Punctures, no visible cause

[Cockney Scot]

Just been riding the canal and got a puncture. luckily I carry a spare tube and a kit. Took the puncture tube out and checked all round the the inside of the tyre and rim for the cause but could find nothing. Checked the tube and yes there was a smal pin hole around the side wall area. Again checked the tyre but nothing. What is even more annoying I changed the tyres a month ago for specialized armadilo tyres specifically for there puncture resistance, also had puncture bands in as well, done nearly 500 miles since fitting the tyres and been running them at 90psi (rated 75 - 105). if it was the tube pinched when i fitted them surely it would have shown up before know. Interesting thing was when it happened I had just gone from gravel then cobbles under a bridge and back to gravel.
thinking now of getting the puncture resistant inner tubes , any thoughts or feed back appreciated.

 

[Bigtwin]

I have already explained this:

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=36002&highlight=paranormal

I'm telling you, they're out there and they like rubber.

 

[jimboalee]

A friend of mine years ago did a regular commute along the towpath through Birmingham.

He had a pair of these. Well, the 'America' model looks like what he had.

http://www.greentyre.co.uk/26inch.html

He NEVER got a puncture.

 

[andrew_s]

There's no such thing as puncture proof, only puncture resistant (unless you go for "air free" tyres - not recommended).
If you found a small pin hole and nothing in the tyre, then either whatever it was fell out after making the hole, or it's still there and you failed to find it - probably the latter. You can get small fragments of glass or flint that aren't as big as the thickness of the tyre. They sort of poke out into the tube each time that bit of tyre goes round the bottom, and then retreat into the tyre so you can't find them. Pinch punctures are usually fairly obvious, and you wouldn't describe them as pinholes.

When you get a puncture, take care not to get the tube turned round when you are finding the hole, or to move the tyre on the rim. That way, when you've found the hole, you can line up the valve with the valve hole and identify where to look for a sharp in the tyre. You can inspect 6" of tyre much more thoroughly than the whole tyre.

If you want to try to avoid punctures altogether, you could look at "Slime" inner tubes with sealant in. These generally works quite well for small pinhole type punctures. The downsides are that if it doesn't work (eg a pinch) you get sealant all over the tube, which stops a patch sticking, and that sometimes you can get sealant in the valve which makes pumping it up difficult.
On tyres, Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Stelvio Plus are probably more resistant than the Armadillos, but heavier.

 

[cheadle hulme]

A friend of mine years ago did a regular commute along the towpath through Birmingham.

He had a pair of these. Well, the 'America' model looks like what he had.

http://www.greentyre.co.uk/26inch.html

He NEVER got a puncture.

Just had to keep going back to the dentist to get his fillings replaced?

 

[Cockney Scot]

There's no such thing as puncture proof, only puncture resistant (unless you go for "air free" tyres - not recommended).
If you found a small pin hole and nothing in the tyre, then either whatever it was fell out after making the hole, or it's still there and you failed to find it - probably the latter. You can get small fragments of glass or flint that aren't as big as the thickness of the tyre. They sort of poke out into the tube each time that bit of tyre goes round the bottom, and then retreat into the tyre so you can't find them. Pinch punctures are usually fairly obvious, and you wouldn't describe them as pinholes.

When you get a puncture, take care not to get the tube turned round when you are finding the hole, or to move the tyre on the rim. That way, when you've found the hole, you can line up the valve with the valve hole and identify where to look for a sharp in the tyre. You can inspect 6" of tyre much more thoroughly than the whole tyre.

If you want to try to avoid punctures altogether, you could look at "Slime" inner tubes with sealant in. These generally works quite well for small pinhole type punctures. The downsides are that if it doesn't work (eg a pinch) you get sealant all over the tube, which stops a patch sticking, and that sometimes you can get sealant in the valve which makes pumping it up difficult.
On tyres, Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Stelvio Plus are probably more resistant than the Armadillos, but heavier.

Thanks Andrew. I inflated the tubbe before removing the valve from the rim so could see where on the tyre the problem was but, spent 20 mins examining the tyre inside and out and couldnt find anything. Will keep fingers crossed . With the new tube and fully inflated there is no visible external indicatios, so i am baffled.

 

[MadoneRider1991]

we get loads of these at the bike shop, we just put a new tube in and its fine

 

[Plax]

I had a spate of punctures where I couldn't find the cause. Eventually someone said to turn the tyre inside out and I found a little bump. It was a tiny bit of glass that hadn't gone straight through the tyre (it was stuck in the middle and was a right sod to get out). With the tyre fully inflated, combined with my weight after about 3 or 4 miles it would cause a tiny hole and the inevitable.

 

[ufkacbln]

Sad and pedantic but it works...

Always line up the tube, tyre and wheel the same way. I align the S of Schwalbe with the valve. That way you can always identify the exact point on the tube, rim or wheel that is causing the problem.

 

[jimboalee]

Sad and pedantic but it works...

Always line up the tube, tyre and wheel the same way. I align the S of Schwalbe with the valve. That way you can always identify the exact point on the tube, rim or wheel that is causing the problem.

Not sad or pedantic.

Very sensible and saves a lot of time.

( I do it ).

 

[Radius]

The OCDs are uniting