Originally Posted by Wil Davis

I put a brand new set of slicks on my mountain bike a month or so ago, and fitted new inner-tubes at the same time. Within half an hour, I noticed that the front tyre had gone flat, and I subsequently found that there was a leak right next to the valve-stem. This was the first time I'd ever had that type of puncture. Well, I fitted the old tube, and took the bad tube back to my LBS who replaced it without question. I've done less than 100 road miles on the bike since fitting the slicks, and this evening, I noticed that the rear tyre was flat… so, I took it off and found that exactly the same thing had happened - a small hole right next to the valve-stem (see picture). The new inner-tubes were made by "Giant" and I was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems with this brand? The bike is over 12 years old, and I've had at least four different brands of tyres/tubes on it, but this is the first time I've ever seen this type of problem. At least it didn't happen 30 miles from home…

- Wil