Damn Flats
07-08-09, 06:55 AM
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Damn Flats
Im on a 25mile ride, and get a flat, no problem. Ive got a spare so I put it in, air it up, and go about my merry way. 1 week later, another flat.... same tire. The tire was checked first so there isn't any sharp objects still imbeded in the tire itself, but there is a slight rip in the tire about a mm thick. I put in a new tire yesterday and aired it up, and patched the old one.
I called the bike shop and they said the tube I needed was 700 x 25c, the one originally in the tire was 700 x 28, the spare they provided me with was 700 x 23, does it matter on those sizes? Do I need to go to the shop and buy a new tire, because of the small rip in mine? They are road tires, so Im wondering if a small hole like that can pinch the tube. Maybe I should have patched the inside of the tire as well...
I called the bike shop and they said the tube I needed was 700 x 25c, the one originally in the tire was 700 x 28, the spare they provided me with was 700 x 23, does it matter on those sizes? Do I need to go to the shop and buy a new tire, because of the small rip in mine? They are road tires, so Im wondering if a small hole like that can pinch the tube. Maybe I should have patched the inside of the tire as well...
07-08-09, 08:09 AM
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You may just be having a string of flats in a short time and will now go a long time without one. You may need a more flat-resistant tire. I can run about any lightweight tire on my front wheel. I get 80% of my flats on the rear wheel, in order to get my back-wheel flats under control I've had to upgrade from the tires that came on my bike. Using thicker-sidewalled tires (as opposed to the "paper-thin" sidewalled tires) or kevlar belted tires has drastically reduced flats for me.
I've covered small holes in a tire by using a piece of flat rubber (cut to about the size of a dime), "super-glueing" the piece inside the tire and centered over the hole. the patch/boot has to be strong enough to hold the inflated-tube inside the tire and preserve the structural integrety around the hole, but not be so rigid that it cuts the tube (I used a hard piece of flat plastic as a patch/boot once and after a ride or two it cut the tube and caused a flat).
I've covered small holes in a tire by using a piece of flat rubber (cut to about the size of a dime), "super-glueing" the piece inside the tire and centered over the hole. the patch/boot has to be strong enough to hold the inflated-tube inside the tire and preserve the structural integrety around the hole, but not be so rigid that it cuts the tube (I used a hard piece of flat plastic as a patch/boot once and after a ride or two it cut the tube and caused a flat).
07-08-09, 10:18 AM
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Tubes generally come in a size range, such as 700x20-25c and 700x28-32c.
07-08-09, 05:26 PM
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It's amazing what you can bodge in and have work. On a recent long ride I ended up having to squeeze a tube marked 28-32 into a 23c tyre and it was fine for the 200 miles till I removed it. I've also had 1000+ miles out of a tube marked 19-23 in a 37c tyre.
