Flats when stopped. It is time to slime?

singleton

Last autumn I had a series of 4 flats in 4 rides and so in early November I decided to change my tyres.
All was well until 2 weeks ago.
I was out riding with some friends and someone got a pinch flat on the lovely roads around us. The following morning I noticed my front was flat as well....
Last week I was out one night, stopped for a drink after the ride and when I came out of the pub my front was flat...
Last night I was out, got home fine and this morning noticed my front was flat...

-edit- I replaced the inner tube with a new one each time...

One riding friend keeps telling me to fit slime tubes - has it come to that time??

arlowood

Singleton wrote:

Last autumn I had a series of 4 flats in 4 rides and so in early November I decided to change my tyres.
All was well until 2 weeks ago.
I was out riding with some friends and someone got a pinch flat on the lovely roads around us. The following morning I noticed my front was flat as well....
Last week I was out one night, stopped for a drink after the ride and when I came out of the pub my front was flat...
Last night I was out, got home fine and this morning noticed my front was flat...

-edit- I replaced the inner tube with a new one each time...

One riding friend keeps telling me to fit slime tubes - has it come to that time??

Sounds more like you've got a flint or some other foreign body lodged in the tread somewhere and each time you fit a new inner, out it pops to ruin your day.

I'd be inclined to take the tyre off and inspect in very closely around the area where the inner was punctured.

schlepcycling

arlowood wrote:

Singleton wrote:

Last autumn I had a series of 4 flats in 4 rides and so in early November I decided to change my tyres.
All was well until 2 weeks ago.
I was out riding with some friends and someone got a pinch flat on the lovely roads around us. The following morning I noticed my front was flat as well....
Last week I was out one night, stopped for a drink after the ride and when I came out of the pub my front was flat...
Last night I was out, got home fine and this morning noticed my front was flat...

-edit- I replaced the inner tube with a new one each time...

One riding friend keeps telling me to fit slime tubes - has it come to that time??

Sounds more like you've got a flint or some other foreign body lodged in the tread somewhere and each time you fit a new inner, out it pops to ruin your day.

I'd be inclined to take the tyre off and inspect in very closely around the area where the inner was punctured.

Either this ^^ or go tubeless.

singleton

arlowood wrote:

Sounds more like you've got a flint or some other foreign body lodged in the tread somewhere and each time you fit a new inner, out it pops to ruin your day.

I'd be inclined to take the tyre off and inspect in very closely around the area where the inner was punctured.

Thanks arlowood.

I've just put a new inner in and explored carefully. I checked both the tyre and the wheel near the hole and I can't find anything there at all.

I've rotated the tyre around the rim one quarter turn in an attempt to eliminate one or the other if it happens again.

singleton

schlepcycling wrote:

Either this ^^ or go tubeless.

Are tubeless much better?
What happens if you do get a flat? Is it easy enough to do a roadside repair and put a tube in?

schlepcycling

Singleton wrote:

schlepcycling wrote:

Either this ^^ or go tubeless.

Are tubeless much better?
What happens if you do get a flat? Is it easy enough to do a roadside repair and put a tube in?

Yes,I think they're much better, I use them with sealant so punctures should self seal and you should only have problems if you get a sizeable hole. I've been using them over the winter and so far no punctures.
I'm not sure how easy a roadside repair would be, I guess a lot would have to do with your wheel and tyre combination.

singleton

schlepcycling wrote:

Yes,I think they're much better, I use them with sealant so punctures should self seal and you should only have problems if you get a sizeable hole. I've been using them over the winter and so far no punctures.
I'm not sure how easy a roadside repair would be, I guess a lot would have to do with your wheel and tyre combination.

I understand the argument that "it shouldn't happen since the hole will self repair" but surely there's always the chance that it will happen - and having no backup plan for that eventuality seems very risky to me...

bbrap

Singleton wrote:

schlepcycling wrote:

Yes,I think they're much better, I use them with sealant so punctures should self seal and you should only have problems if you get a sizeable hole. I've been using them over the winter and so far no punctures.
I'm not sure how easy a roadside repair would be, I guess a lot would have to do with your wheel and tyre combination.

I understand the argument that "it shouldn't happen since the hole will self repair" but surely there's always the chance that it will happen - and having no backup plan for that eventuality seems very risky to me...

The backup plan is a tube in your jersey pocket.

cycleclinic

Tubeless works never been stranded yet and i carry a spare tube just in case. I will be racing this year on tubeless tyres, i commute on them. I am abandoming tubes cant stand the faff of regular pucntures.

Slime in tubes hardly ever works well that not true but you cant push nails into the tube and expect it to work like the pic on the tube shows. Also when you do pucture and you will, you have a messy tube to put in your back pocket - that is the punishment for using slime.

lpretro1

Been tubeless for over 2 years - never had a puncture even when those around me have been flatting like crazy

Poitr

Check the inside of the tyre veeery carefully. I once had a front that did the same thing, but mine would hold air up to about 60 psi but when fully inflated in would go flat. Turned out there was a piece of glass in the tyre that you couldn't see or feel but as the tyre stretched as it reached full pressure the glass then protruded. I found it by pushing as hard as I could on the inside surface of the tyre with my thumb, eventually cutting myself on the invisible piece of glass. :roll:

meanredspider

I feel pretty sure, like others, that you still have something in your tyre or that your rim tape has slipped to one side. Have you checked the location of each puncture? Just changing the inner tube without finding the source of each puncture will just work out very expensive and ultimately pointless.

singleton

Poitr wrote:

Check the inside of the tyre veeery carefully. I once had a front that did the same thing,... Turned out there was a piece of glass in the tyre ...... I found it by pushing as hard as I could on the inside surface of the tyre with my thumb, eventually cutting myself on the invisible piece of glass. :roll:

meanredspider wrote:

I feel pretty sure, like others, that you still have something in your tyre or that your rim tape has slipped to one side.

Thanks - I couldn't find anything wrong with the tyre or rim, and there is no rim tape as it's a fulcrum wheel. I know where the last puncture was relative to a point on the tyre and a point on the rim. have rotated the tyre 1/4 turn around the rim - so if it happens again it may help identify which of these is the cause.

Tubeless may be the next step.

redvision

Don't bother with slime tubes. They cost more, are heavy, messy and are complete and utter sh**!

Far better actually finding the cause of the flat and fixing it. As others have said, thoroughly inspect the tyres. Perhaps get into the habit of checking the outside of them after each ride as well.

Also check the valve of the innertube. Needs to be straight, not angled.

shmooster

Slime is thick and heavy, if your rims aren't tubeless friendly then try Stans Notubes instead, google Cycling Weekly Puncture for a video on it.

It might be that the split in your tyre is letting the tube bulge out a bit, I had this during the Fred Whitton and I went through three tubes before giving up and getting a new tyre from neutral service.

dee4life2005

Don't suppose you're using Continental tubes by any chance? They have removable valve cores, and tend to be a bit loose from new (to allow for folk fitting valve extenders). If you don't nip them up then they can lose pressure in an afternoon/overnight. I've had a run of 3-4 flats before until I twigged. This can also happen with other tubes with removable cores, and isn't just Continental ... it's just that's the only brand I tend to use.
Hope you kept all these "flat" tubes, as there may be nothing wrong with them :-/ Inflate them and check them in a basin of water. If my theory is correct then you should see a few small bubbles appear near the head of the valve (it will be a slow leak though).

dee4life2005

The only problem I find with slime tubes, which I've had success with before, is that if you do eventually get one that the slime can't fix then you might have problems with a normal tube as the tyre could have any number of foreign bodies penetrating it and finding them all could be tricky.

Nick Payne

If you have tubes with removeable cores then you can remove the cores and put 50g of Stans or similar sealant in each tube. I've been doing that for about three years and haven't had a puncture in that time. Based on several previous decades of cycling, my chances of not getting a puncture in three years are pretty close to zero, so I'd say the sealant is doing its job. I top it up about once a year.

If you do use sealant in tubes, pick tubes that are pretty close to the maximum size that will fit inside the tyre, so that the tube isn't hugely stretched when inflated.

singleton

Thanks everyone, the tubes I've been using are Michelins and do not have removable cores - I was getting problem with the removable cores coming out when I used my pump at roadside.

All the tubes were holed - I checked every one by inflating it when I got home. I have some time tomorrow to take the tyre completely off and spend some time studying it and the rim - should make for a fun hour...

Bobbinogs

I posted some tips on another thread recently, apols if you know all this:

Punctures invariably happen because of something specific, such as a thorn/flint or an impact puncture (often referred to as a "Snakebite" due to the evidence left). It could be that you have had one puncture...but failed to identify the source (such as a small shard of glass that is still stuck in the tyre) and it is that which is causing the repeated issues.

As a trick, when you are at home, line a distinctive mark (such as the brand logo) on the tyre alongside the tube valve. Then, when you puncture take a few minutes to line the tube up against the tyre, locate the puncture and then, if it is a single hole, check the tyre in that area. Don't forget to reverse the tube and repeat as it could lie in either direction from the valve.

If the puncture is on the inside of the valve line (of you see what I mean) then it could be an issue with the rim/spoke, etc. Outside of the valve line usually indicates a tyre issue.

If you are getting repeated snakebites then have a good look at the rim to ensure that no sharp edges are left and either avoid the potholes and/or check tyre pressure (although I have found that if one twonks a pothole then it doesn't really matter what the pressure is, to a large degree).

Finally, just get into the habit of checking tyres carefully once a week and remove any ingress. Those small shards may not look much but they will work their way through a tyre over time and can be the hardest to find once on the inside of a tyre. Be careful though, a small pin works well but too much force in removing can leave a tyre badly cut up, particularly if the tyre compound is prone to this (Conti GP4000sII, for example).

singleton

Bobbinogs wrote:

I posted some tips on another thread recently, apols if you know all this:

Appreciate it, thanks for taking the time to post.

singleton

I have just found and removed what looks like a small piece of flint from the tyre.
Now that I've taken it out, I'm surprised that I could have ever missed it.
Schoolbiy error. Lesson learned.

singleton

bbrap wrote:

The backup plan is a tube in your jersey pocket.

Just revisiting this - if I get a flat and need to do a roadside repair - how realistic is that?

If I get a tubeless tyre off and a tube in, does the tyre need to be properly reseated and can this be done roadside? Does it need me to carry co2?