Folding Bikes - Who let the air out!

I was wondering how often you get a flat tire on your folder. I had no problems with my cheap folder using low psi pressure, but ever since I started using Schwable stelvios at around 90 psi, I get a flat tire almost every week! Upon inspection, the flat seems to come from the inside where the spoke holes are. The tape in the rim has no holes, but I guess the tube bursts from the pressure in the spoke hole area.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON, WARNING!!!

Refuse to answer this question, or respond to this poll on the grounds that as soon as you do, you will be cursed with multiple flats. Don't say I didn't warn you.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON, WARNING!!!

Refuse to answer this question, or respond to this poll on the grounds that as soon as you do, you will be cursed with multiple flats. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'll take your comment as NEVER get a flat for the poll. Thanks for the taking the poll! :thumb:

If you have rim tape issues, you may want to look at veloplugs.

Kam

Next time you get a flat take a Sharpie or a piece of chalk and mark the tire and rim location.

Leave the tube in place and you should get an idea of where the flat is.

Mark that area in accordance to the mark on the rim.

Then inflate the tire and submerse it in water and see exactly where the leak is. You'll be able to tell whether it's from the rim tape and spoke holes, or the sidewall, or from the tire.

The key is to mark everything so you can inspect the area.

John

lots of thorns where I am. I'm hoping the addition of too much Slime in the tubes will at least slow down the frequency of flats (at least one a day, sometimes as many as every two hours or less. I hate sand burrs hiding on the street and/or sidewalk)

Had one puncture when I first bought a (cheap Chinese) folder October 2007.... since then I’ve had 2 x Dahon MU SL and now my B-Spoke Brompton all running on Schwable Kojaks and not a single puncture even though I regularly encounter broken glass and thorns etc.

None since switching to 1.35" Marathon Plus tires on our Fridays a year ago.

Whether I get flats or not depends mostly on my tyres (except when the farmers trim the thorn hedges we use here in England. They run along the side of the roads with a tractor driven flail and throw horrible thorny debris all over the roads. Some of these thorns are 1.5" long and incredibly tough and sharp.

I had a bad experience with stelvios and thorns and got rid of them. On my Merc I have some very tough Chinese made kevlar tyres (Chen Shin brand). I have only had three punctures in 3600 miles and one of these was caused by a glueless patch giving out a few days after a repair, so really, I have had two flats in a total of 7200 tyre miles (3600 x 2tyres) of mostly city riding with plenty of broken glass to be negotiated. Both of the flats in these tyres were caused by thorns.

I have never had such good puncture resistance in any tyres over nearly 50 years of riding bikes.

My strida copy has had a few punctures in not many miles, but those tyres are not fortified with impregnable tape.

I read the poll as asking whether I typically have 1, 12, or 365 flats in a year; so I voted "once a month."

I had ten or so flats last July, but only about five since then. My front tire, a Big Apple, is almost worn out but it's only had one puncture and one defective valve. My rear tire changes more frequently. I've had bad luck with Primo Comets; two blew through the sidewalls after less than 1000 miles on them. Now running a Schwalbe Marathon, no punctures yet, but it's new.

I've had two punctures on my BF with marathons; both were on the rim side about an inch away from the valve...but on opposite sides of the valve. There's pretty substantial rim tape there, so I'm not sure what the cause is. I've had no punctures through the tire.

WARNING WILL ROBINSON, WARNING!!!

Refuse to answer this question, or respond to this poll on the grounds that as soon as you do, you will be cursed with multiple flats. Don't say I didn't warn you.

+1

Never ever challenge the flat gods. They will smite you with seven years of seven flats per year.

Speedo

I'll take your comment as NEVER get a flat for the poll. Thanks for the taking the poll! :thumb:

Or it means that Autoworker once crowed about how few flats he'd had and was smitten by the flat gods and had LOTS of flats.

Speedo

I was wondering how often you get a flat tire on your folder. I had no problems with my cheap folder using low psi pressure, but ever since I started using Schwable stelvios at around 90 psi, I get a flat tire almost every week! Upon inspection, the flat seems to come from the inside where the spoke holes are. The tape in the rim has no holes, but I guess the tube bursts from the pressure in the spoke hole area.

If the tape is intact carefully check along the inner walls of the rims for any burrs or rough spots.

+1 on marking the tube after each flat, that should help narrow it down.

What did you do to get the flat gods so mad at you?

Speedo

I pumped my tires up this morning and when I started to ride I heard a rubbing sound. It seems the tire is bulging ever so slightly, and because the clearance is so tight on this bike, the tire is rubbing the fork. If I hadn't heard it, I would never have known. When you look at the tire it doesn't really look like there's a bulge. But I can see the wheel is true by the rim.

These are brand new Kenda Kwest tires on a new bike. Should I take the tire apart and check the tube? Can the tube bulge and cause the tire to bulge? I've let the air out and felt and inspected the tire itself and see no problem.

I'm thinking it is not safe to ride until I figure out the problem.

I was getting a flat fromt he same area every time. I even tried using double rim tap and that didn't work. I guess it was caused by the spoke hole being sharp because only in that area, the rim tape had deep grooves in the rim tape. I was able to tell where it was caused because it happened at the same area I kept patching up. It works fine now, but the tire pressure is relatively low. I am afraid to pump it up.

I was getting a flat fromt he same area every time. I even tried using double rim tap and that didn't work. I guess it was caused by the spoke hole being sharp because only in that area, the rim tape had deep grooves in the rim tape. I was able to tell where it was caused because it happened at the same area I kept patching up. It works fine now, but the tire pressure is relatively low. I am afraid to pump it up.

why don't you smooth out the rim hole? Either sand it down or glue something over it. Paint it clear?

If you have rim tape issues, you may want to look at veloplugs.


+1 for VeloPlugs!

(and if you get lots of punctures, glass/thorns etc - look at Schwalbe Marathon Plus...)

90 psi is not enough pressure in a Stelvio tyre, should be 110 at least. That 20 psi difference can cause flats.

I use to keep them at 115 psi, then gradually lowered them. Even when they didn't go flat, they always deflated to about 90 psi after a few days. I will look into the veloplugs. They seam to be ideal. And also, I will try to sand down the area. Thanks for the tips! Seems like common sense, but I get scared working on my bike since it is new and don't want to ruin it.

It is against my cycling religion to answer this question.

It is against my cycling religion to answer this question.

K, I'll just add Mr. Brown to the NEVER group. Thanks for taking the poll!

I get them about as often as I did on my non folding bikes :)

.. I will look into the veloplugs. They seam to be ideal. And also, I will try to sand down the area. Thanks for the tips! Seems like common sense, but I get scared working on my bike since it is new and don't want to ruin it.

Note that the velog plugs come in two sizes (red for smaller holes and yellow for larger). My rims have 8.5mm holes which is at the lower end of the large plugs (yellows) and I had to apply significant pressure to fit them in. I don't think I can remove them in a non destructive way (destructing the plugs, not the rim) but so far I did not have to. I may try the red ones one day.

As for the sanding, use very fine sand paper and wet lube it with water while you sand. This results in a smoother surface. You don't need to sand the edges of the holes if you use the veloplugs since they are well covered by the plug.

Kam