First puncture - 2 snake bites

CleeRider

Had my first puncture yesterday. Swapped the tube out fine.
On returning home I found it was a snake bite / pinch flat so I repaired it.
On inflation I found I had another snake bite 4-5 inches away from the first. Is it common to have 2 at once? I guess it may be as the 2nd may have been caused by riding on a few yards before realising the first.

My other question is... do most of you repair tubes on return home and re-use them?

slowbike

CleeRider wrote:

My other question is... do most of you repair tubes on return home and re-use them?

Unless it is really bad then yes ... although I do save them up and do a few at a time.

cougie

Sounds like you hit a big pothole - that would explain the 2 holes. I'd probably bin that tube TBH.

keef66

I find snake bite punctures easy to patch on MTB tubes but rather tricky with skinny road tubes.

I still use some tubes with several patches though. Honorary Yorkshireman

Bobbinogs

Might be worth checking your tyre pressure. Some potholes have sharp edges which always tend to result in pinchflats but they are few and far between (and best avoided ). I always carry two tubes because if you hit a pothole at speed it is likely that both wheels will take the hit.

Not sure what weight you are but it might be worth going up 10 psi and see how you get on, also I would recommend checking pressure before every ride if you don't already. I also adjust pressure based on the ride (I go 5-10 psi up on the front for a very hilly ride to account for the redistrbuted weight).

As stated by Keef66, pinchflats can be a beggar to fix on narrow tubes and I have binned them before despite always fixing other punctures...but I haven't had a pinchflat for flipping ages now (so there's the kiss of death).

Gizmodo

Slowbike wrote:

CleeRider wrote:

My other question is... do most of you repair tubes on return home and re-use them?

Unless it is really bad then yes ... although I do save them up and do a few at a time.

Some do, some don't. There's a whole thread somewhere, half the posts saying what's the point they're on a couple of quid each, the other half saying that's the point they're a couple of quid each.

sungod

rema tiptop patch+glue, c. 30p per puncture, less than 20p if you get a big pack

new tube 2 quid

i have tubes with *lots* of patches

CleeRider

These 2 snake bites were actually very easy to fix with a single Park Tool special patch for each, ie only 2 patches used.
Each hole in a 'bite' were only 7-10mm apart.
Could this perhaps point to a different cause, and not a pinch flat? I don't remember hitting a big pot hole, just that the road was very gritty on the sides. Perhaps I went over something with spikes showing. But then I don't see 2 pairs of small holes in the tyre.

t4tomo

Its easy to tell whether its a pinch / snakebite:

For a pinch flat the holes will be on the hub side of the centre line of the tube as it casued by the rim nipping the tube, an "intrusion" flat (for want of a better word) will be on the outside of the centre line of tube.