Repeated punctures

[crikey]

I've been out 4 times since buying a new road bike and have had 4 punctures, this cannot be a coincidence so what's going on ?

1. 1 I ran over some crap at the side of the road and got a puncture. When I got home I checked the tyre, etc. and found nothing wrong, replaced the inner tube and it sat in the garage for a week as I can only get out on it at weekends at the moment.

1. 2 The following weekend, despite it staying inflated all week in the garage, I did about 1 mile on it before I got another puncture. When I took it off the puncture was in a similar position as #1 but I hadn't marked the tyre position so I didn't know if it was in the same spot as #1. I examined every mm of the tyre and wheel and found nothing wrong so replaced the tube again. Again it sat in the garage for a week and stayed up.

1. 3 The following weekend I did about 3 miles before it went down again, it took about 50 yards or so from when I first felt something wrong to it being flat, pretty similar to the first 2. I didn't do anything with this one, just took the wheel off and took it in to Halfords (where I got the bike from). The guy at Halfords checked it and couldn't find anything, although he did bend the tyre inside out a section at a time as he says this often pops something out that might be stuck in it. He put some anti-puncture tape stuff around the inside of the tyre and replaced the inner tube. Again it sat in the garage for a week and stayed up.

1. 4 Yesterday I went out and after 8 miles down it goes again, although a bit slower than before. I've just rung Halfords to say I want the wheel and tyre replacing as there is clearly a fault with it, although the cause of #1 is nagging away at me.

I'm just riding on normal roads with pretty decent surfaces, I don't go bumping up and down kerbs and avoid any potholes, etc. in the road.

It's spoiling my riding and I don't have any confidence in the bike at all, I daren't even go more than a few miles from home as I know I'll end up walking back each time !

I refuse to accept coincidence or bad luck, so what's going on ?

[TonyHetherington]

You've been checking the tyre for glass etc....have you checked the wheel itself, that there's not a raised edge or bit of metal or soemthing like that which is uneven in side the wheel?

[CaptainSlow]

What bike is it?

[crikey]

TonyHetherington said:

You've been checking the tyre for glass etc....have you checked the wheel itself, that there's not a raised edge or bit of metal or soemthing like that which is uneven in side the wheel?

Yep. Checked all around the rim for a sharp edge, and checked there isn't a spoke or something poking through the tape. Nothing.

[crikey]

CaptainSlow said:

What bike is it?

Carrera Virtuoso

[Watchman]

Yes, as above what bike, and which tyres? What tyre pressures are you running?

You say in point 1 that you checked the tyre etc. What does "etc" mean? Did you check where the puncture in the tube was, and then try to align that with a corresponding hole in the tyre?

I bet your second puncture was a repeat of whatever caused the first.

Whenever I'm attending to punctures, I'll never reassemble the wheel/tyre until I've found the cause of the original puncture. Anything less is asking for a repeat.

[CaptainSlow]

crikey said:

CaptainSlow said:

What bike is it?

Carrera Virtuoso

Same as me then.

They come with Kenda tyres, you need to get rid of these as they are crap.

Get yourself some Schwalbe Luganos (£12 each at Wiggle)

see here
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[BMWBen]

I've got exactly the same problem on my shopping bike - it's eaten 3 repairs without leaving the garage! Nothing visible at all, no signs of any burrs on the wheel, problems with the tyre etc etc. I'm just going to replace the tyre and then see what happens as the only thing I can think of is a broken wire in the layup which is poking out when under pressure.

So, my advice would be check the wheel and rim tape 5 times, the final time by licking it with your tongue and then try changing the tyre.

[crikey]

Watchman said:

Yes, as above what bike, and which tyres? What tyre pressures are you running?

You say in point 1 that you checked the tyre etc. What does "etc" mean? Did you check where the puncture in the tube was, and then try to align that with a corresponding hole in the tyre?

I bet your second puncture was a repeat of whatever caused the first.

Whenever I'm attending to punctures, I'll never reassemble the wheel/tyre until I've found the cause of the original puncture. Anything less is asking for a repeat.

Carrera Virtuoso, Kendra road tyres (700/23C) running 110psi.

I check inside and outside of the tyre, bending it open and running my finger over it all to see if I could feel anything. I checked the rim for any sharp edges or a spoke poking through. As I said I didn't mark the tyre position before I took it off so I couldn't line it up. Daft mistake.

I suspect you might be right about #2 being a repeat of #1, but it doesn't explain #3 and #4.

[TonyHetherington]

hmmm, sounds like you're doing all the right things looking for the reason.

I recall reading a chap on here had exactly the same position and couldn't understand the reason at all. He ended up buying a new tyre and it solved the problem, but never ever found the culprit. I fear you're in need of a new tyre.

[crikey]

CaptainSlow said:

Same as me then.

They come with Kenda tyres, you need to get rid of these as they are crap.

Get yourself some Schwalbe Luganos (£12 each at Wiggle)

see here
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Someone on another forum has suggested those, they look great value. I'm going ot see what Halfords say/do tomorrow but they might well be on order very soon.

[Watchman]

crikey said:

Carrera Virtuoso, Kendra road tyres (700/23C) running 110psi.

I check inside and outside of the tyre, bending it open and running my finger over it all to see if I could feel anything. I checked the rim for any sharp edges or a spoke poking through. As I said I didn't mark the tyre position before I took it off so I couldn't line it up. Daft mistake.

I suspect you might be right about #2 being a repeat of #1, but it doesn't explain #3 and #4.

Sounds like you've given it a good inspection. Very frustrating. I'm not sure whether Halfords will concede any responsibility though. Do you check the tube to see where it's puncturing each time? Is it simply a thorn that has gone in, done the damage and fallen out again? If it's that, and not because of a specific problem with the wheel then I might have a solution.

I was having a lot of punctures on my MTB on Continental Mountain Kings. Although I found the cause each time, the difference between that and my hybrid on 28mm Continental Gatorskin Hardshells made it hard to understand - I've never had a puncture on those. The MKs are balloons though - as thin as tissue so I inserted a 1 inch strip of kevlar on the inside of the tyre which seems to have worked for now (can't remember the brand name). If I start to have more punctures I'll change them for the Continental "Protect" versions of the MKs in the hope that they will be as dependable as the Gatorskin Hardshells.

[crikey]

Watchman said:

crikey said:

Carrera Virtuoso, Kendra road tyres (700/23C) running 110psi.

I check inside and outside of the tyre, bending it open and running my finger over it all to see if I could feel anything. I checked the rim for any sharp edges or a spoke poking through. As I said I didn't mark the tyre position before I took it off so I couldn't line it up. Daft mistake.

I suspect you might be right about #2 being a repeat of #1, but it doesn't explain #3 and #4.

Sounds like you've given it a good inspection. Very frustrating. I'm not sure whether Halfords will concede any responsibility though. Do you check the tube to see where it's puncturing each time? Is it simply a thorn that has gone in, done the damage and fallen out again? If it's that, and not because of a specific problem with the wheel then I might have a solution.

I was having a lot of punctures on my MTB on Continental Mountain Kings. Although I found the cause each time, the difference between that and my hybrid on 28mm Continental Gatorskin Hardshells made it hard to understand - I've never had a puncture on those. The MKs are balloons though - as thin as tissue so I inserted a 1 inch strip of kevlar on the inside of the tyre which seems to have worked for now (can't remember the brand name). If I start to have more punctures I'll change them for the Continental "Protect" versions of the MKs in the hope that they will be as dependable as the Gatorskin Hardshells.

As above I think #1 and #2 were in a similar position, #3 I don't know although Halfords told me it was on the outside of the tyre, #4 I don't know yet as I haven't took it off.

The guy at Halfords put some sort of tape inside the tyre, but it looked like rim tape. I'll find out tomorrow.

[shouldbworking]

You haven't mentioned (unless im being blind) what sort of punctures you are getting. Are they snakebites (pair of punctures right next to each otehr at the same point) or single punctures? are the punctures on the inner or outer face of the tube?

Immediate suspicions is either the rim tape is missing / improperly applied or the tyre pressures are too low.

[Watchman]

Found it - it was this stuff:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kevlar+puncture+...

However at the price quoted, you have to ask whether these are worthwhile instead:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gatorskin-fold...

[crikey]

shouldbworking said:

You haven't mentioned (unless im being blind) what sort of punctures you are getting. Are they snakebites (pair of punctures right next to each otehr at the same point) or single punctures? are the punctures on the inner or outer face of the tube?

Immediate suspicions is either the rim tape is missing / improperly applied or the tyre pressures are too low.

Single punctures. The first 3 have been on the outside of the tube, the first 2 I'd say were between about 1 and 2 o'clock if you were looking at a cross section. The 3rd I don't know apart from Halfords telling me it was on the outside, #4 I don't know as I haven't taken the tyre off.

Low pressure seems to be a common theory developing...

[crikey]

Watchman said:

Found it - it was this stuff:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=kevlar+puncture+...

However at the price quoted, you have to ask whether these are worthwhile instead:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gatorskin-fold...

Ta

I'll see what Halfords do tomorrow but my shopping cart is filling up in the meantime

[Watchman]

crikey said:

Low pressure seems to be a common theory developing...

You mentioned 110psi - that doesn't sound low. Granted, I'm on 28mm tyres (bigger needs less pressure) but I'm 97Kg and
don't have any problems at ~90-100psi.

Also, punctures on the outside are normally from stuff you've rolled over. I can't recommend the Gatorskin Hardshells enough.

[crikey]

Watchman said:

crikey said:

Low pressure seems to be a common theory developing...

You mentioned 110psi - that doesn't sound low. Granted, I'm on 28mm tyres (bigger needs less pressure) but I'm 97Kg and
don't have any problems at ~90-100psi.

Also, punctures on the outside are normally from stuff you've rolled over. I can't recommend the Gatorskin Hardshells enough.

That's not a measured 110psi though, that's what the tyres state. I pumped them up as hard as I could using my hand pump which says it will go to 120. I've just been out and bought a track pump with a gauge, just got to sneak it into the garage without the wife seeing it

I'm knocking on for 30kg heavier than you too !

[CaptainSlow]

OK, not sure if 110psi is possible with just a handpump, I think you'll be on less than half that.