Tire disintegrating?

[CharleyFarley]

I got my Electra cruiser out for a ride and quickly saw that the back tire was flat. These were new tires I installed 30 months ago. They are in very good condition, it seems. So I removed the tire and checked all around the inside of it with a flashlight and feeling it with my fingers. Examining the outside of the tire there was no evidence of any sharp object having penetrated it, so it seemed odd that the inner tube had a tiny hole in it.

Examining the inside of the tire, again, I saw that the casing is made up of nylon threads fairly close together, but there were patches where it wasn't attached to the rubber exterior. I'm figuring that somehow the tube was getting pinched between those nylon threads until the hole was formed.

I've put 3,800 miles on the tires and they're in good shape to look at. I don't know if the tire is defective or if normal wear can cause the casing to separate in patches from the rubber exterior. I've always kept the pressure to around 40 PSI. I've patched the tube for now, but I'm wondering if it's going to damage the tube again.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Examining the outside of the tire there was no evidence of any sharp object having penetrated it, so it seemed odd that the inner tube had a tiny hole in it.
Examining the inside of the tire, again, I saw that the carcass is made up of nylon threads fairly close together, but there were patches where it wasn't attached to the rubber exterior. I'm figuring that somehow the tube was getting pinched between those nylon threads until the hole was formed. They are bike shop tires which I assume are decent quality.

Quite possible. May I suggest you re-examine the 'tiny hole'. If the tube has been pinched by the carcass threads (as you surmise) the hole will be longer in one dimension. DAMHIKT (last Wednesday evening).
Wow! "Bike shop tyres" - quality!

 

[CharleyFarley]

Quite possible. May I suggest you re-examine the 'tiny hole'. If the tube has been pinched by the carcass threads (as you surmise) the hole will be longer in one dimension. DAMHIKT (last Wednesday evening).
Wow! "Bike shop tyres" - quality!

The hole looked as though a pin had penetrated it but was in and out. It didn't appear to be pinched or torn. Yet no visible hole in the tire. Here's a photo of the kind of tire, to show that it's not hard to try to find a hole. (Please pardon the color; I used a flashlight to light it up.)

 

[Cycleops]

Can I ask how much you paid for your tyres and what make they are?

 

[CharleyFarley]

Can I ask how much you paid for your tyres and what make they are?

$70. Road Star. Typical cruiser tires.

 

[Cycleops]

For that price they should be good but with nearly 4000 miles I don't think they owe you anything

 

[CharleyFarley]

I found the source of the puncture. It had nothing to do with the casing delaminating from the rubber.

After patching the puncture I didn't ride for two days. When I got the bike out, again, the tire was hard, so I went for my usual 4-miles ride last night. This morning the tire was flat. So I marked the tire and the tube to see if the puncture was in the vicinity of the delamination. It happened where the casing was in good shape. A previous inspection for a sharp object in the tire showed nothing, not with a flashlight or by feeling.

Now that I had matched the tube with the tire, and seeing where the punctured hole was in the tube, a much closer inspection of that small area of the tire was necessary. With the aid of a pointed pen knife, and squeezing the tire, I found and dug out a tiny shard of glass, very thin, and square, about 3/16". Evidently, it didn't cause a problem until the bike was ridden. And I figured out where it came from.

A half-mile down the road is a glass company. They've been there for three years and stuff falls off their trucks. In the past I've found sheets of cork glass protectors, foam glass protectors, blue plastic corner protectors, stainless steel screws up to three inches long, rags, a tool box full of fasteners, a Vise Grip (Mole Grip?), clip board and various other pieces of junk. For the past several days I've noticed tiny fragments of glass spread across the road but they can only be seen while riding toward the west. Riding toward the east, they can't be seen. So I'd ridden through them before I ever saw them. Now I can't ride by that place until they get it cleaned up, and it won't be cleaned by sweeping it.

So I found the business' web site and contacted the owner about getting it cleaned up. I don't want to call the cops about it but I will if the owner doesn't clean it up, and perhaps do something about all the stuff that falls off his trucks. Oddly enough, I ride my fat bike in the same place, and it hasn't had any punctures. I guess the cruiser tires are thin.

 

[CharleyFarley]

For that price they should be good but with nearly 4000 miles I don't think they owe you anything

You're right; they owe me nothing. And I found the cause of the problem. In my next post.

 

[silva]

broken off needles from chestnut husks are also nearly impossible to see.
last year at the time they fell off trees I had two such slow leaks in a week, replacing inner tyre each time, in the end, I dumped the outer tyre too and the problem was gone with it.
I searched over and over again without finding it, even when pinpointing the location of the leak in the inner.. As you say, it only sticks through when there is weight on the tyre.
And this story is a repeat from earlier years.

 

[ColinJ]

For the past several days I've noticed tiny fragments of glass spread across the road but they can only be seen while riding toward the west. Riding toward the east, they can't be seen. So I'd ridden through them before I ever saw them. Now I can't ride by that place until they get it cleaned up, and it won't be cleaned by sweeping it.

I had similar problems round here. It eventually dawned on me that the problem was being caused by the local waste recycling wagon. That had large containers for plastic, metal, and glass waste. Either the glass container had holes in it, or the waste team were being careless handling the material because the wagon was leaving a trail of small pieces of broken glass behind it. I found contact details and complained. I got an email back from the man in charge. He apologised and said that he was a cyclist too and could understand how annoying it was. He would deal with it!

They cleaned up their act a lot! I still spot the occasional shard of glass in the road after waste collection but there is no longer a continuous trail of it.

 

[fossyant]

And sunshine (UV) damage - Florida !

 

[CharleyFarley]

I had similar problems round here. It eventually dawned on me that the problem was being caused by the local waste recycling wagon. That had large containers for plastic, metal, and glass waste. Either the glass container had holes in it, or the waste team were being careless handling the material because the wagon was leaving a trail of small pieces of broken glass behind it. I found contact details and complained. I got an email back from the man in charge. He apologised and said that he was a cyclist too and could understand how annoying it was. He would deal with it!

They cleaned up their act a lot! I still spot the occasional shard of glass in the road after waste collection but there is no longer a continuous trail of it.

I had wondered about the collection of waste materials, if the trash truck had dropped the glass. I ride this half-mile road four times every day and I see all kinds of trash such as kiddie footwear, clothing and even the plastic front end of a car. I used to go out two or three times a week, picking up trash from the grass verge but in the Florida summertime, it's far too hot and buggy. Still, I wonder if the glass company is responsible for keeping the road clean of its garbage.

 

[CharleyFarley]

broken off needles from chestnut husks are also nearly impossible to see.
last year at the time they fell off trees I had two such slow leaks in a week, replacing inner tyre each time, in the end, I dumped the outer tyre too and the problem was gone with it.
I searched over and over again without finding it, even when pinpointing the location of the leak in the inner.. As you say, it only sticks through when there is weight on the tyre.
And this story is a repeat from earlier years.

I had original knobby tires on my fat bike, but soon found out they were susceptible to pine needles and sand burrs. I went to get the bike out and found both tires flat. Fourteen sand burrs were stuck in them. I ride a half-mile dead end road each day but there is a small amount of traffic on it. When I see a big truck approaching me from behind, and there's a car coming the other way, I ride onto the grass verge and wave the trucker by. I found that the rubber between the knobbies was very thin, enough for the tiny sand burr spikes to penetrate. I solved that by putting road style tires on it.

I have two new cruiser tires with thicker rubber coming on Friday. I think I've worn the tires down, making them more susceptible to penetration by smaller objects.

 

[CharleyFarley]

And sunshine (UV) damage - Florida !

Yep! During the summer months I only ride around sunrise and sunset, when the sun isn't too strong.