Tyre Issue

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

srj10

Guru
Location
greenock
Problem I have never come across before, tyre slowly loses pressure to the point of flat after a couple of days of non use, inflate and go for a ride no problem.no loss of pressure. I have checked tyre and tube for sign of damage but nothing obvious, next step will be to replace tube and see if that resolves the issue, any thoughts, thanks
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
If its an old tube they can lose pressure as the rubber perishes , also have you had the inner tube out and checked it in water for a slow puncture you cant see by eye ?, then feel inside the tyre for debris
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
as above

A very tiny leak/hole somewhere.
Use the bowl of water method and stretch the tyre in all directions, inch by inch until you find the leak.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Check the valve as well as the tube as sometimes that can fail giving a slow leak. What sort of tube is it - latex tubes lose pressure over time anyway.
 
OP
OP
S

srj10

Guru
Location
greenock
I would have thought with any damage to the tube the tyre would lose pressure during a 3 hour ride but it is fine.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I would have thought with any damage to the tube the tyre would lose pressure during a 3 hour ride but it is fine.
Depends, if it's a slow leak sometimes the pressure of the inner tube against the tyre slows the air loss - then as more air is lost the rate of loss increases. So you pump up the tyre and go for a ride - not much is lost by the time you return but over the next few days....
 
  • Like
Reactions: C R

overmind

My other bike is a Pinarello
I find it is easier to find slow punctures if you pump up the innertube more than usual and then put it underwater and check for bubbles; obviously, check the valve too using the water/bubbles method.
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
I've had similar slow punctures from thorns, that needed a pump once to three times a week .
The thorn can make quite a good plug for the hole in the tube, and it doesn't have to be ridden on very far for the thorn to wear down flush with the tyre, so all you see is a white mark on the tyre, like a stuck on fragment of paper or flower petal. To seal that well, it usually requires that the tube is on the large side for the tyre - a 28-38 standard weight tube in a 28 tyre, or similar.

Slow leaks from very small nicks are best found by inflating the tube outside the tyre to monster size, with the tube something like 6 inches across. The hole stretches proportionally with the tube, and, being bigger, leaks faster.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Go for a ride in the rain.

The water/pressure of the spinning tyre on the road will combine to lubricate the tiny sharp fragment enabling it to be blown out of the tyre.

You will get a proper puncture, but that would be progress - of a sort.
 
Top Bottom