Today I rode my bike 5 minutes to work, and 5 minutes home. All was fine, except it was tres windy.

When I got home from work, I called up my friend and we're like "Yo it's 75 degrees and sunny, let's go ride."

I get up on my bike and start riding to his place. 2 minutes into my ride I hear this sound coming from my back wheel. I thought I ran over something sticky and it'd go away after awhile, but it kept going. I stopped, and it was still going, so I was like... that's not right. So I popped a tube and got it patched. No biggie, right? Except this is the third tube popped within 3 months of having this bike.

So I'm thinking there's either something wrong with my rim or there's something wrong with my tire, which are both stock. I blew both the front and rear stock tubes because they were crappy, but now I have Continental Race 700s - a regular on the back and a lite on the front.

Anywho, after the patch, we head out on our... probably 20 mile round trip ride. 500m from his door I swear I heard some kind of pop coming from my rear wheel. It wasn't a tire pop this time... it sounded like a spoke settling in after you get your wheels trued. I finished up the ride and checked out my rear wheel. I don't know the correct terms or anything, but the outside of the hub moves about 1mm back and forth around the center axle thingy.

Kudos to all of you who made it this far through my crappy story. The bottom line is that I have two questions.

1) What is wrong with my wheels/rims/tires/tubes that I have popped 3 tubes in 3 months? Bear in mind that the roads here are not terrible, though they're not perfect. None of my buddies have ever popped tubes yet on these roads.

2) What is wrong with my hub?

1) Do the holes in your tubes happen in the same place all the time? If so, there may be a burr on the inside of your rim...probably at the seam where the rim is joined together. Inspect it. If it's jagged, sand or file that **** smooth. You're using rim strips right? If so, make sure they're not moving around on you.

2) sounds like your cones are loose.

You may want to put good rim tape and replace the crap rubber rim strip your wheels most likely came with, for your flat tire problem.

Yeah, the flat tire problem may come from a jagged edge in your rim, also check the valve hole on the rim, it may have a sharp edge.

and for the hub, it's probably loose cones.

1) I think the burr might be the issue, but I can't remember exactly where this last puncture was. I'll have to wait til this weekend to get access to a pump to check the rim. Or else I'll be ride-less for a couple days, which we all know is unacceptable! What's the difference, mechanically, between a rim strip and rim tape? Just wondering.

2) Yup Scrod, the cone nuts were loose. Good call, easy fix. Though I was kind of hoping I'd have some silly excuse to buy a new wheelset...

Sounds like you didn't replace those cheap rubber rim strip that came with the wheels, get Velox rim tape and you will be very very happy.


Rim strips sometimes will move around and it might move enough to expose the sharp edges of the spoke holes, thereby popping your tube. Rim tape never move around since they are adhered to the rim, but there are many different materials, nylon, plastic, rubber and cotton. Velox rim tape is probably the best the there is, high thread count cotton, nice and thick to protect your tube. GET THEM!

I don't get the waiting for pump access part.Every cyclist should own at least one pump.Ideally you wanna own a floor pump and something small to take on the road like a mini pump or co2 inflator.I never leave the house without a pump/inflator and tube/patchkit.

I think I have rim tape then. It's stuck pretty good to my rim. I'll look into getting some Velox rim tape next time I head to my LBS.

I don't have a pump because my campus LBS does air and lube for free. Also, my friend I ride with has a pump, and I have an air compressor or two at my permanent home. So I've justified not getting myself an pump. Perhaps I should, but since I can get air when I really need it, I've chosen to spend my hard-earned college kid money on other stuff I need.

Like weed.

Sounds like you need new tape. Get the 16mm Velox for around $8 for two rolls. Clean the area with rubbing alcohol before attaching the new tape.

This.

a floor pump is $20 and u won't be rideless for a couple of days. I would get a pump.
I thought it was kinda silly that one of my friends always asks if i'm home so he could use my pumps. But i didn't yell at him coz he was the one who got me that pump as a bday gift. Now he finally has his own pump and it's all good

A floor pump is on a long list of things to buy. They should all be bought by the end of the summer, but I'm still trying to save up some funds so my account balance isn't so low. It also didn't help that I had to replace a stolen bike a couple months ago.

About the hub. The cones are loose. Search the Park Tool website for instructions on how to fix.

About the tire. Make sure you line up the graphics on your tire with the valve stem. this way you will know if all the puctures are in the same place. If they are then most likely you have something in your tire.

About the "spoke settling". This is a sure sign that your wheel was not detensioned when built and is probably out of true. They shouldn't ping after an adjustment.

Lots of people suggesting rim tape -- a good idea.

Also though, carefully inspect the inside of your tire. A piece of road shrapnel can get lodged in the outside of the tire so it pokes into the tire, popping tubes repeatedly. It may or may not be invisible from the outside. Run your finger around the inside of the tire and feel for anything sharp.

On a similar note, a lot of people orient their tires in the same position every time they put them on, in order to make diagnosis of recurring flats a little easier. If your tube keeps popping at the 3-o'clock position (in relation to the stem), you know that either your tire or your rim has a burr at 3-o'clock.

IMO a cotton swab works better at finding a dirty shard of glass than a finger.

while we're on the subject, i didn't want to create a new thread
i'm also very new to fixed-gears and riding in general,

but i was riding the other night and i heard a pretty loud, unsettling noise come from the hub, and my chain fell off and my pedals became disengaged, and from what i can tell, my sprocket came loose, and the rear wheel shifted forward, causing my chain to fall off.

i was just wondering how normal this is. can i just tighten it back by hand, and check it every once inawhile? or is a repair needed.

tightening by hand probably will lead to your wheel falling off a lot more.

Look up videos on how to tighten a cog/lockring.

thanks man

wait... did your cog come off of a track hub? Lockring threads are gone?

the cog loosened a lot, yeah.

as for lockring threads, i'm going to be honest and say i'm not sure what those are. the very thin wiry-like strips? i think i did lose those.

where do those fit in... between the cog and the lockring?

i should add this happened when i went to skid.



not looking good huh

Sounds like a stripped hub. Time to to start searching for a rear wheel. Sorry, but at least now you'll know to tighten everything down properly.

I'm not positive it's a stripped hub but it really sounds like it, take it by the bike shop or post pictures.

I think anyone new to fixed should read through sheldons site,let the buzzing in the head subside ,read it again and again and if anything is still unclear,read it again.

the other reason you could be popping so many tubes is pinch flats, which I only mention because it has happened to me so much in the past. nowadays I take a lot of time to make sure that the bead is seated correctly. After installing a new/patched tube, I inflate just enough to fill the tire, inspect, deflate, pinch/press/squeeze, re-inflate to pressure.

I dunno if someone have said this before but I've read trhough the posts (fast thought) and couldn't find anything

1 To litle of air in your tires. Probably not since you use a lbs-inflator.
2 Worn out tires check the tires (like judge possener said) to se if your skids has teared down the tire anywhere so there is smal holes for smal rocks to get through the tire.. Dunno how to put this (no native speaker) but i hope You'll understand