MB Racing

Here is the deal, I bought my new Eastern bike from a local bike shop. BTW its a trick BMX bike.

Now ever since the first day ive kept getting flats. The first one was a pinch flat, then second one was another pinch flat, third one i was just riding and it went flat, fourth one i was just riding and it went flat AGAIN, fith one another pinch flat, sixthed one was another pinch,

and seventh one happend today. I was at a skate part and i just did a small jump easily, didnt put down my rear tire hard or anything and so i go back up and sit and i hear sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss so i got ANOTHER FLAT!!!

I checked my tire for anything in there and also sanded down the inside of the rim with fine paper so that nothing was sharp agains the tube. IDK what to do, i just keep getting flats. BTW these are all happening to my rear tire. Please help. Do you think i should just get a new rim tire and tube? I have to do something im sick of this.

BTW i weigh about 150. Im about 6 feet tall. All these flats happend in about 3 months.

And can you request any good internet bike shops with great discounts? Thank you

Michael.

Retro Grouch 

If you're getting that many pinch flats either you're catching the inner tube under the tire bead when you install the tire or you need to use a little more air pressure.

MB Racing

thats the thing, I use about 50PSI in my tire and i still blow them, and when i pinch flat, the air dosnt come out fast, it comes out slow.

MB Racing

Like seriously im giving up, you guys are my last hope. All my friends see me doing tricks and stuff and they know I dont land hard or anything and then all the sudden we just hear PSSSSSSSS and i got another flat. Even when the people install it at a bike shop, it still goes flat. Im running enough pressure and everything.

dafydd

if you've got double wall rims, check and make sure the rim tape covers all the holes. if you've got the plastic rim tape stuff or just a rubber rimstrip, do yourself a favor and get rid of it and replace it with some sort of cloth rim tape. neither the rubber or plastic do much aside from cause aggrevation.

MB Racing

So you think its the rubber around the rim?

And could I buy this cloth anywhere or I just have to make it out of rags..?

Joe Dog

Buy it a bike shop. It's cheap and assure you it will work better than any home made solution you could come up with.

MB Racing

What is a bike shop?

Joe Dog

Sorry - should have said "LBS".

MudPie

Is the tube damage in the same place every time? You can use the valve stem as an index (say the valve stem represents the 12:00 position. If the damage is along the tube's interface with the rim, and if it is in the same place, then it could be a spoke poking through or maybe sharp edge in rim that is causing the flats.

If the damage in along the tube's interface with the tire, then perhaps there is an object puncturing the tube. When installing tires, I try to align a tire feature, like the label, with the valve stem. This helps to locate problems.

divineAndbright

I dont ride bmx, but I still I use to get a lot of flats, kinda sounds like the same problem; turns out I was putting TOO MUCH air in my tires (at least I think anyway). One day I put a little less air than I normally would, never got a flat again.

Retro Grouch 

What do the holes in the tube look like? If they are two parallel slits, like a snake bit the inner tube, then I'll stand by my previous advice.

If you have a hole on the inside circumference of the inner tube, then I'm going to back MB Raceing's theory of inadequate rim strips. That's a common problem. If even a tiny sliver of a spoke hole isn't completely covered, you'll get frequent flats. Velox makes rim tape in three different widths. For a double wall BMX rim you need the 21mm width.

MB Racing

I havent noticed the exact place the punctures were. But i know that the 2 that happend just from riding was from a really small pice of glass cought in the tire. I removed it after the second flat I got from it. Now all the flats before my one I got yesterday was because of a pinchflat. I still didnt take apart the tire yet. But like I said, i was at a skate park and did a small jump, landed softly, and it just started leaking. My friend says he thinks its the lining. What do you think?

MB Racing

Only the pinch flats looked like that. Ill get back to you later when I take appart the tire to see how I got my flat yetsterday.

DannoXYZ 

I'm with RetroGrouch, if you've got a snakebite, then it's a pinch. When you take the tube out, pump it up and line up the hole with the wheel and see if there's something on the tyre or rim at that spot that may be causing a problem.

When putting it back together, install the tube into tyre first, then put the entire assembly onto the rim to ensure the tube's not pinched between the tyre and rim.

77Univega

--- Is 50psi the recommended pressure printed on the sidewall of the tire?

Lurch

How confident are you about the accuracy of your air pressure guage? Please tell me you aren't still using the original tube with 6+ patches. Could something be creating a small leak and allowing the snake bites to occur once the pressure is low enough?

Wind 'N Snow

I found a little tiny piece of wire on the inside of my tire (thinner than a staple) after three consecutive flats. I ran my finger along the inside and couldn't feel it. finally, I noticed a bump and had to dig the bugger out with my pocket knife.

MB Racing

No these are all new tubes.

MB Racing

I am thinking in investing in a new tire. Possibly there is something small in my tire now making these flats like posted above.

MB Racing

UPDATE:

I took off the tire, now the hole was a very small slit on one side of the tire about this long | | now the slit was not causing the leak, inside the slit there was a small puncture hole the size of a pin hole. so it looked like this --o-

it wasnt a pinch because it was only on one side, and it lined up with a small dent on my rim which was a little sharp if i rubbed my hand over it a few times. I sanded down the entire rim and every little scratch/bump on it. Now all i have to do is do a very good examin of the tire for any sharp pices.

Lurch

A good way to locate rough spots or sharp points is to rub a cloth across the area. Any rough spot or point will catch the fabric and you can usually both hear threads pop and feel the drag. Run the cloth around the inside of both the tire and the rim. The finer the cloth, the smaller the imperfections it will snag.