Help please..Inner Tube problem..the air coming out slowly
 

I bought it last 3 week ago at Walmart (Bell tire).
And today I found that the air is coming out slowly and my tire is almost flat.
I don't know why it happens like this. Even I used only 3 weeks.
I have never hit any things. My tire is still okay. There is no hole.

Anyway, I forgot to tell that my bike is a used bike, and its tire is kind of old. And I'm not sure it is because of this or not.

How to do this?
Thanks

Normal inner tubes DO lose a little bit of air. Depending on your starting pressure, your tire COULD feel "almost flat" in a few weeks if you didn't add any air.

You should buy a good pump with a good tire pressure gauge (built-in). You should then pump your tires to a pressure that's within the guidelines printed on the sidewalls of your tires.

It's very normal for many of us to "top off" our tires every time (or every other time) we ride ... BECAUSE tires do lose air.

Start with a properly filled tire. Then go a week without adding air. After that week, check the pressures. Come back with the "before" and "after" numbers. It'll be easier to judge whether or not you have a problem if we see how MUCH air you're losing, in what period of time, and whether your front and rear tires are acting differently.

Good luck!

Thanks!

It's almost flat only ONE night. :((

Uh oh, sounds like a slow leak. When you put your tyre back on, did you make certain that none of the inner tube was caught between the tyre and the rim? Was the stem sticking out at a right angle from the rim when you put the tube in?

I think you will have to take off the tyre and try to figure out where the leak is occurring. You'll still need to get a tyre pump...a patch kit...

East Hill

For ten bucks, I'd start with two new tubes, THEN try what I suggested.

That way, you'll get a sense for what "normal" is (again: normal inner tubes DO slowly lose air).

What tools did you use to install the new tube? If you didn't use tire levers (or just your bare hands), you may have pinched a hole in it with a sharp tool.

In any case, I'd remove the tube and inspect it as well as running your fingers inside the tire. If something is embedded, it will puncture every new tube until it is removed. To inspect the tube, inflate it and hold it in a tub of water, looking for air bubbles. Also inspect your rim strip and replace it if it's torn, reset it if it has shifted off the spoke nipples.

Once you find the leak you can patch it, but it's always a good idea to find out why you got a flat in the first place so you can take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.

I agree with all of that, but ... still not sure if we're talking flat or normal leakage with no adding of air.

To the original poster: SINCE you GOT the bike, have you put ANY air in these tires??

Did they both lose air at -- more or less -- the same rate?

It's a slow leak.
Here's my details
I bought a used bike last year-Summer 2006. And I just change to new inner tubes for the front and the back tires last 3 weeks ago. I've been riding this bike since I changed inner tubes. I put air in at the same rate that shows on the tires. I did every thing almost exactly.

Then yesterday, I checked my tires and prepared for ridding to work today. I found that the air pressure of the front tire wasn't normal and it seemed like it lose a lot of air. Then, I put the air in again last night. This morning I checked it again. Then the air is almost gone. But this morning I had to ride my bike to work. Then I fill air in. And I can ride it now. But maybe after I get off my work, I will have to find the air pump. :(

Is it possible because of its tire? I got them last year around summer. I used it for 3 miles a day during summer 2006. But now I ride about 8 miles a day. I also ride it on the wet yard too.

Thank you everyone.

When you take the tyre off, wipe off the inside of the tyre. Sometimes bits of glass or metal work in through the outside. Or, it could be that you have rim tape (on the inside of the rim) that's moved, and a spoke may be poking the tube (although the shifted rim tape is usually good for a small explosion :eek: !).

You can take the tube off, inflate, put in bucket of soapy water to see if you can spot bubbles coming from the tube. That's where the leak is. Try to match up the leak in the tube where the tube was located in the tyre, and see if anything sharp is located in that spot.

East Hill

Maybe you simply got a flat! It happens!
Why did you replace the tubes initially?

Thanks every one. I fixed it. And now it works very well for me.
Thanks a bunch.