Strange Flat Tires
06-15-09, 09:46 AM
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Strange Flat Tires
I hope this merits a new topic.
About a week ago, I got my first flat. I was riding on the road and heard a repetitive clicking. I pulled over because I had had trouble with my front derailer hitting my wheel spokes earlier. As I pulled over, I heard a bang. And I had a flat. A few days after that, I bought a new tube, a Bontrager 26x2.00, for about 9 dollars. I fitted it onto the rim and had it pumped to about 60psi. As I was going to put the tire itself back on, there was another bang, and I had a flat. In my research, it seems like the only types of flats that cause a bang rather than a hissing are blowouts, but I wouldn't exactly qualify the holes on my tubes as big; around a centimeter and a half wide. Also, both happened in the same place relative to the valve stem on the tube.
About a week ago, I got my first flat. I was riding on the road and heard a repetitive clicking. I pulled over because I had had trouble with my front derailer hitting my wheel spokes earlier. As I pulled over, I heard a bang. And I had a flat. A few days after that, I bought a new tube, a Bontrager 26x2.00, for about 9 dollars. I fitted it onto the rim and had it pumped to about 60psi. As I was going to put the tire itself back on, there was another bang, and I had a flat. In my research, it seems like the only types of flats that cause a bang rather than a hissing are blowouts, but I wouldn't exactly qualify the holes on my tubes as big; around a centimeter and a half wide. Also, both happened in the same place relative to the valve stem on the tube.
06-15-09, 10:04 AM
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Which means that you never remedied the cause of the first flat- either something stuck in the tire casing, or an issue with the rim tape.
06-15-09, 10:18 AM
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Well, that's the problem. I've checked the tire itself, the rim tape, and the rim without the tape, and I couldn't find anything.
06-15-09, 10:24 AM
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Are the holes on the rim side or tread side of the tube? If on the tread side, try brushing the inside of the tire with a cotton ball. I've seen more people have flats from little wires cast off by the steel belts of car tires. They are VERY tiny, but can be a major pain in the posterior for cyclists. If on the rim side, do you have a rubber or plastic band type of rim tape or adhesive backed cloth? If rubber or plastic, it should be replaced with cloth (Velox is the most common brand).
06-15-09, 02:43 PM
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After taking your suggestion about running cotton balls over the tire fabric, I noticed that both of the hole were neither on the tire side nor the rim side, but were instead on the side of the tube. There is a spot on the side of the tire fabric not covered by the rubber of the tire that is completely frayed. Could this be the source of the problem? Sheldon Brown's article on tires advises that a new tire should be bought only if the fabric has been damaged so that the tire has a lumpy appearance or the tube bulges through, neither of which I noticed. He says nothing about "bang" flats like mine.
06-15-09, 02:46 PM
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The tube can bulge through and then, since it has no tire keeping it properly contained, blows up at that spot. Time to replace the tire.
06-15-09, 04:01 PM
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Are the holes on the rim side or tread side of the tube? If on the tread side, try brushing the inside of the tire with a cotton ball. I've seen more people have flats from little wires cast off by the steel belts of car tires. They are VERY tiny, but can be a major pain in the posterior for cyclists. If on the rim side, do you have a rubber or plastic band type of rim tape or adhesive backed cloth? If rubber or plastic, it should be replaced with cloth (Velox is the most common brand).
