Tires constantly going flat.
 

Hey, so my tires are constantly going flat and it's getting annoying. I have a Schwinn bike that's meant for riding on the road and a little bit of off road. The tires are a little less rugged than a mountain bikes. I was wondering what I can do to make the tires stronger, is there something I can put within the tire itself? The tiniest of pebbles will cause a flat tire. Should I get new, stronger rubber tires altogether? And these tires don't just go flat in a week, one pebble and I'll have a flat the next day after pumping air in the day before. Thanks!

You need to sort out if these are pinch flats or punctures. If punctures either you live in area with terrible thorns etc. or perhaps there's something in the tire still that punctures the new tube as well - carefully run your hand over the inside surface of the tire (especially where the hole in the tube is). If pinch flats the issue is not enough tire pressure.

are you checking the tire and rim to make sure nothing is puncturing your tube everytime you repair it? sometimes debris will stay in tire or metal shavings on rim.

Or the spoke holes are not covered properly by the rim strip.

Also if you have a tube w/ a bunch of patches, you need to replace it. Look into Mr Tuffy tire liners to prevent flats.

I had a thread a few weeks back on this exact same issue. I had bought an Armadillo tire for the back because of multiple flats, but then continued to get more flats on the Armadillo through tiny stones. I had also been getting pinch flats due to not having the tires inflated enough. That was solved by simply figuring out what inflation I should have based upon the amount of weight of the bike and myself and inflating each tire appropriately.

So I've solved the multiple flats issue by getting rid of the Armadillo and replacing it with a Gatorskin, which I now have on both front and back, and haven't gotten any flats on them in a few hundred miles of riding.

The most common reason I get multiple flats in my case is caused by debris being stuck in the tire (tread). I occasionally get sliveres of glass in the treads that will slice tubes within miles of riding.

Check your tires VERY carefully for any debris.

someone didn't throw TACKS in the road on your ride, did they??

Had similar issues on my previous mountain bike. Had changed the tube like 10 times until I took it to the bike shop and asked them to try to figure it out.. Apparently the little rubber trim that wraps the spokes needed to be changed and was the reason for multiple flats.

fwiw, unless you have found or definitely know the cause of the puncture, I'd careful exam the tire for debris. I hate a flat one day last week. Wiped down the outside of the tire, to remove any remnants of the debris that caused the flat, then changed the flat. Later that day, I got a flat on the same tire, but I must have flipped the tube over after I patched it, because it wasn't the patch leaking, it was a new hole in the tube.

The second time, I checked both the outside and the inside of the tire and found nothing, no debris, and my rim tap was ok, and these were snakebite marks on the tube....After I got the tube repaired and the tire pumped up, I noticed this white smudge like mark on my tire. I started picking at it a little bit, I eventually pulled out a barely visible, tiny shard of razor sharp glass. It wasn't long enough to puncture the tube, until the tire and tube had some stress applied to it from riding. Then it was just able to hide in the tire again.

Those types of problems, can be tricky to diagnose.

Rim tape, it probably wasn't covering your spokes up. The sharp edges will eventually wear out a tube.

+1
Is that you Cadel?

Sounds like maybe the OP isn't replacing or patching the tube and just pumping it up.

That doesn't last long, of course.

Highly doubtful that "pebbles" have anything to do with your flats. Chances are it is something stuck through the inner wall of the tire, a metal burr on the rim, or a pinch flat from improper instal. Flip your tire inside out and VERY carefully finger over the surface to look for offending debris. Check the rim surface with your finger for metal burrs (the valve hole is most common) and file them down carefully. Assuming your rim strip and all else are OK, instal your tire/tube carefully making sure the tube is not pinched in the bead and inflate properly.

Tires and "pebbles" are rarely the issue with repeated flats (unless the TIRE puncture is obvious). Most often it is user error and failure to properly address some internal issue.