Yep, the wheels have to have 110% inspection to find out what's poking holes in your tubes. Not much else will solve this problem.

INFO: My neighbor has this exact same trike and rides it all over town picking up aluminum cans for retirement pocket money. Not a single flat in two years he's had the trike.

the tire reads: (54-559) 26 x 2.0 40-65 P.S.I. (275-450 kPa) (2.75 - 4.5 BAR) on the side

the tube reads: 26 x 1.50 - 1.95

here is a photo of the burst tube:

https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/813/bursttube.jpg/

The man at the bike shoppe kept the original tire's tube after he replaced the tube for me so I don't know what brand it was but it had a split valve which was halfway off of the tube.

The second man at the shoppe who repaired my bike's tire also kept the tube. He had taken my tire into the back of the shoppe when performing the repairs so I assume he just tossed it away. It only took him a couple of minutes to switch out the old tube and refill the tire with air. He didn't say what he thought had caused the damage to the tube. I looked inside the tire near the hole for the valve. There is rubbery rim tape inside and nothing scratchy. I don't think the rim tape could have slipped aside because it seemed very firmly in place and was hard for me to shift even to purposely look under it. There were some little nubs that looked like the top of screws which I assume must be the spoke ends people have mentioned. These were not directly over the burst area of the tube but were nearby (under the tape). Nothing felt sharp to my fingers. I wedged my fingers inside the tire to feel around and felt nothing sharp either. There is no hole or nail or anything in my tire either - no tire damage.

You have two wheels (rims, tubes, tires) that retain air; and one that doesn't. Your conviction that one tube manufacturer is at fault is unlikely to be the correct answer, as the tube make has changed at least once while the problem persists.

Likewise, it's a stretch to say that tube tires aren't a practical design when the bike is sitting there with two inflated tires. As mentioned before, you almost certainly have a problem with the rim, rim strip, or tire; and when that root problem is resolved, you should expect your third wheel to require no more attention than the other two.

KeS

This one at least points to the rim.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ires-are-great

oops.

Corrected poor memory

Curious, NJC 9452 - Where are you?

just to note these tires come up on a regular basis, especially in commutting and the overall feed back is not good. The common themes are the tires are hard to install, the ride is harsh, the handling is poor and traction is not good especially it it is at all wet and customer service is spotty.

Actually it hasn't. The tire's original tube (from when I bought the bike) was the one whose valve got snapped by the hand pump. The other two tubes were Kenda tubes installed by the bike shoppe. Both of those tubes went completely flat while the bike was sitting and the second one while the tire wasn't even on the bike! The other two tires retain their original tubes from when I bought the bike and haven't needed replacing yet. I assume that that brand of tube is good but I don't know what brand they are. WalMart assembled the bike for me when I bought it so I never saw them.

Hmm - I hadn't considered the traction.... The bike only has hand brakes and I can only use one of course so it's already hard to brake. I never understood why Schwinn chose to put hand brakes on a style of bicycle that would most likely be used and purchased by old folks or people like myself with a disability. It would have made more sense to have the common pedal brakes like kids' bikes have, as peoples' legs are stronger than their hands and that style of brakes would be more efficient at stopping a heavy bike, it's rider and a basket of cargo.

The 1.5 to 1.95 tube is smaller than your 2.0 inch tire. While most tubes will stretch that much just fine, it is not a matching size. Over stretched tubes will sometimes leak slowly. I would seek a better bike shop.

Hard to install is not an issue. Everything is hard to install for the OP, And install a tyre like that the OP would pay somebody to do maybe every 5 yrs?

The OP should ask (read) the advice from peopel in a similar situation w a similar ridingstyle, and not in the Commuting forum at BF. Also, can you tell me ONE tyre tat everybody in the commuting forum is satisfyed with and can recomend? The OP posted in the Utility forum. NOT in the Commuting and not in the road forum (or Bmx..). Different peopel need different solutions, that is all.

I agree that you need to find a new bikeshop if possible. Tell them about the feedback you get about this on the internet. Always ask them to return your punctured tube if you stick to inflated tubes on your bike. You kan patch it and keep it as a spare, but most important that tube can tell you a lot about what happened and why.

I do not recomend a floor pump. I have one, and some times I need to pump up some bikes where I need an adapter to get air in. My adapter is crappy (always loose the good ones) and therefor I often end up pumping w one arm. I am strong, and I can not recomend it. It is also difficult. Your one arm already need to work for two (arms), I suggest an electric pump. I have one small compressor I keep in the car. That one is ment for the power outlet in the car but I am sure something similar to plug in the wall. Price approx £10 around here. I also have a bigger portable one that my gow give out for free when they give peopel wheelchairs. Also electric w a battery. Bigger than you need, but I just want to tell you that there is solutions out there. With the right type of valve you can easely snap both on w one hand and then just press a button. For taking on the road try to look into a co2 cartridge system. Not all that ekspensive, used by peopel who need really high preassure like in racing bikes. I do not use one myself, but I think maybe it can work for you. It is only for backup, so you are not going to have to spend much on co2.

Somebody asked you where you live, and of course you are free to not tell us that. The cuestion is often asked when somebody is struggeling becouse there is a LOT of BF members in the US and in the world. If one of them is near you I am sure they are willing to help. Also it is common to help with parts for bikes. I have sent parts for peopel who need them (mainly for old bikes) and I would do it again. I am not in the US so I can not help you in person. Since you are a new member you can not use the private message system here, but if you have an e-mail that would help.

Brakes on your bike: I am afraid this is about price, cheap solution. It is possible to buy (unless somebody can send you a spare one) a brake handle that can operate two brakes at the same time. Also you can get one w a parking brake solution, but not sure if you can find one with both. Trying to load a bike that is not standing still is not easy w two hands so I can imagine doing it one handed.

I just wanted to post an update. It seems the problem must surely have been that the man at the bicycle shoppe had twice put in the wrong sized tube without my knowledge. Once the correct size tube was installed the bike didn't get any problem with the tube bursting and the tire going flat. The tires seem okay now. I have a regular-style bicycle pump and put some air in when it needs it. I don't use that hand-held type pump any more and so the tire tubes aren't getting the valve snapped off by the hand-held pump. I've taken my bike out a few times over the past couple months, whenever weather was permitting, and it's okay, just except for the brakes but I don't know anything about bicycle maintainance so I don't know how to administer to that. The bike has only hand brakes and no pedal brakes. I can only use the brake on the right handlebar because my left hand is disabled. Shortly after I got the bike it started making a very loud rubbing noise whenever the brakes were applied. I keep the bike covered with an old car cover on my porch but it still managed to get some rust on the brake cables and the chain. I'm not sure what I should do about that or what, if anything, could be done to make the brakes quiet. The noise is embarassing. The bike is only one-speed and goes rather slow (only about 10 miles an hour) no matter how fast you pedal but I rarely pedal that fast and usually cruise gently with it so I don't know why the brakes are making that awful noise. Could it be due to the fact I can't apply brakes on both handlebars?

First thing would be to apply a lubricant to brake pivots. Given that the bike is cheap, its cables are presumably regular steel so putting some oil into cable housing might be also advisable.

As to the use of the right hand only for braking, the right lever commonly operates the rear brake, while the front brake is more effective. In the long-term you should aim at a changed arrangement on the bike so that the right hand begins to operate the front brake. It is something a mechanic should be able to accomplish.

I have the Town & Country which is the deluxe three speed version of the same trike. I'll second the advice to use the front brake. You get the most effectiveness off it. Make sure all pivot points are well lubed and squirt some triflow through the spaghetti tubing. Some better brake shoes couldn't hurt (like Kool Stop Salmons). Few other pointers, before riding, the trike take all three wheels to the LBS and have them tension and true them. The machine truing leaves much to be desired. Also don't obsess over tire pressure too much. My experience has been that the tire pressure levels off at 50 lbs PSI for at least a month which makes for a nice smooth ride. The tires themselves are Cheng Shin Innovas and a well matched to the cheap rims as they are low pressure tires. I'm skeptical on whether or not these rims would handle any tire beyond 60 psi.

Also, have the LBS make sure the axle tubes are square. The fine Chinese quality control sometimes will let out one or two that is off square and the end result is the drive wheel will twist off. Getting warranty repair from the red Chinese is a biatch.

It is good to hear that at least some of your problems are gone.

For the chain and cables that rust: Ad some oil, make sure the oil is covering the chain but also wipe off the oil that does not "sink into" the chain. Oil on the surface is going to collect dust and make it dirty. The chain and cable are a bit cheap I would guess.

I think there are several solutions to your brake problem. This: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-Pull-...item3a7031ce75 is one of them.

You have been asked in the past if you are willing to tell us approxemately where you live. There is quite a lot of peopel on this forum that would be willing to help you if they kew how to find you.

Thank you for the advice about the brakes and chain Should I use WD-40 for that? I do have some but wasn't sure if that would be the right thing to use

There are tons of effective liquid lubricants, but WD-40 is not one of them, check the article in Popular Mechanics. I would suggest getting a lubricant that you could use for other things on the bike and a local bike shop is likely to offer several products. Myself I'd use Boeshield T9 or LPS-3 for the purpose.

I haven't had a flat in over a year of commuting almost daily, 16 miles each day. If you get repeated flats in the same wheel, clearly there is a problem with that wheel and it needs to be carefully inspected.

The airless tires make your ride uncomfortable and cause more stress on the rim because they don't distribute the shocks the way compressed air does. If they were so great they would have gone mainstream by now, but they have not.

What you need is to have your wheel(s) inspected and then get good puncture resistant tires.