Bicycle Mechanics - Newbie question: Getting lots of flats. Me, or my tube?

Hi, this is my first official post here, so please bear with me.

I'm fairly new to the biking scenes, only been riding about a year, mostly to and from work, to the store, bank etc. Over the last few months I've been having the worst time with flats on my rear tire. The only brand of tubes and other bike gear that's available around here are made by BELL, and these just don't seem very durable. The one I was using was pretty much swiss cheeze, with about a half dozen patches covering pinhole leaks, and I was STILL having slow air loss. Last night I bought a brand new BELL tube, installed it, and it was flat again before I'd ridden half a mile! Turns out I had a small pinhole puncture (tire side out). I patched it this evening and added tire sealant, and now 2 hours later, it's gone flat again! (Good thing I didn't take it out on the road)

I'm pretty much stumped at this point. I ride strictly on streets and sidewalks, so there aren't any obvious road hazards. I'm a bit on the heavy side (240 lbs). Could that have something to do with it? Do I need to switch to a better brand of tube? What can I do to help make my tubes more leakproof?

Sorry about all the dumb questions. But I'm pretty much in the dark when it comes to looking after my bike. Thanks!

First thing you need to do is find the area where the holes are occurring relative to the rim. When you remove the tire/tube keep everything aligned as it was when mounted. Once you find the hole in the tube, reference that location on the tire and rim. Check both for any debris poking through the tire and imperfections in the rim itself or the strip (or tape) covering the nipples. From what you describe it sounds like you may have something inside your tire or something protruding from the rim.

You could also look for bike parts online As for the dumb questions eh (shrug) the only dumb questions are the one that doesn't get asked and the one that does get asked but in AOL'ese. Welcome to the forum

Good advice to first find the source of your flats before you do anything. I had the same problem. I went to www.nashbar.com and bought two flat resistant inner tubes for $5.95 each, and two Slime tire liners for $6. The liners are made of tough, flexible plastic and go between the tube and the tire. You can re-use the tire liners again and again. Haven't had any problem since. If you get the special tubes, be sure to use a rolling pin on each tube to distribute the stuff inside -- it tends to be thick and doesn't distribute evenly throughout the tube unless you use a rolling pin. Also, be sure to use talcom power on the new tubes before inserting the tubes into the tire. This will help prevent pinching the tube as you're trying to get it inside the tire and leverage the tire onto the rim.

Repeating pinhole punctures usually indicate that you have a small thorn or fleck of glass stuck in the tyre wall. Run your finger VERY CAREFULLY around to identify the pointy thing.
Modern quality tyres have a kevlar/aramid anti-puncture band which prevents a lot of stuff getting through the tyre. SApecialized Armadillos are the toughest tyres. Generally toughness and speed are traded against each other.
I find that low-grade inner tubes leak air and need pumping up much more than good quality ones. I dont use slime, just a good inner tube, the correct size for my tyre.

Well, fist off, what brand of tyres are you using? Are you using glueless patches? If you are, that's probably your problem...
FWIW, Bell makes some awful cycling accessories that are only carried by those low-price mega-retail stores. Try going to a bike shop.

Originally posted by D*Alex
Bell makes some awful cycling accessories that are only carried by those low-price mega-retail stores. Try going to a bike shop.

agreed, I bought a bell pump about 2 years ago, for about $10.... well I guess you get what you pay for.:rolleyes:

Another tip, instead of using your hands, try some cotton balls pulled apart. The pulled apart cotton will snag on any little thorn or glass.

Sometimes you can't feel anything by doing this no matter how often you run your hands around. My wife was getting 2 flats on every ride. I couldn't find a thing. I finally removed the tire from the wheel and rolled it lengthwise, I found 6 pieces of glass embedded in the rubber. Inside, nothing! But when the tire was inflated (120 psi) it was enough to puncture the tube!

L8R

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I kinda figured it was the quality of the material. I bought the tire at the same place I got the Bell stuff, so I'm guessing it's one too. :/ Even their tube repair kit doesn't work worth a darm. I slathered on lots of cement, let it dry for a couple hours and air STILL escapes around the edges of the patch. :(

So tonight I broke down, bussed across town and bought a brand new tube and tire (not Bell) along with a Slime anti-puncture strip. Hopefully this'll do the trick. I considered picking up some anti-puncture sealing liquid, but remembers what a pain in the butt it was putting the stuff in the last time I tried it. :p

So anyway, wish me luck. I'll be lurking...

Originally posted by Panda Phil
So tonight I broke down, bussed across town

just curious, is the bike your only form of transportation?

Originally posted by VegasCyclist
just curious, is the bike your only form of transportation?


Pretty much. That and the local bus system. They both get me to the few places I need to go, and if there's an emergency I have two roomies who both drive. So it works out pretty well. I'm 40 and just never felt inclined to learn to drive for a variety of reasons. Mainly nervousness about other drivers and having a limited budget. My poor roomie for example just shelled out $600 for car insurance for example.

And as I always like to joke, any car that I could afford I wouldn't be caught dead in. :D

Anyway, a quick update. I gave the newly installed tire and tube a road test tonight and it passed with flying colors! The tire is a lighter road tire and seems to handle a bit easier than the old knobby offroad tire. And it's also wonderful not to have to spend five minutes pumping it back up to full pressure whenever I want to ride. Thanks again everyone for the tips!

Although the other posts could be the solution to your problem, I have found that small pin holes are sometimes caused by pinched tubes. Once you have the new tube and tire mounted pump just a little bit of air into tube to give it a round shape. Then start at the valve stem and squeeze the side of the tire to see if part of the tube is caught under the tire bead. You have to go all around the wheel and look on both sides to be sure. This is a step that many novices skip. 90 percent of the time there is no problem; but once in a while the tube will be caught under the bead.

In that configuration, the tire can be pumped up to full pressure; but at the most unexpected time it will pop.

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
Another tip, instead of using your hands, try some cotton balls pulled apart. The pulled apart cotton will snag on any little thorn or glass.

Sometimes you can't feel anything by doing this no matter how often you run your hands around. My wife was getting 2 flats on every ride. I couldn't find a thing. I finally removed the tire from the wheel and rolled it lengthwise, I found 6 pieces of glass embedded in the rubber. Inside, nothing! But when the tire was inflated (120 psi) it was enough to puncture the tube!

L8R
sounds like a good tip , especialy as my eyes are,nt too good close up ! Well done Panda Phil, welcome to these forums keep pedaling :beer:

I had a similar problem and discovered that the cheap rim tape that came on the Mavic wheels had ruptured on one of the spoke holes. My tube was pushing throught the hole and it would cause a very small puncture. I got some cloth rim tape from my LBS and fixed it up.

I guess I'll never figure out what happened this time. The rather jagged-edged hole was right around the 2 o'clock position on the tube. All I can figure is I pinched it while putting it on. *shrug* The one before that just tended to develop multiple small, oval shaped pinholes. I guess it could have been plain old wear.

Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now. I've sworn off Bell products for good after seeing how much sturdier and higher quality the new tube and bike light I just picked up seem.