Hi, Dave, I had similar problems on a tandem once, and also on my
MUni.
A pinch flat is caused by pinching the tube between the rim and
something else. So if you ride with low pressure, the tube and tyre
will distort all over the place and occasionally the tube will get
trapped. A higher pressure will usually prevent this, unles the tube
and tyre are too wide for the rim in which case you might not eliminate
it entirely.
The loud bang implies that the pressure caused or exacerbated a problem.
I've had threeloud bang deflations on a unicycle. On the first
occasion, the tube was too long for the wheel size, and the manufacturer
had folded it abit to make it fit! I pumped it up to hard (60 ish?) and
rode for a while, hit a bump, and BANG! This caused a long jagged tear
in the tube. The second occasion whas when the tube had slipped round a
bit and was dragging the valve into a diagonal position. The valve tore
out. The third was years ago when I inflated a cheap tube/tyre
combination with a track pump then parked the unicycle in the sun!
You should easily be able to get a pressure of 60 or more psi with a
decent hand pump. A track pump just makes it easier. I doubt that you
could get enough pressure to burst a tube encased in a tyre. When I
search for punctures and have no water supply, I remove the tube and
pump it to 3 times its working diameter (approx.) and this has never
split one yet. A tube properly positioned in a tyre won't stretch or
distort, so it shouldn't burst.
I wonder if you have a concealed sharp object either in the tread of the
tyre, or in the rim tape. Alternatively, do you have a spoke that's a
bit too long, or has a sharp end? is your rim tape seated properly?
I cured the tandem problem and the MUni problem (repeated unexplained
punctures) simply by replacing the tyre and tube. No doubt in each case
there was a tiny tip of a thorn embedded in the tyre casing or
something.
--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling
Everyone should be fatuous for 15 minutes.
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