Help, I keep getting punctures

sampras38

Can anyone offer any advice here..

I have 2 bikes, a Scott CR1 Pro carbon as my main, and a Trek 1.2 that spends most of the time on the trainer. The Trek has a Vittoria trainer tyre. For some reason I keep getting punctures on the turbo (back wheel) and for the life of me can't find the culprit anywhere. Could I be getting some kind of pinch, or is it worth me replacing the tape around the wheel? Tried a few different tubes and they all get punctures. It's driving me nuts. Every time I have a turbo session I have to fix a puncture, or it seem like that.

Common problem?

airborne_warrior

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=32392

sampras38

Airborne Warrior wrote:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=32392

cheers

chrisw12

Don't know what that that tape does?

From my experience try the following

1) check rim tape, some crappy brands, when you pump the tyre up the pressure causes the inner tube into the spoke holes. Mind I doudt this is the problem as you normally get catastrophic failure i.e. a loud bang.

2) Check that you haven't picked up a small flint. These can be a censored to find. Whenever I put a tyre on a wheel I always put the tyre on in the same place relative to the rim (I line the tyre label with the rim hole) That way if you get multilple punctures you can check exactly where they are occurring.

3) Check there's no holes in the tyre. A pumped up inner tube will seep into any holes and then blow.

4) What pressure are you running? Turbo work warms up the tyres and will increase the pressure PERHAPS causing a blow out.



If the tyre has been at any time used on the road then (2) is the most likely.

When 2 occurs on the open road, it can be a nightmare and this is the reason why i use tubs in the winter i.e. no searching for puncture causes.

airborne_warrior

chrisw12 wrote:

Don't know what that that tape does?

It's a barrier between the tube and tyre and stops anything getting through. Obviously doesn't stop pinch flats.

Pokerface

I was having the same problem with my turbo tyre. Was getting a flat EVERY session.

Turns out the turbo tyre was worn out and had cracked on the inside. You might want to take your tyre off and turn it inside out to check for any cracks.Yo may have to 'stretch' it a bit to find them.

I am now running a new tyre.

sampras38

chrisw12 wrote:

Don't know what that that tape does?

From my experience try the following

1) check rim tape, some crappy brands, when you pump the tyre up the pressure causes the inner tube into the spoke holes. Mind I doudt this is the problem as you normally get catastrophic failure i.e. a loud bang.

2) Check that you haven't picked up a small flint. These can be a censored to find. Whenever I put a tyre on a wheel I always put the tyre on in the same place relative to the rim (I line the tyre label with the rim hole) That way if you get multilple punctures you can check exactly where they are occurring.

3) Check there's no holes in the tyre. A pumped up inner tube will seep into any holes and then blow.

4) What pressure are you running? Turbo work warms up the tyres and will increase the pressure PERHAPS causing a blow out.



If the tyre has been at any time used on the road then (2) is the most likely.

When 2 occurs on the open road, it can be a nightmare and this is the reason why i use tubs in the winter i.e. no searching for puncture causes.

thanks for the advice..

The vittoria tyre is only about a week old so I doubt it's that. I also have a yellow trainer tyre that was given to me. That one's about 6 months old but is still in good nick. I tend to have the turbo tyre at around 100-110psi.

I'll have another check tomorrow to see if there's a splint anywhere.

vorsprung

Put the turbo tyre on the scott and try that.
If it doesn't puncture after a couple of sessions then the problem is with the wheel on the trek
If it does, the problem is with the tyre

sampras38

vorsprung wrote:

Put the turbo tyre on the scott and try that.
If it doesn't puncture after a couple of sessions then the problem is with the wheel on the trek
If it does, the problem is with the tyre

Yeah, thought of that, but as I'm using the Scott a lot lately it's a bit of a hassle to keep changing the tyre. I think I'll remove the tape and have a proper look. Maybe a spoke is poking through or there's a sharp edge somewhere underneath the tape.

sampras38

Had another look and couldn't find anything. Took the wheel tape out and still couldn't find anything sharp, so took a small piece of emergy cloth and gently rubbed each spoke hole around where the puntures were. I've stuck a normal tyre back on (spare Bontrager), just to see if that helps.

cheers everyone

nmcgann

I have been plagued by flats on the turbo too and I know it is not the wheel, rim tape or inner tube(s) in my case as I use the same wheel on the road with various road tyres with no problem. I have also had the issue with both the conti and vittoria turbo tyres.

The inside of the turbo tyres is very rough and abrasive and my theory is that the punctures are caused by friction between the tube and tyre where the roller pinches (the punctures are always right under the tread). I patched one of the punctured tubes recently and the patch actually split within a few turbo sessions so it was getting pretty stressed somehow.

I am currently trying panaracer "flataway" kevlar tape stuck to the inside of the turbo tyre and I haven't had a puncture yet so I am hoping that is the cure.

Neil

sampras38

nmcgann wrote:

I have been plagued by flats on the turbo too and I know it is not the wheel, rim tape or inner tube(s) in my case as I use the same wheel on the road with various road tyres with no problem. I have also had the issue with both the conti and vittoria turbo tyres.

The inside of the turbo tyres is very rough and abrasive and my theory is that the punctures are caused by friction between the tube and tyre where the roller pinches (the punctures are always right under the tread). I patched one of the punctured tubes recently and the patch actually split within a few turbo sessions so it was getting pretty stressed somehow.

I am currently trying panaracer "flataway" kevlar tape stuck to the inside of the turbo tyre and I haven't had a puncture yet so I am hoping that is the cure.

Neil

I'm glad I'm not alone, and I hardly ever get punctures when I'm out on the road. It's driving me nuts. Let's see if using a normal tyre helps.

cheers

sampras38

sampras38 wrote:

nmcgann wrote:

I have been plagued by flats on the turbo too and I know it is not the wheel, rim tape or inner tube(s) in my case as I use the same wheel on the road with various road tyres with no problem. I have also had the issue with both the conti and vittoria turbo tyres.

The inside of the turbo tyres is very rough and abrasive and my theory is that the punctures are caused by friction between the tube and tyre where the roller pinches (the punctures are always right under the tread). I patched one of the punctured tubes recently and the patch actually split within a few turbo sessions so it was getting pretty stressed somehow.

I am currently trying panaracer "flataway" kevlar tape stuck to the inside of the turbo tyre and I haven't had a puncture yet so I am hoping that is the cure.

Neil

I'm glad I'm not alone, and I hardly ever get punctures when I'm out on the road. It's driving me nuts. Let's see if using a normal tyre helps.

cheers

And I've ordered some new Velox rim tape to try that too.

ColinJ

When I first started cycling again as an adult, I had a succession of punctures. They were driving me nuts because I couldn't find out what was causing them.

In the end, I consulted an experienced cyclist in my office. He asked me to describe how I fixed the punctures. I described what I did, and he told me that I was probably damaging the new tubes when I used tyre levers to get the tyres back on. He was right! I started putting a little bit of air in the tubes before putting them on the wheel, and just using my fingers to put the tyres back on. That sorted the problem out.

I've found, however, that certain types of tyre are almost impossible to get back onto certain types of rim without using levers. When I do resort to using tools, I am really careful not to damage the tube.

sampras38

ColinJ wrote:

When I first started cycling again as an adult, I had a succession of punctures. They were driving me nuts because I couldn't find out what was causing them.

In the end, I consulted an experienced cyclist in my office. He asked me to describe how I fixed the punctures. I described what I did, and he told me that I was probably damaging the new tubes when I used tyre levers to get the tyres back on. He was right! I started putting a little bit of air in the tubes before putting them on the wheel, and just using my fingers to put the tyres back on. That sorted the problem out.

I've found, however, that certain types of tyre are almost impossible to get back onto certain types of rim without using levers. When I do resort to using tools, I am really careful not to damage the tube.

Agreed, although I've always put a little air in the tube first and apart from when I use turbo tyres I tend to put the tyres back on without levers.

sampras38

Little update..

So I swapped the turbo tyre for an older Bontrager that I used to have on the Trek. 2 hour long sessions later and still no puncture. So all good for now..;-)