New bike .... and almost immediately a puncture

BucksLad

Took my new Giant SCR1 out the other day. First time I've been on a road bike for years and I was just starting to really enjoy it when I got a puncture - only about 5 minutes from home. Fortunately I had a spare tube and was able to continue - until I got another puncture. Fumbling about with patches with freezing fingers hadn't been my plan for the day but, trying to be positive about the experience, I'm hoping that's my ration of punctures used up until the new year.

I read somewhere that the Kenda Kontender tyres that are fitted to the SCRs are pretty basic and can be puncture prone. Is that other SCR owners experience ? Should I just bite the bullet and get some better spec'ed tyres already instead of waiting for the Kendas to wear out ?

On another tack, I found that undoing the QR lever to remove the rear wheel was a right pain - the bike shop had done it up unbelievably tight. Also a fairly big paint chip came away from the outside face of the dropout where the ridged washer had been. I assume that this is par for the course ? Is it worth putting some touch-up paint to cover up the bare metal or is this a pointless exercise ? I'm guessing that, with the frame being aluminium alloy, corrosion won't be a problem ?

madandybell

What sort of pressures have you got in your tyres, I'd say you need at least 100 psi, anything less than that and the punctures will happen more often.

mozejo

I've got an SCR2 and those tyres are terrible. Get rid of them and put armadillos on. I must have had 20 punctures with the Kendas - one of my friends suggested armadillos and I haven't had one since.

eridani

The Kenda Kontender tyres on my SCR aren't the best tyres in the world, but I've only had 2 punctures in about 3000 miles of mostly wet riding; I'll be holding on to them until they're worn out. Pressure is the most important thing - when I first started riding road bikes I was puncturing constantly until someone told me to get a track pump with a gauge. I find the rear dropouts on the SCR to be a real fiddle, which is about the only complaint I could make about the bike.

k-dog

Most people do up QRs too tight - the axle in the hub is slightly elastic so this is the last part of adjusting the bearings correctly.

The hardest part of closing the QR should be when it's just pointing straight out - and then as it goes over the top it gets easier again.

It can also make a big difference to the rolling resistance of your hubs. When the wheel is off the bike there should be a little play in the bearings but when you close the QR (tightening it against the dropouts obviously) that should disappear.

If there is no play in the hub before the wheel is on the bike then the hub is too tight.

If you make the QR too tight that can cause the same problem.

BucksLad

Thanks for the replies.

On my MTB I follow the guidelines given in various places: that the pressure on the QR lever should leave an impression on your hand for a few secs after you go over the tightest point. When I removed the wheel to fix the first puncture on my SCR, it was a two-handed job to open the lever - as I said, incredibly tight. I assume that with it being so tighjt it won't have damaged anything ? The hub seems fine and apart from a chunk of paint lifing off the outside face of the dropout, everything else seems OK.

As for the tyre pressures, I checked them before starting out and they were over 100 psi (closer to 110), so I don't think the first puncture could be due to running too low pressures. The second one could quite possibly be low pressure related as I only had a mini-pump to reinflate the tube after changing it. I think I'll persevere with the Kendas for a bit and see how it goes.