This morning I tried to go out for a ride. saw my front tire was flat. No problem, right?

Well once I get the tube off I see that there is a tear at the base of the valve stem. so I toss the tube and grab another.

as I am pumping it up I hear air escaping, had some trouble getting the pump head so I take it off and try again. No good there is now a tear at the base of this vlave stemm too.

So I grab a third and last spare tube. get it on the rim and up to full pressure. I take a few minutes to search the garage to see if by chance I have another spare tube laying around and then I hear it. The sudden release of air from my front tire.

sure enough, a tear at the valve stem.

Now I can't see any rough edges and I can't get my finger down in there to feel if there are any. The rim tape is only a year or so old and it is Velox cloth rim tape.



it really sucks to have 3 flats before you ever get out of the garage! btw I rode almost 30 miles on this rim/tire with no problems, the tire went flat sometime betweeen that ride and today

so any suggestions?

1) Burr at the valve stem hole in the rim. Get a round file and carefully file it down. You may not feel it, but it may be there nonetheless;

2) Using valve stem nuts? Throw them away. You don't need them. People overtighten them--especially after inflating the tire. Sure recipe for a tear;

3) Using a decent floor pump, or a hand (mini) pump? If you're using a mini-pump, chances are, the back-and-forth (rocking) motion as you stroke the plunger are tearing the tube at the valve stem reinforcement. Use a decent floor pump.

4) Using a particular brand of tubes?? Try another. Performance cheapies are a bit notorious for this problem. Try Michelins (or something else).

Good luck!

They sell rubber washers to go around the stem for this problem. You can make your own from an old tube.

They are not needed if you follow all the suggestions from neil0502. Do that first, before resorting to a washer.

Get a mini floor pump with a flexible hose - i.e Topeak road morph.

When replacing the tube I take it you are partly inflating the tube before inserting and then when the tube is in, pushing the valve stem into the tyre a few times to make sure it isn't trapped. Again it's worth checking that the stem is sitting centrally in the hole of the rim before inflating. Forgive me if this is already routine for you.

thanks for the tips. I did do that on the second & third flat changes but not the first.

I did have a floor pump until it broke during this mornings troubles. then I had to use my topeak road morph. Great pump for out on the road, but not a full size floor pump. I will get a new floor pump sometime this week

also if you can purchas threadless valve stems will help {making remouval of valve tool esier}.