Mountain Biking - First ride on the new bike and i get 2 flats

well...today was the first day i could ride my new bike.

i was bunny hopping and going down stairs all day. Then i decide to try to hop some low curbs. That was easy. So i decide to try a bit higher curb. I lift the front wheel but i think i wasnt going fast enought and i landed on the rear tire. then the next thing i know...PSSSFFFTT...... The tire flats out. F'in eh. Luckily i was only 2 mins from home and i patch the flat at home.

I take out the tube and see that there are 2 holes parallel to each other near the valve. it looked fishy because there were directly opposite each other with the same size hole. werid. I patch it with a patch kit and test it with some water to make sure it doesnt leak.

i go back out to do some more riding then i hit a curb going slowly very slowly. Then as i go up the hill, i feel and hear something werid. I look down to see another flat. im too tired and too pissed to take it out and see whats wrong with it. right now im thinking something is wrong with the rim that is causing the holes. the first time was werid b/c of the location and size of the holes.

Do you guys think its fishy that the holes and placement of the holes were too coincidental?

You pinch flatted the tube.

Originally posted by danka24
You pinch flatted the tube.
i dont get.

okay i get it now. but would it be possible to pinch flat the same place even though i patched it?

i would think so. did you use glue patches or the other ones you just stick on? i know the ones you just stick on don't tend to hold as well. i remember getting 4 flats in an xc race since i dumb and not properly putting my new tubes on. what psi are you running on your tires?

Originally posted by stinkyonions
i would think so. did you use glue patches or the other ones you just stick on? i know the ones you just stick on don't tend to hold as well. i remember getting 4 flats in an xc race since i dumb and not properly putting my new tubes on. what psi are you running on your tires?

i used this glue kit where i would place glue on it till it dried and put a bandaid like patch on it.

im not sure what psi, now that i read up on some threads i might have to start checking.

what do you run yours on?

Did you first scuff the tube with the sandpaper in the patch kit? There's silicone residue on the tube from the moulding process that will keep the glue from adhering well.

Originally posted by bikeme
Did you first scuff the tube with the sandpaper in the patch kit? There's silicone residue on the tube from the moulding process that will keep the glue from adhering well.

yes i did. i checked the tire last night and the new holes where some place else.

Yep. Those type flats are called snakebites, and you can see why. They happen when you hit something hard enough to pinch the tube between the rim and the object. You need to work on technique to avoid this, because you can even put a flat spot in the rim this way.

Some tyres suffer more than others from snakebites. You can also try riding with a little more pressure in them.

Richard is right, more pressure will help. Remember though, less pressure gives better traction and control in the dirt, so you need to experiment a little to find the sweet spot for the tires you run and your weight and riding style.

I run my tires on 50 PSI... I find this does the job for road and dirt :) im on 2.1 inch tires though... im not sure if that will make any difference

Also depends on how big you are. I weight close to 250 and depending on the conditions will run as much as 65 psi or as little as 40 psi.

L8R

same thing happened to me two weeks in a row. last last weekend i got bunch of goatheads in my tires, so i replaced with slime tubes, and then this last weekend i went back and did some stairs with a buddy, and pinched the rear. i am really sick of changing tires, because that same weekend i switched tires for a friend's bike. ugh...

crybabies. :D

i've had over five flats in one day.....

i've also had over 20 patches on one tube before.

Originally posted by pnj
crybabies. :D

i've had over five flats in one day.....

i've also had over 20 patches on one tube before.

It would probaly be cheaper if you just bought a new tube after the 3rd patch. :p Unless you like to waste money on patches. :eek:

20 patches on a tube. jeebus!!!

i remeber getting so many flats in my first race that i ran out of tubes/patches and had to walk my bike the last 2 miles until someone from our team hooked me up with a new tube.

Have you checked the inside of the rim for any protrusions like welds that weren't finished properly (sometimes these things happen in production)? Also check your rim strip that covers the spoke holes. I had a buddy that got a new top of the line Trek from a local shop and got 5 flats in one ride from his rim strip not being properly installed. The abrasion from inside and the snake-bite could be related.

Good luck.

if you dont have a bike shop near you and you have those funny looking small valve rims you have to use a lot of patches(17 on front,12 on rear) they are not just 2 or 3 bucks either.or you can just drill a bigger hole in the rim and hope it dont go wrong.where i ride usually below 40 psi dont cut it and over 50 beats the crap out of me.nearest bike shop to me with presta valve tubes is an hour away so i stocked up and all they had was 2.we do what we must to stay on the bike and out of the car

Originally posted by AquariaGuy
It would probaly be cheaper if you just bought a new tube after the 3rd patch. :p Unless you like to waste money on patches. :eek:

no. I don't purchase patch kits from the bike shop.

If i don't use an old tube (free), cut up into small patches, I go to the hardware store and buy the rubber repair kit they sell for less then two bucks.

and it's the EXACT same kit they sell in the bike department for $4.50

believe me, I know how to not spend money as I don't make any.....:rolleyes:

WOW. TOnight, i achieved my 3rd flat of the week. WTF?!?!?!?! Im gonna go the LBS shop tomorrow and speak my mind. this is crazy.

Originally posted by killerasp
WOW. TOnight, i achieved my 3rd flat of the week. WTF?!?!?!?! Im gonna go the LBS shop tomorrow and speak my mind. this is crazy.

How did this one happen? If it's a pinch flat, what have you done differently to prevent them e.g what tire pressure did you put in?

What are you expecting the LBS to do about it?

Originally posted by booyah
How did this one happen? If it's a pinch flat, what have you done differently to prevent them e.g what tire pressure did you put in?

What are you expecting the LBS to do about it?

Well, same as the first one, i slowly hit a curb with the front tire adn then with my rear tire. then after a couple seconds, PSSSFfffttt, it was leaking.

This time, i inflated the the tire a bit before i put it back in the rim. Well, i was hoping they could take a look at the rim, just to make sure that wasnt the problem. i need to pick up some other stuff too while im there.

Get a pump with a built in pressure gauge, it's easier and quicker than a seperate pressure gauge.

Don't hit angled hard surfaces like curb edges with all your weight on the wheel.
Look at the pressure rating on the tyre and pump the rear tyre to that pressure.

Depending on what and where you ride punctures are a part or riding a bike.
Most of my tubes have more than 15 patches. I have got 3 punctures recently from kids leaving bits of wood with nails sticking out in long grass.

Buy the patches by the 100 and it is a fair bit cheaper to repair rather than to replace unless you can get tubes at cost price. I don't like buying tubes from my bike shop when they mark them up 300%.

Originally posted by killerasp
Well, same as the first one, i slowly hit a curb with the front tire adn then with my rear tire. then after a couple seconds, PSSSFfffttt, it was leaking.


Get a clue?

Originally posted by KleinMp99
Get a clue?

but still....i have a 10 year old rigid cannondale and i NEVER had a flat in the last 10 years on that bike. i put that bike through so much punishment and not one flat, EVER.