Hole in rim of SLR1 wheel rim - leaking!

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Cayenne

Active Member
Location
Bishops Waltham
This afternoon I fitted a new tyre to the front wheel of my Giant bike. I pumped it to 80 psi and refitted the wheel to the bike while it was still on the bike stand. 15 minutes or so later, I heard a sudden rushing of air from the wheel. The bike was still on the stand so absolutely no weight on the tyre. It turned out that the air was escaping from the little hole, near the valve, in the rim.
Can anyone tell me what this hole is for?
Why is it letting all my air out?
And how can I fix it so I can inflate my tyre?

Thanks
IMG_20190813_194138.jpg
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
I'm sure you'll find out the reason when you remove the tyre. Could be the innertube has failed.
 

Justinitus

Warning: May Contain Pie
Location
Wiltshire
It looks to me like that sticker is stopping the valve sealing properly on the rim. I thought the shop was supposed to remove this sticker when installing the valve and sealant.
 
OP
OP
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Cayenne

Active Member
Location
Bishops Waltham
Thanks folks for your advice. The problem is fixed now.
To summarise the problem and the solution : I had just fitted a new tyre and successfully got it seated and inflated and with sealant inserted. It stayed that way for 15 minutes or so. Then suddenly I heard a pop and all the air came gushing out of that hole. After a long day fighting stubborn tyres, I gave up for the day!
Having slept on it I decided I had no other option but to remove the tyre that I had spent best part of the previous day mounting, and inspected the rim tape. This was the original Giant tape, and had survived a previous tyre replacement. I soon found that the tape had blown out at one of the spoke holes. Fortunately I had a new reel of Schwalbe Rim Tape so I replaced it - with a double layer! Remounted the tyre and voila!

At least I was able to learn from it so replacing the rear tyre was not quite so eventful. And I now have a sturdy pair of 28mm Conti GP5000 TLs (tubeless) with Orange sealant (With the previous tyres, the Stans just kept gushing ! )
 
OP
OP
C

Cayenne

Active Member
Location
Bishops Waltham
There’s a little rubber washer that fits between the valve hole and the valve ( on the outside) check it isn’t missing or split. Also check you have sealant in the tyre. I find that Stan’s Race sealant is particularly effective.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/stans-no-tubes-race-sealant/
Lost faith with Stans. In 18 months it failed to permanently seal a leak in my front tyre, and kept spraying me with latex every ride. Hopefully the new tyres will be more puncture resistant, but I am trying Orange sealant now.

I did consider the race sealant, but it looks a little too claggy for me. I would not be able to use a syringe to insert the sealant, and it would probably block up the valve if inserted that way. Mounting the final section of tyre with the sealant already in would be next too impossible for me. And extremely messy.
 
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