10/19/14 12:30 PM

Had a double flat yesterday.

After the first flat, I search but found nothing on the tire so put in the spare tube, only to have it go flat about ... 15-20 miles later, give or take.

Fortunately, we were within 2 mile of the finish so my buddies rode to the finish and came back in his car to pick me up. Unfortunately, 2 miles prior to that, my rear tire (the one that eventually gone flat) slip out from underneath me on a corner, no doubt due to being grossly underinflatted. Fortunately, I walked away from that spill with only minor road rash.

So I now had two tubes that both have a tiny hole in the same spot (outside, not the spoke side). But I couldn't find the offending object on the tire.

What else could possibly the cause of my flats? I'm a little reluctant to put in another tube and go out for a ride only to find it leaks again. (the thought of a slowly leaking tire causing a spill on a corner is not very welcoming)

Also, on examining the tire, I found it has quite a few small cuts, maybe 2-3mm long slit. Is the tire time to go? Other than those small slits, the tire looks fairly normal to me. But then, I'm not terribly sure when to replace a tire. (I have 2 bikes and 4 sets of wheels so don't have a good handle on how many miles each tire has)

10/19/14 12:38 PM

My bet is on a piece of car tire wire. Sometimes you have to find the incursion spot and really bend and sometimes dig into the casing to get the short piece of wire out.

Maybe a time/place in which a boot and the thickness of a boot might keep the wire from getting to the tube temporarily. [until bike back home]

10/19/14 12:56 PM

I bet it's a piece of wire or some other tiny thing you can't even see at a quick glance. I've had a double flat like that and some other times I had to go over the tire several times, flexing while looking at the inside, before I could find this tiny thing you wouldn't even think would cause a flat. Last time it seemed like a tiny pebble. They can be so small they're hard to get out.

Last edited by dan emery on 10/19/14 1:59 PM; edited 1 time in total

10/19/14 1:50 PM

Or a piece of flint. The wedge shape when the point is facing in wants to move outward. But your weight on the ground can push the tip past the casing into the tube. So look closely at the outside too. Flints usually make a noticeable hole, were-as the wire doesn't.

10/19/14 2:04 PM

I agree with car tire steel belt wire. Turn the tire inside out and use a cotton ball to try to find it. If you don't find it, I would trash the tire, as experience says it will keep happening.

10/19/14 2:17 PM

Thanks. Will try that tomorrow

(for lack of a marker, I can't take the tire off the rim and lose the location of where the stem hole is)

10/19/14 2:45 PM

quote:

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(for lack of a marker, I can't take the tire off the rim and lose the location of where the stem hole is)

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10/19/14 3:23 PM

"install the tire with the tire labeling aligned next to the stem"

Yep, and when tires had labels only on one side you did not even have to worry about phase. ;)

10/19/14 3:27 PM

nm

10/21/14 8:00 AM

Pete, the ladies man that he is often would recommend taking a women's nylon stocking and rub the stocking over the tire (both inside and outside) to pick up the hard to see wire embedded in the tire.......

10/21/14 8:15 AM

haha...

just in time for me to try that method.

10/22/14 2:40 PM

Took the tire off the rim. Turned it inside out, bend and twist, can't find anything... :-(

There's a tiny hole/crack that looked like it might have had a wire or nail through it at some point. But I can't be sure it's the exact same location (close, but I can't be sure). I'd be much happier if I pull something out and be sure it's gone, rather than an empty hole that might have been the cause...

Should I toss the tire? (it's only $70, that heart-sinking feeling when I felt the rear wheel went out from underneath me, I don't ever want to have again!)

10/22/14 2:57 PM

Should I toss the tire?

Miles and condition pretty much.

Thin thread in the middle, tons of cuts ?

I say start next year with new rubber. Even one last ride this year. ;)

10/22/14 3:42 PM

Since you've had 2 flats in the same place, I wouldn't reuse unless you pull something out of it. Didn't Einstein say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? :)

10/22/14 5:38 PM

I had a flat on my trainer today when I got on it.

10/22/14 6:48 PM

I ride on a rare occasion with a Continetal VP who is in charge of new plant here. He rides their tires of course and admits they don't wear well along with shape issues all have noted here. He stated that the bike tire branch was small compared to auto and truck tires but they were going to makes some changes to address what we don't like.

I ride Vitts, last a long time and have a good feel.

10/22/14 7:15 PM

"shape issues"


I looked back though the thread/posts, shape issues??

10/22/14 7:26 PM

If you sense a rough spot on the inside of the tire that seems to be the source of the punctures, consider putting a dab of shoe goo on that spot, or rubber cement a few layers of Tyvek over it.

10/22/14 7:40 PM

Wonder if April may be flatting at the site of a skid or where the tread/material is a thinner or something ...

10/22/14 8:15 PM

While not "tons of cuts", there were quite a few. So it's not like I'm tossing a nearly new tire. It's probably half way mark.

I did consider booting it for the last couple of rides of the season. However, the sensation of the rear wheel sliding out under me stayed with me sooo fresh. It's been 4 days, I still re-live that moment a few times (plus a couple of huge bruise and a bunch of minor road rash to reminds me often about it). I don't think I could ride well on descends and corners worrying about the condition of my rear tire, not without finding that piece of something that caused the double flat.

10/23/14 5:48 AM

A rear skid can often be controlled, but a front skid means a quick trip to the pain locker. If both tires are the same age, I'd put the new tire on the front and move the front tire to the rear.

10/23/14 12:12 PM

There's no way to "save" a rear wheel skid while leaning in the middle of the turn.

Not that I know of how anyway.

10/23/14 12:31 PM

quote:

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There's no way to "save" a rear wheel skid while leaning in the middle of the turn.

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10/23/14 12:38 PM

>>I still re-live that moment a few times<<

I agree there's not much way to save a sliding wheel, front or rear, while leaning into a turn; and that once you have experienced that sensation, it stays with you. I posted a few years ago about an incident where I had a slow leak (unbeknownst to me) in the front tire, and it rolled in the middle of a sweeping downhill lefthander, leaving me with cracked ribs, a punctured lung and 2 nights in the hospital. I came out of it fine, but it's in my mind on every single downhill left turn. Not traumatized or anything, but it's there.

10/23/14 12:42 PM

stupid-fast group ride many years ago. middle of the pack in a slightly uphill 90-deg corner, i hit a small patch of that really fine "wash" that's like coarse sand.

front wheel went "whoosh" sideways, but thankfully it was dry and i didnt exceed the grip available when my front tire slid back onto clean asphalt. i regained my line and continued about my business in the bunch with only a slightly soiled chamois.

dude next to me was like "nice save!" keeping my arms loose helped, but i cant take too much credit for that as it happened so quickly i had no time to under- or over-react. i also think that always pedaling thru corners also helps, which i do as a matter of course in these kinds of rides. whatever i may have done that might have been helpful was completely subconscious.