notwist

Anyone have experience with these rims?

I installed Velotape (2 layers since I'm using these wheels on my road bike) on my A23 wheels however I keep tiny punctures near the valve. I noticed the valve hole is pretty narrow and when the tire is inflated, there are small indentations on the tire on both sides where the valve is. Anyone know what's going on here? I thought these rims were suitable to use with regular tube and tire, not just tubeless setup.

Thanks!

mconlonx

They are suitable for non-tubeless setup. Punctures near the valve don't sound like pinch flats. Check for metal shavings or sharp metal near the valve hole. May need to relieve the edge around the valve hole with some kind of burnisher.

KBentley57

I've had no problems like you are mentioning with mine, I've yet to have a pinch flat at all and I run pretty low pressures with 23mm tires.

rm -rf

You are using tubes? Are you pushing the valve in toward the tire before you inflate? Maybe the tube is caught under the tire bead at the valve.

FBinNY 

I can't draw this so you'll have to paint a mental picture.

On narrow rims the base of the valve is often a bit wider than the gap between the insides of the tire beads. That means the tube is held above the "hourglass" neck bu the valve, whereas elsewhere it can inflate down past. So right to either side o the valve is a dead space under the narrows. At full pressure the tube will hyper stretch down and back toward the valve often to where it tears.

This hyper stretching can also happen anywhere, and is marked by visible "stretch marks" on the belly side of the tube, but the problem is worst right near the valve.

Years ago, tubs were made with a long double or triple thick reinforced area extending out an ince or so to eigher side of the valve, to counter this problem, but I haven't seen that lately.

Two fixes.

1- after moun ting and seating the tire, gently push the valve down from outside the (unflated) tire and see if you can get the base all the way to the rim. You can also pull on the valve, but pushing is less likely to tear the tube from the valve.

2- if that fails, try reinforcing the area with a ling oval patch, like those Rema includes in the kit. Use a hole punch in the middle and glue it well.

3- this is a last resort but, I once carved a rubber wedge or ramp to act as a filler to either side of the valve, and feather down to the rim over an inch or so to either side. I used brake shoe inserts, which I was able to drill and file after freezing. It's a decent amount of work, and takes some trial and error to fit just right, but once you make a pair be careful to not loose them on a tire change.

Andrew R Stewart 

To reinforce Francis' reply. I see the evidence of a too narrow gap between the tire beads to allow the tube valve to settle fully down into the rim's well frequently. Some tires have thick beads. Some rims are real narrow. Not all combos work all the time. Andy.

notwist

I can push the valve in (and make sure the tube is seated properly prior to inflation) but then it stays stuck up in the tire which is why I mentioned the valve hole seems to be quite narrow than on my other wheels. I took a round file to it to try and clean out some of the excess tape, but it's still a bit tight. I was wondering if tubes come in different valve widths...
Thanks for the input.


Next time I will be sure to push the valve all the way (and also make sure the tube is seated correctly) so the entire valve is exposed and then inflate. One thing I notice is that there is a bit of resistance pushing the valve in and out of the valve hole.. which is why I mentioned the hole seeming a bit narrow and maybe it had something to do with the punctures. Thanks.

I'll try with a different tire and see what happens. Thanks.

Another thing that popped in my mind is the rim tape. Perhaps I didn't do a good enough job installing the rim tape and left some air bubbles under? I don't have a truing stand readily available. Will let you folks know how it goes.

FBinNY 

The issue isn't the valve hole in the rim, it's the narrows between the beads of the tire that are keeping it up. Next time the tire is off, try sticking the valve through the rim so you have a sense of where it needs to end up.

BTW - I don't know about those rims, but makers of tubeless tire rims are free to not allow for the width of the valve between the beads, since it's not there in a tubeless arrangement. So it might be that the rims will be narrower than otherwise, and the combined width of the valve and the tire's beads is more than what the rim can allow. Obviously I can't say that from here, but you might make a sandwich of the tire and tube (off the rim) and measure how wide it is at the valve, and compare to the rim.

well biked

FWIW, A23's are very wide road rims, relatively speaking, as are most "tubeless ready" road rims. The "23" in the name is for the outside width; inner width is 19mm I believe.

FBinNY 

In that case, there should be plenty of width for the valve in the "narrows" between the beads. Something else must be going on, but it's not like we can see it from here.

Possibly the OP's double wrap of tape is crowding the seating area. So many of these kinds of issues are instantly recognizable with parts in your hands, but without that it's just throwing crap against the wall to see what sticks.