Commuting - Tires and tubes and flats and things.

Since I've started to commute via bike, I've had the annoying problem of getting constant flats. I'm a road bike user, so I'm at a disadvantage when compared to MB folks on road when it comes to tires. Now tires are not expensive, however, it is anoying. I don't seem to catch thorns, or glass or the like. It would seem to be pinches from large rocks. I do avoid them, and don't seem to hit them that much.

Anyone have any ideas or tips on how to prevent this problem?
TIA

What tires are you running? What width and what pressure?

If you are getting pinch flats, you may need to go with a higher pressure setup. Are you a pretty big guy?

(thump thump to bike) 700x23c. I'm rather heavy, for the bike I guess. I'm 6'2, and wieght about 183.

It sounds like tire pressure is too low. While 183 lbs. might be a bit heavy for 700x23, I don't think it could account for numerous pinch flats.... Hitting a big rock at high speed could do it, though, even with "enough" pressure. My one and only pinch flat (but I don't ride my road bike that much) was when I hit one of those sharp ledges where they've removed the paving from the street in order to resurface it. Nasty! I weighed about 170 then, riding 700x23 with 110 lbs. pressure in the rear, 100 lbs in the front. But it also put a big dent in my brand-new Weinmann front wheel. :crash:

I would try going about 10 lbs. above the recommended pressure printed on the tire. There's always a good margin there. The worst that could happen is a blow-out anyway--and you're already familiar with those. :(

Here is where my newbieness comes out.

First, any idea how I take tire pressure on the little stem? I'm big on watching pressure on the old jeep, but on bikes, no clue.

I would guess that there is some form of mini tire gauge that I should be purchasing and double checking my pressure on.

And if I am a bit heavy, add in a back pack that has about 5 lbs worth of stuff, a small (alien) tool kit, light and battery pack..

And I'm probably overloaded right?

So what would be my options?

A larger tire? (On a road bike?)

Also, is it common for tires to loose pressure slowly, even when new, over the period of a few days?

Swap your 23mm tyres for the widest that will fit into your frame, probably 25mm, but possibly a narrow 28mm, and make sure they are tough ones.
If you use a track pump to get the pressure up, they will be as fast as the thinner ones. Resistance depends on pressure, not width.
Fit some Velox cloth rim tape, and use an Air-B inner tube. They resist punctures very effectively and come in a stylish red colour.

A few pounds of weight makes little difference to punctures. 25mm is used by fast endurance riders who value reliability. Its a bit to heavy for competative racers, and loaded tourists usually start at 28mm, but its an OK size. Ive ridden off road with 25mm on a Canondale road bike.
Track/floor pumps should come with a pressure guage. Once you have the tyre pumped up, you can try squeezing the tyre, you soon develope a good manual pressure guage. You need about 90psi, which is easy on a track pump, but impossible with a mini pump, so dont try. Just pump enough pressure to get yourself home after a puncture (probably 70-80psi)

Well, time to go back to the old drawing board. New tires weren't under consideration.. as it wasn't an option that I had considered... I suppose I could save the thinner tires for if and when I try to do a triathlon or a strait road ride with a group (if I ever meet up with any).

With the advent of newer tires as an option.. What do you consider on a liner vs. wider tires?

Also, if wider tires are the way to go, what brands does everyone have good results with?

I think though, that I am going to work on correct tire pressure first.. and go from there. If I've been just guessing at it, a pressure gauge is likely a good investment anyway.. If I am ridding at correct pressure and still get flats, then I'll know for sure that it is time to consider option two (liners) and three (wider tires). Thanks for the Idea JonR!

Time for me to loose a little weight too :rolleyes:

William,

You may want to check out some similar, related discussion in the "Open Discussion" forum
http://216.215.238.193/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1906

A bike tire pump with a built in gauge is almost indespensible, especially for high pressure (i.e. road) tires.

Hi William, yes it is common for the tires to go down over a period of time, and the thinner road tires and tubes seem to do it a lot quicker than the lower pressures of hybrids or MTB's.

As MichaelW says your floor pump will have a gauge on it, and you can get small dial gauges that fit both the presta and schraeder valves.(Presta being the small ones usually found on road bikes).

As mentioned in some of the other threads there are some frame pumps that are suitable for higher pressures. The only one I have experience with is the Topeak Morph, with which I can easily put in 110 psi, where with a normal mini pump it won't even come close.

By the way who IS Jon Gualt?

Originally posted by William Karsten
Also, is it common for tires to loose pressure slowly, even when new, over the period of a few days?

Tires will tend to loose pressure gradually, so your best bet is to pump them up again every couple of rides.

Like William, I too would be interested to see people's recomendations for a slightly wider tire. I'm riding in the Tanqueray Heartland AIDS Ride in July, and I figured I'd swap out my 23s for some 25s (I don't think I can run 28s, but I could be wrong. I usually am).

Just wanted to add that it's difficult to judge by feel if a mountain bike tire is pumped up enough, and impossible with a road-bike tire. If you get a good floor pump with a gauge you won't need a separate gauge, which is (at least for me) very hard to use anyway. The gauge on my Meidai floor pump always agrees within a couple of pounds with two separate hand-held gauges, so I'm satisfied!

I had a problem with the Meidai pump losing its ability to pump, once. I took it apart and put new grease on the leather washer-like thing that does the actual pumping, so it was nice and sealed, and it has worked perfectly ever since.

Wait wait wait, you shouldn't have to buy new wider tires. That's ridiculous unless you weight 400+ pounds or so.

If you keep getting flats, you have to find out what the source is.

You said it was from hitting rocks. That means you keep hitting big rocks so hard that you are getting pinch flats. Could this be happening on your commute? Ok, OK, pump up your tires until they are hard. Pinch flat problem solved.

The next thing to do is to check your tires and see if there is a sliver of glass imbedded in the tire that keeps giving you a flat.

Check your tube damage and see if the shape of the holes are consistant in shape and position on the tube. This will help you determine if it is the same insulting object. It is not always easy to find a sliver of glass in a tire. The traditional methods of feeling the inside of the tire and even using wadding to rub the inside of the tire does not always work. Sometimes the shard only exposes itself when the tire is flexed under pressure as when you ride it.

Nothing? Check your rims and your spoke nipples. Are any spokes coming through the nippes and into the inside of the rim that could damage your tire?

Let us know how it turns out.

I run 700x28 on my hybrid with kevlar tires, thorn proof tubes, shields between tire and tube, and sealer in the tubes. I fill them to 110 lbs. every day and I've gone 6000 miles without a flat, 95% on city streets. 3rd or 4th set of tires and I put new tubes in the new tires.

I'm going to get a floor pump with a gauge this weekend. I pumped my tires up before I left yesterday and then I re filled the rear this AM before I went to work. No flats for two days. I think JonR may have been on to something.

Now, on the rock side, I do hit rocks.. sometimes there is no avoiding them at speed. Not huge rocks, but some the size of a pennies (roughly speaking). I've kept my tubes that have gone flat (there are a million and one uses for old bike tubes). I will inspect them for common flats.

One thing I dreamed up beyond the tire pressure thing is this:
Take my old tubes, split them on the inner edge, remove the valvle, and use them as a tire liner as well. Inexpensive, I know they will fit, and they should help prevent some of the flats if the higher pressure doesn't take care of the problem..
Well, that'd be my theory anyway.. Anyone have an opinion on this?

Aerobat: The "main characater" in a book by Ayn Rand, called "Atlas Shrugged". But to understand the question "who is Jon Gualt" you'd have to read it. Good story, better when read as philosphy (akin to reading Plato's alogory of the Caves as philopshy rather than greek banter like Marcus Aruleous (sp) )..

Hi William,
Well, I can see that as usual, you have gotten plenty of good feedback from this forum.
I have only been riding a road bike running 700x23's for about 3 weeks, and so far, no flats. Right now I am weighing in at 212 pounds (and falling!) so I don't think your weight is a problem.
I am assuming that you have figured out that on the Presta valves you have to unscrew the little cap before you can add air. I know I wasn't sure about that when I first got them! I top off the air pressure every day on my road bike, whereas with my hybrid, I only have to do that about once a week.
Hope you get your problem figured out, and have fun!!

Looks like you're on the right path to fixing your problem. When I had my road bike. I ran the tires at 120psi and overnight they would leak down to 110psi. I topped them off every day I rode. If the tire pressure is too low and you hit something in the road it's very likely you'll get a pinch flat like you've been experiencing.

Sure, you can use old tire inner-tubes for rim liners. Yet another good way to recycle and have a good tire liner to boot.

You will find, though, that the inner tube will actually be a little big for the rim. You will need to take the length-ways split tube (as you described) and cut it in-half in the cross direction.

Abraid the two edges, snug the would-be tire liner onto the rim, and glue it back together with contact cement (the stuff you let dry before you put the surfaces together). You could probably use tire patch glue if you don't have contact cement.

Of course, you will also have to cut a hole for the valve to go through.

That said, some bikers will tell you that official tire liners are lighter than old tubes and they are more ridgid. This is true and is a consideration for the weight weenies as Hunter calls them.

By the way, Presta valves are, in my opinion, inferior to Schrader valves for high pressure tires. Presta valves leak air. The only good reason I have heard for using Presta valves in the USA is that they weigh less than Schrader valves. Again, this may be a consideration for the ultra weight sensitive biker, but seems a bit overboard - especially considering the disadvantages of the Presta valve (mainly because they are non-standard in the USA and they leak).

Thanks for that insight Mike! I will actually go to purchase the pressure gage at Preformance on June 6th.. it goes on sale. I'm going to try the tube liner trick to see if it works. The higher pressure is seeming to hold it better.

One possible problem that I haven't seen mentioned is caused by not partially inflating the tube before assembling the tire/tube/rim. This can cause flats that look like pinch flats.

I learned this the hard way.

Originally posted by Bubba
One possible problem that I haven't seen mentioned is caused by not partially inflating the tube before assembling the tire/tube/rim. This can cause flats that look like pinch flats.

I learned this the hard way.
Excellent! Thanks. Yes, this is quite true.

The tube ought to be partially inflated, and seated, then the tire placed back on the rim. Then inflate some more, and before going all the way with it, examine all around to see that the seating is just right. Also try to get the bead, right next to the rim, exactly equidistant all around. Sometimes this isn't possible, but it usually is, and I have started all over when it was crooked. It's much easier to do the thing two or three times and get it right than to have a flat and your tire tool goes down a storm drain or the pump blows up or something--fifteen miles from home. :(