Hello all, long time, ive been kinda busy as of late, hence me not being around much.

Anyhoo ive been popping tubes all over the show and its annoying me, the XTC's wearing 2.6's and still it is popping the tubes. I was out practising sidehops *damn NWDIII* and it just hissed and FLOP, empty.

Am i better off getting some square box section rims or what? Im losing my temper with this bike and the tubes, ive gone through around 10 tubes in around 4 months of light useage. By the way my current rims are Rigida ZAC2000 V shaped ones.

By the way folks i start me new job in the bike shop on saturday, gonna be really great learning how to work on my own bike! Get stuff at cost price which is a bonus, yummy!

Any suggestions folks? Cheers

Are you sure there's not a thorn or something in the casing of the tire causing you to get flats? Are you also sure that the tires aren't so wide that they're rubbing somewhere?

The question is where are they popping? Are they snakebiting? Two holes where the rim hits a hard objects and pinches the tube between the object and the rim producing two parrallel holes, plus the added bonus of an immediate "hissing" sound.

Or is the valve stem ripping out? If you've got a presta valve, the nut may be tightened too much cause the stem to become fixed while the tire/tube flexes causing a tear right at the valve stem.

Or is it just a hole? If this is the case there may be a thorn or a piece of glass imbedded in the rubber of the tire. I suggest removing the tube, inflating it and finding where the hole is. Then, find the approximate corresponding location on the tire and gently rub the inside of the tire in that location. A piece of cloth, like a terry cloth rag is good for this.

My wife was getting a flat on every one of her road bike rides. I rubbed the entire inside of the tire and found nothing. She kept getting flats. I eventually Rolled the tire lengthwise and found 6 pieces of glass embedded in her tire. Couldn't feel them, but they were there!

L8R

Well they are almost always snakebites, i run the pressure a bit low, as everytime i put high amounts of air in, the valve snaps off *due to the minipump*, making the tube useless.They are prestas, and the only pump i have is terrible, i kind of want to make the switch to schraeder to get use of the proper pump.

What do you guys reccomend?

Try buying a floor pump that accepts presta valves and run the pressure a little bit higher for starters. They're not that expensive (and will quickly pay for itself in reduced number of replacement tubes). I've never snapped a valve off yet.

Check the rim tape. I had three flats in a single day. When I finally got home, I figured out that the rim tape had shifted just enough to expose an edge of a nipple hole. I fixed it with athletic tape and haven't had any problems since.

Cheers for the help guys! ill have a good look, and ask the guys at work on saturday.

Thanks again.

presta tube adapter.$2 max if you are concerned about losing it leave it on the valve and cover it with a schrader cap.i get stuff at times in mine that i cant find either.i look for a hole in the same spot and if so check for problem at source in detail.some thorns dont go thru till i put weight on the tire i wonder if "notubes" would be the answer here.has presta valves and can run at low psi wthout problems.i have not gotten mine yet but HOO HOO its on the way!!!.i keep my adapters on my valve and in my spare compartment on my vehicle tire inflater in my truck (12 volt compressor).got it at sears for $12 looks like craftsman racing truck and will inflate a tire in about a minute on a bike.not good for trail use though cuz their aint too many cigarette lighter adapters in the woods so i use co2 there

Its ok, problem sorted. Today at work i took in my bike to sort out, and i was running the tyres at like 10 PSI! I put a set of Michelin slicks on and put 50in em, brilliant, front just pops up now!

Thanks for the help!.

Weird you mentioning that, my boss gave me one to keep today, problem solved!

Dazza, you sound like a complete genius.

Yes im sorry, I wasnt aware of the pressure as I have no gauge at home so I was going by feel alone. Must invest in one.

If your referring to the slicks on an MTB, its to commute with, ill swap the tyres as I see fit, and some day get a light wheelset solely for the slicks.

Sorry if I pissed you off dude.

Naw I get pissed easily....sorry. How wide were the rims you were using with the 2.6....the tire size was probably the problem.

I was going to suggest what Klein said. A 2.6 is a really big tire for an XtC. Plus, a downhill tire might feel a little a little firmer at lower pressure compared to what the bike came with.

The bike came with 2.0 Hutchison Pythons, and the Rims are Rigida ZAC2000's, they are pretty narrow rims, and are described as "deep section". Would i be reccomended to replace the rims to handle the 2.6's?

Cheers for all of the help up to now, cheers.

Wow, 10 PSI? No wonder you were going flat a lot...I used to have that problem before I got a gauge, but I was running at about 25.

My personal preference, depending on exactly what I was doing would be to have 2.0's or 2.1's on such a bike. You normally run narrower tires at a slightly higher pressure, which, as you found, helps with the pinch flats. If you were doing urban trials stuff or jumping, a 2.3, perhaps with a wider rim, would be appropriate for at least the rear. If you're doing something for which you really need a 2.6, you would almost definitely want a wider rim so you don't have so much of the tire hanging out the side unsupported. I am actually kinda surprised that a 2.6 has clearance between the seat-stays on an XtC.

Hope this helps. BTW, congrats on the job. LBS must be one of the more pleasant ways to earn your bread.

Sorry for the mistake but they're 2.1's anyway ill check out some wider rims, see if i can sort the mistake.

Yea its great, learning as i go, thanks for the kind words dude.

Later guys thanks for all of the help.