut the rubber valve stems on the tubeless car tires. The car is
> disabled, damage is very inexpensive - this is a GOOD THING if charges are pressed later... Purely
> hypothetical, of course.

Oooh, vandalism :-( The nice thing about removing a valve core is that you have caused no permanent
damage, especially if you tape the cores to the windshield where the owner can find them easily. All
the guy has to do is put the cores back and roll the tires to the nearest gas station that has an
air hose <snort>. Maybe it would be even more proper to tape a couple of quarters next to the cores,
or a couple of those Arco tokens...

--
Cheers, Bev <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> "Only wimps use tape backup;
*real* men just upload their important stuff on FTP, and let the rest of the world mirror it " --
Linus Torvalds

 

[Bernie]

The Real Bev wrote:

>Bernie wrote:
>
>>The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>>>"Eric S. Sande" wrote:
>>>
>>>>Somebody wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>I also put a metal schrader valve cover w/ built-in valve core remover. This is a just-in-case
>>>>>gizmo with which to disable cars via flattening one or more tires should the need ever arise
>>>>>(drunk driver, hit and run, etc.).
>>>>>
>>>>Assuming you are using that sort of valves.
>>>>
>
>You don't have to actually use the schrader valve cover, you just have to have it in your kit
>somewhere. I don't think that even true gram-shavers would object to the additional weight.
>
>>>It's nicer than icepicking tires. Always flatten two, and choose curbside tires if possible. If
>>>you only flatten one the jerk can put his spare on. Not that I've ever actually done this, but
>>>I've thought about it a lot.
>>>
>>>>>I did, however, get my first ever death threat for suggesting this idea once before, so it must
>>>>>be a controversial idea somehow.
>>>>>
>>>>It don't surprise me, somehow.
>>>>
>>>Some people are just born victims.
>>>
>>IF one was consideriding such behaviour, and did not have the required valve removal tool, a jack
>>knife works fine. Simply cut the rubber valve stems on the tubeless car tires. The car is
>>disabled, damage is very inexpensive - this is a GOOD THING if charges are pressed later... Purely
>>hypothetical, of course.
>>
>
>Oooh, vandalism :-( The nice thing about removing a valve core is that you have caused no permanent
>damage, especially if you tape the cores to the windshield where the owner can find them easily.
>All the guy has to do is put the cores back and roll the tires to the nearest gas station that has
>an air hose <snort>. Maybe it would be even more proper to tape a couple of quarters next to the
>cores, or a couple of those Arco tokens...
>
I understand your :-( reference, but remember I was responding to someone who mentioned tires and an
ice pick in the same sentence... Just trying to soften the blow, ya know!