Plagued by punctures
azezal
Posts: 4
Hi. I have two bikes. One is a BMX and the other a mountain bike, since this post is about punctures and prevention, I'll just mention the wheel size. The mountain bike is 26x1.95 front and rear, the BMX is 20x1.95 front and rear, fairly standard. The BMX has heavy slime protectors on both wheels.
The mountain bike has been a huge problem since I bought it second hand and has caused me nothing but problems, even after I had it serviced. I must have spent atleast £400 on parts and labour, not to mention frustrated evenings repairing it. So far I have had to fix about 7 punctures on it. It has had 3 new inner tubes. The chain, rear derailer, brakes, 2 new tyres, gears, cassette, new rear wheel, not to mention all the tools I have had to buy. Anyway the bike has been a nightmare, considering its not even that good a mountain bike and if I knew what I was in for, I would have been far better off buying a new bike under warranty.
The BMX on the other hand has been quiet reliable. Its gone for a few months without a puncture, until today. Only 2 short journeys after fitting heavy slime on both wheels.
The bizzare thing was, when I was a kid, I would really punish my bikes and go for years without problems, now I have a problem atleast ounce a month.
Although, I am not very skillful in repairs, I always follow procedures and try to do things properly, but still plagued with problems, mostly punctures.
I have been reading about tubeless tyres, kevlar tyres and inner tubes and I am not convinced either will help, from what I have read they don't make the wheels puncture proof, only more puncture resistant. The only strange thing is I almost always get a puncture on the back wheel, hardly ever on the front, so maybe the problem is my riding style rather than my mechanical skill. I often jump kurbs with a heavy rucksack on my back, but if I am carrying a very heavy load like 80kilos I avoid them. Most of the time the back wheel catches the edge of the kurb. It could explain why I bent the back wheel on the mountain bike, I don't know. Mostly my riding style is a lot less taxing on the bikes then some of the stunts I see people perform.
Anyway, is it possible to buy tyres that are fully made out of rubber or something, to fit my bikes, like the ones on toddler bikes? I know the weight is going to slow me down, but if I wanted to get somewhere really quick, I would have bought a racing bike. I don't care about the weight too much, if I don't have so many punctures. I was even thinking of just welding carbon steel inner tubes moulded around the insides of the tyres so, I would not need inner tubes and would never get a puncture.
The mountain bike has been a huge problem since I bought it second hand and has caused me nothing but problems, even after I had it serviced. I must have spent atleast £400 on parts and labour, not to mention frustrated evenings repairing it. So far I have had to fix about 7 punctures on it. It has had 3 new inner tubes. The chain, rear derailer, brakes, 2 new tyres, gears, cassette, new rear wheel, not to mention all the tools I have had to buy. Anyway the bike has been a nightmare, considering its not even that good a mountain bike and if I knew what I was in for, I would have been far better off buying a new bike under warranty.
The BMX on the other hand has been quiet reliable. Its gone for a few months without a puncture, until today. Only 2 short journeys after fitting heavy slime on both wheels.
The bizzare thing was, when I was a kid, I would really punish my bikes and go for years without problems, now I have a problem atleast ounce a month.
Although, I am not very skillful in repairs, I always follow procedures and try to do things properly, but still plagued with problems, mostly punctures.
I have been reading about tubeless tyres, kevlar tyres and inner tubes and I am not convinced either will help, from what I have read they don't make the wheels puncture proof, only more puncture resistant. The only strange thing is I almost always get a puncture on the back wheel, hardly ever on the front, so maybe the problem is my riding style rather than my mechanical skill. I often jump kurbs with a heavy rucksack on my back, but if I am carrying a very heavy load like 80kilos I avoid them. Most of the time the back wheel catches the edge of the kurb. It could explain why I bent the back wheel on the mountain bike, I don't know. Mostly my riding style is a lot less taxing on the bikes then some of the stunts I see people perform.
Anyway, is it possible to buy tyres that are fully made out of rubber or something, to fit my bikes, like the ones on toddler bikes? I know the weight is going to slow me down, but if I wanted to get somewhere really quick, I would have bought a racing bike. I don't care about the weight too much, if I don't have so many punctures. I was even thinking of just welding carbon steel inner tubes moulded around the insides of the tyres so, I would not need inner tubes and would never get a puncture.
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Comments
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azezal wrote:I often jump kurbs with a heavy rucksack on my back, but if I am carrying a very heavy load like 80kilos I avoid them.
Think you might have answered your own question there!
80kg? You sure about that? That's 177lbs - I know some Royal Marines who'd be proud to carry that - it would be like riding round with me strapped to your back!!0 -
Are you running low tyre pressures? If you're clipping kerbs and running below 30psi you'll probably be getting pinch punctures. Try 35-40psi.0
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I think you can still get solid tyres- you see the odd advert for them (usually they only indirectly mention that they're solid) so they're out there if you really want them. Sounds like pressure may help though as TRBJ said- do your punctures have glass or whatever in them or are they mostly pinches?0
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You can't blame punctures on your bike, it could happen with any bike. Are you sure you are removing the initial cause fo the puncture from the tyre? I'm sure most of us have learned that lesson the hard way. Next time you get a puncture match where the puncture is with the tyre and have a really good look and feel of the inside inthat area. SOmetimes the cause is there, and not always obvious, especially thorns which can break off and be barely visible, but there's just enough there to poke through and pierce the inner tube when its squeezed.You don't need eyes to see, you need vision0
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Thanks for the replies. I will look into getting some solid tyres.
I checked the tyre and slime on the BMX. There was no sign of the cause of the puncture. This time I had to walk it home, so the cause of the puncture, must have dropped off. Although, in the past with the mountain bike, the only things I found were thorns, not glass, although because I take the bikes on relatively short journeys, it often does not make sense to repair punctures on the roadside.
The psi on the BMX is between 50 to 65 psi. On the mountain bike its like 45 or something. I was wondering if keeping the tyres at a high PSI could be causing the problems, but when I reduced it, I still got punctures.
I am sure about the weight. Normally its a very big hicking rucksack full of beer bottles and extra bags tied to it that contain dog food hehe. Although I don't carry this weight anymore when cycling because it does not do my back any good.0 -
I have found a seller of solid tyres. I am thinking that I will eventually sacrifice performance for endurance. I am thinking of buying tyres from greentyre.
They only seem to have the tyres in 20x1.75 where, my current tyres are 20x1.95, will these still work?0 -
I changed my inner tubes to down hill ones (much thicker) touch wood no punchers yet.0
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I'm running DH tubes and maxxis 26 X 2.5 dual ply DH tyres, no punctures, even after inadvertantly riding into a rather thorny thicket last weekend. I came off worse than the bike
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Solid tyres are the work of the devil. Awful bloody things. Had some years ago and never again.
Downhill tubes will help- if you really aren't bothered by weight or speed some dual ply tyres.
Actually- you dont say what tyres you are currently running, are they worn out, knackered thin....0 -
If you are catching the wheel on the corners of curbs that's likely to result in pinch flats quite often.
Somehing I have done in the past to reduce thorn/glass punctures etc was to take an old inner tube and cut off the valve, then run it around the inside of he tyre, fixed in place with duck tape. Not a perfect cure, but a bit of added protection from thorns etc. In fact, I never got a thorn/glass puncture on the tyres I ran like that, only the odd pinch flat from stray rocks!
Also, for pinch flats, a good layer of rim tape can help loads.0
