Bike Forums - Mystery flat

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Anyone ever had a mystery flat before? Did a 15 mile ride w/ my son on our MTBs on MUP 2 Sundays ago, no problem. 4 days later, walk past my bike in garage to find rear flat. Check the tire all around w/ a flashlight, nothing found. Remove the tube, pump it up greatly, no leak detected, no loss of air after 30 min. Finger-sweep the inside of the tire, nothing found. Check the rim and rim tape, no problem found. Put same tube back into same tire and pump up to 80 PSI. 4 days later, absolutely no deflation at all. No loss of air to date.. What gives!!!!

Probably the valve. Had a spot where it leaked. Now that you turned it or moved it, it sealed back up. Valves can be quite annoying sometimes.

We've had the same thing happen a couple times. Totally flat tire, pump it up and it never loses air again. I figured it was either a transient valve issue or our cats were trying to mess with our minds.

You might want to pump up the tube and check it for a slow leak. Sometimes, you can get something in the tire that will puncture the tube but the offending object is very hard to find. I once had a sliver of glass in the tire that was in a very small cut. I was only able to find it when I pumped up the tire. The pressure opened the cut a bit and I was able to extract the glass. This kind of situation is pretty rare though.

The green goop, Slime, will gum up the valve to do that too. I have to check pressure every time I go out.

For slow leaks pump the tube up to twice the normal size and move it around in a sink filled with water.

You may find some very very slow bubbles.

Did you kill your son on the ride?

Retribution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stapfam (Post 14109282)

Did you kill your son on the ride?

Retribution.

dark humor... :o

Quote:

Originally Posted by knurly (Post 14109176)

The green goop, Slime, will gum up the valve to do that too. I have to check pressure every time I go out.

This. I never use the crap any longer because of this. Will screw up a valve in a heart beat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stapfam (Post 14109282)

Quote:

Did you kill your son on the ride?

Retribution.

Didn't kill him but he was wiped out. 2 days earlier we did 15 mi on another MUP. He's 10 yrs old. It'll be a while before he can destroy me on the bike:). Running, or anything that requires lateral movement...then he's got me by several steps:o

That happened to me once last summer. I had a flat on a ride and replaced the tube with a brand new one. Filled it with CO2 and rode home. 2 days later I found the tire flat again the night before a ride. Took the wheel off, checked the tube and found nothing. It was then I remembered that CO2 will leak out of a tire quicker than air. Refilled from my floor pump and still riding the same tire and tube no problem.

Gremlins come out at night while you're sleeping, unscrew the cap, let out the air, and screw the cap back on.

Sure glad AMC no longer makes them. I can say that in this forum and people will get it. Try that in another forum here and ......crickets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbadwullf (Post 14109745)

Sure glad AMC no longer makes them. I can say that in this forum and people will get it. Try that in another forum here and ......crickets.

FAIL
Plymouth made the Cricket

A tiny wire from a steel belted radial can sit itself in your tire, only to show itself when it feels like it - same for a goathead. Very hard to locate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WC89 (Post 14109553)

Be kind on these rides while he is young and he wont be dropping you much later in life :lol:

Hey, that's great. I still ride with my son and his son. Just love it.

By the way, you did have the valve lock screwed down tight on that valve stem, didnt you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldsCOOL (Post 14111407)

Quote:

By the way, you did have the valve lock screwed down tight on that valve stem, didnt you?

Sure did. As of yesterday, it's still fully inflated. That's a strange one! Yep. Love riding w/ my son. Something I never got to do as a kid w/ my father, although, adults riding bikes back in the 60s was almost non-existent:(

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10 Wheels (Post 14109208)

For slow leaks pump the tube up to twice the normal size and move it around in a sink filled with water.

You may find some very very slow bubbles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dendawg (Post 14110103)

FAIL
Plymouth made the Cricket

Double fail. I was talking about the......................GREMLIN? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by WC89 (Post 14112606)

Correct. I never saw my dad or mom on a bike...ever. I guess it was too humbling or they saw no use in it.

A gremlin got this one, and did not even go flat!
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...s/IMG_7362.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug64 (Post 14119601)

A gremlin got this one, and did not even go flat!
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...s/IMG_7362.jpg

Wow!!

+1 on a Mystery Flat.

Yesterday, I checked the Gatorskin tires and got them to pressure(I get them to 115psi--the max is 120psi). Okay, all is well. So I start out on the ride and about 1/4 into it I think gee I seem a tad sluggish---as I start around a traffic circle I feel the rear wheel skid a bit out and stop after I'm out of the traffic circle about 40 feet down the way. I dismount and low and behold, the rear tire is completely flat. What the .....! I remove the wheel from the rear and inspecting the outside, I find nothing. Rather than trying to locate the leak, I pull out my spare tube from the bag and remove the old tube. After checking inside the tire thoroughly, I begin to get the new tube in. Well, I use my Topeak pump and pump the tire up to the desired pressure and when I remove the pump I see the the stem sheared with the nut---what! The tube seems to be keeping pressure though. Since I don't want to be 8 miles from home with another flat, I go home.

At home I check the initial tube very thoroughly using a pan of water to find leaks...not...one...single...bit...of...leaking. I get the new tube out with the broken stem and replace it with the original tube and pump it up with my floor pump. I start out on my ride again and stop at the LBS and buy 2 spare tubes and 3 more tire levers to keep at home rather than having to dig out the ones in the bag if I do any repair at home. The woman at the LBS says that she's sheared off a stem(tip) herself before. I'll need to be more careful using the hand pump next time.

Checked the tire this morning...the tire is fine and inflated. I'm wondering if I forgot to screw down the nut to prevent air release and causing it to release air as I rode.