pump, pump...hiss

secretsam

So I read the thread on pump up your tyres last night and thought, ooh mine are a bit flat, better put some air in.

Which I duly did.

no prizes for guessing what happened next... :evil:


(Actually, the rubber round the base of the valve had perished - that's the second time that's happened to me recently - am I doing something wrong?!?!?!?!)

BentMikey

I used to get this a lot with Spesh tubes. Now I'm more careful about putting on and taking off the pump, and I cut small squares of an old tube, and fit these over the valve before fitting the tube on the wheel and tyre on the theory that it will spread any stress.

secretsam

BentMikey wrote:

I used to get this a lot with Spesh tubes. Now I'm more careful about putting on and taking off the pump, and I cut small squares of an old tube, and fit these over the valve before fitting the tube on the wheel and tyre on the theory that it will spread any stress.

Ah...and guess what tubes they are...step forward Messrs Spesh, with your dodgy tubes and slippy-when-wet tyres.

Glad it's not just me.

Harrumph.

ac220v

Does not look quite like what happened to me once back in teenage days, but check your rim, - sometimes valve hole gets elongated and rips valves off... Only it's not "pump, pump...hiss", but rather "pump, pump, pump... seems O.K... 1 minute ride... hiss" :twisted:

BentMikey

Or more often in my case not much hiss and very much "BANG".

hodsgod

How old are the tubes? are you sure the rubber perished and wasn't damaged by the valve hole? or indeed from your pushing and pulling on a pump.

marcba

Do you use a floor pump with a gauge ? If not, you better switch to such a pump, and limit use of small manual pump to roadside repears.

secretsam

ac220v wrote:

Does not look quite like what happened to me once back in teenage days, but check your rim, - sometimes valve hole gets elongated and rips valves off... Only it's not "pump, pump...hiss", but rather "pump, pump, pump... seems O.K... 1 minute ride... hiss" :twisted:

Actually it was about 10 mins, was wondering why front end was so bouncy...durrh

marcba wrote:

Do you use a floor pump with a gauge ? If not, you better switch to such a pump, and limit use of small manual pump to roadside repears.

Yes and no: have a track pump at home, but this bike (1 of 2) lives in London, between the station and work, so gets an ordinary pump (when I remember).

Tube not old, it was a super-long-stem job from Sssssssssspecialized, which I bought recently.

attica

If you haven't got a pump near where you keep your bike, you could always drop into your LBS or even Evans, they all usually have a track pump that they're happy to let you use.