Originally Posted by kyletuck
About a week ago I punctured my front inner tube when I rode over some bryers or something with a sharp point. I went to Wal mart and got a patch kit and patched the hole which was needle sized and it slowed the leak down and it took about 3 days for all the air to leak out. A few days later I pumped the tire up and it held air for a long time while I was riding it. The next day I went to ride it and all the air was out of it. I pumped the tire back up and rode to my freinds house which is only a quarter mile away and sat the bike down and talked for 5 minutes and the tube was completely flat. The funny thing is that after I patched it i didn't ride over anything but asphalt. What should I do?
First, take the tire off and check it for something sticking through to the inside. Use a cotton cloth or cotton ball and run it around on the inside of the tire. If there is a thorn still in there, the cotton will leave lint on the end of the thorn.
Next, inspect the outside of the tire to see if you can spot the end of a thorn. Look carefully and pry it out of you find it.
Third, with the tube out of the tire, pump it up to about twice the normal size. Then dip it a small section at a time in a sink or other suitable water holding vessel. Go slow since you probably have a small leak that is easy to miss. Watch for any bubbles and if you see them (you will see lots of bubbles on the tube) wipe them off underwater and see if they reform. If they do, mark the spot (I use a ballpoint pen) and continue around the tube to the end you started with just to make sure you don't have more than one hole.
Finally, go to your local bike shop and purchase a Rema TipTop patch kit. The Rema is by far the best patch kit out there. You can pay a little more and do the job once or pay a little less and do the job a bunch of times...your choice.
