slow puncture dilemma

[alecstilleyedye]

i've obviously got a slow puncture in rear tyre of winter bike. i can pump it up and it will get me either to/from work no bother.

it's a bugger of a thing to remove the vittoria rubino, so do i just keep pumping up before each journey and wait 'till the weekend to repair it, or should i bite the bullet and do it tonight, on my wife's night off?

 

[Maz]

Hmmm - tricky one. Do you only have 1 bike?

 

[gambatte]

How fars the potential walk?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Hmmm - tricky one. Do you only have 1 bike?

no, but it's the one with all the lights on, which were a fiddle to get on to say the least.

How fars the potential walk?

4-5 miles, but in cleats.

if i have to stop to pump the tyre up between here and home the decision will be made for me. thing is, which is less hassle, fix the tyre or light up the mtb?

 

[fossyant]

fix it......leave the busted tube till weekend but replace with a spare...assuming you have at least two spares....should take no time to do.... check the tyre though !

 

[Maz]

Do whichever annoys your wife least, IMO.
Put the spare inner in or swap the lights over to the other bike.

 

[biking_fox]

As today's thursday - keep pumping it. If the tyres a pain to change then the weekend is the best occasion. You will have full daylight and not be rushing it and hence missing the tiny spec that causes the next tube to also gain a slow puncture...

But - make sure you carry spare tubes with you. On previous occasions I've found that the slow puncture will get faster....

Also - don't be over cautious about stopping and pumping up en route, riding on too low a pressue "just to get there" can damage your rims if you are unlucky, and certainly more likely to give you a proper "rat bite" change this tube now puncture.

 

[Tynan]

howabout some of the slime repair stuff?

and if a tyre is that hard to take off, perhaps a different tyre is in order?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

As today's thursday - keep pumping it. If the tyres a pain to change then the weekend is the best occasion. You will have full daylight and not be rushing it and hence missing the tiny spec that causes the next tube to also gain a slow puncture...

But - make sure you carry spare tubes with you. On previous occasions I've found that the slow puncture will get faster....

Also - don't be over cautious about stopping and pumping up en route, riding on too low a pressue "just to get there" can damage your rims if you are unlucky, and certainly more likely to give you a proper "rat bite" change this tube now puncture.

yes, i actually have two spares in my rucksack, but the tyre/rim are such a bugger to get on/off that the one time i had a puncture i could not get the thing back on and broke two tyre levers in the process. the rubinos are pretty puncture proof, so there's the trade off i suppose. maybe the park levers i have since invested in will be better at getting the tyre back on.

 

[gambatte]

howabout some of the slime repair stuff?

Hi Tynan. Just my take, but as he said:
"it's a bugger of a thing to remove the vittoria rubino"
I think they're roady tyres. Not sure if the slime works OK with 100+psi

Someone may prove me wrong??

 

[Pete]

Pumping up slow punctures is, in my experience, only good as a stopgap to 'get you home' from the ride in which it happened. If you can cast an eye over the tyre and find the object that caused the puncture and pick it out with a small screwdriver or knife, well and good, you may buy yourself a bit more time, but otherwise, as you ride on, the object will penetrate deeper and in no time your slow puncture will become a fast puncture.

If you need levers to get the tyre on the rim, the tyres are too tight anyway and you're storing up trouble. Haven't we had a thread already about awkward tyres? I know my 'dillos can be a beast especially when new. Before getting to work on the last bit, make sure the bead of the tyre is down in the central channel of the rim, all the way round. Practice getting the tyre on and off the rim, a few times, without an inner tube. Try stretching the tyre.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

just fitted a new tube and fixed the old one. quite pleased that i managed it, and relieved that i didn't have to do it in the rain, in the dark.

there must be a technique as the chap in my lbs can whip them on in seconds with his bare hands, and he's no six footer with hands like two bunches of bananas.

 

[Keith Oates]

Like everthing in life Alecs, experience counts and that's what the bloke at the LBS must have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pete]

Yes, there must be a technique I suppose, experience does count for something I suppose. I must admit, especially with the 'dillos, been sat cursing and weeping at the roadside unable to make any progress. Other days, the same tyre simply snaps into place, no problem. So why?

One or two other tips, fwiw. I always start at the valve (making sure it's pushed well into the tyre and not trapped between bead and rim). And aim to finish diametrically opposite the valve. Inflate the inner slightly, but not too hard. If you must resort to tyre levers, use steel ones, anything else will break. Do as much as you can do with fingers. There will be a few inches left, still off the rim. Take out of the rim, a section of the bead just next to those last few inches, then work in the original section which you couldn't do, with fingers. Then use levers on the bit you took out.

Reason? Hopefully the inner will already be properly seated in the section where you took the bead out. Less risk of pinching it with the levers.

As for tyre fitting levers (as opposed to tyre removal levers) - never tried any of those. Do they work?

 

[alecstilleyedye]

got up this morning and found i must have pinched the tube putting it on

on the plus side, i got the summer bike out and how much better a ride was it than the winter one? felt like i was flying along

if it wasn't such a mither to swap the lights over and maneuver the bikes about, i would choose a bike for the weather conditions each day.