Bloomin Punctures!

So herein lies a tale of woe and frustration.

About a week or so ago as I set forth from work. Noticed an odd noise from
the rear and stopped to investigate... FLAT TYRE! So i promptly whipped out
the pump.. was broke. bugger methinks. Luckily where I work is pretty much
next door to a Halfords so i had a quick scoot up there and they promptly
replaced my broken tube and put some slime banding in to boot - £13 the
lot - a bit pricy but i wanted to get home.. Pump discarded.

Got on the bike to go home yesterday - rear tyre, flat as a pancake. VERY
ANGRY ME. I think ill try and make it home on a flatty. I know, i know its
not right but I made it (took me a while in the ice too!) - got home, spent
about 45 minutes trying to get the bloody tyre off the rim and finding not
one but two punctures in the tube. (only teeny tiny holes). So i mended em
with my puncture repair kit.

Now before the past few weeks I NEVER had a puncture - so why 3 in the past
2 weeks?

Daft as it sounds COULD the cold weather have a bearing on the punctures? My
tyre is fine and clean etc. (I checked) so any advise/tips?

Lee.

"Lee" gnippernospampleasemuchly@nospampleasemuchlyverym uch.btinternet.com
wrote in message ...

about 45 minutes trying to get the bloody tyre off the rim and finding not
one but two punctures in the tube. (only teeny tiny holes). So i mended
em
with my puncture repair kit.


Two puncture holes together like a snake bite?

Sounds like you might be guilty of underinflating the tyre ;o)

"Frank X" wrote in message
...

Two puncture holes together like a snake bite?

Sounds like you might be guilty of underinflating the tyre ;o)



Not really - they were a fair bit apart!!

Tube is well inflated (max inflation is 70psi and i tend to inflate between
60 and 70)

Lee wrote:
Got on the bike to go home yesterday - rear tyre, flat as a pancake.
VERY ANGRY ME. I think ill try and make it home on a flatty. I
know, i know its not right but I made it (took me a while in the ice
too!) - got home, spent about 45 minutes trying to get the bloody
tyre off the rim and finding not one but two punctures in the tube.
(only teeny tiny holes). So i mended em with my puncture repair kit.

That could have been a pinch flat or "snakebite puncture" as you hit a
bump with underinflated tyres - perhaps caused by an earlier slow
puncture.

Now before the past few weeks I NEVER had a puncture - so why 3 in
the past 2 weeks?

Could very easily be just sheer bad luck.

Daft as it sounds COULD the cold weather have a bearing on the
punctures?

I doubt the cold does (although you could theorise that tyre compound
hardens and gets more brittle or something) but the wet does. Rain
flushes more rubbish from the sides of the road into your path and water
lubricates to helps sharp objects penetrate the tyre more easily. As well
as getting more rainfall in the winter months, the roads stay wetting for
longer.

~PB

On 29/1/04 3:58 pm, in article ,
"Pete Biggs" wrote:

Lee wrote:
Got on the bike to go home yesterday - rear tyre, flat as a pancake.
VERY ANGRY ME. I think ill try and make it home on a flatty. I
know, i know its not right but I made it (took me a while in the ice
too!) - got home, spent about 45 minutes trying to get the bloody
tyre off the rim and finding not one but two punctures in the tube.
(only teeny tiny holes). So i mended em with my puncture repair kit.

Do you check the tyre to see whether there are any bits of glass etc
embedded in it?
have you checked the spoke heads/rim tape etc. ?

...d

"Pete Biggs" wrote in message
...

That could have been a pinch flat or "snakebite puncture" as you hit a
bump with underinflated tyres - perhaps caused by an earlier slow
puncture.


ahh so thats what the earlier poster meant - dont think my tyres are
underinflated but i suppose they couldve gone down a bit and I didnt
notice...


Could very easily be just sheer bad luck.


Possibly - seemed to have a run of that yesterday! But thats another story
;-)


I doubt the cold does (although you could theorise that tyre compound
hardens and gets more brittle or something) but the wet does. Rain
flushes more rubbish from the sides of the road into your path and water
lubricates to helps sharp objects penetrate the tyre more easily. As well
as getting more rainfall in the winter months, the roads stay wetting for
longer.


Aye, well, ive binned the slime band for now - when the tyre got flat it
seems to congregate in one area making a hard lump - didnt stop me getting
the tiny punctures so there you go. Checked my tyres at lunchtime and they
seemed ok - hope they are in about an hour or so!?

Lee wrote:
"Frank X" wrote in message
...

Two puncture holes together like a snake bite?

Sounds like you might be guilty of underinflating the tyre ;o)

Not really - they were a fair bit apart!!

Ok, please disregard the same point made in my reply.

Tube is well inflated (max inflation is 70psi and i tend to inflate
between 60 and 70)

Trouble is, pinch flats can still be caused after the tyre slowly deflates
from some previous problem without you realising (soon enough).

~PB

"David Martin" wrote in message
...
On 29/1/04 3:58 pm, in article
,

Do you check the tyre to see whether there are any bits of glass etc
embedded in it?
have you checked the spoke heads/rim tape etc. ?

..d


Checked the tyre & rim and it was smooth as a babies bottom!

No clue as to what caused it!

Just so you know.. i had ANOTHER bleedin flat rear tyre when i left work
last night.

this really is starting to get me down!!!

This time the culprit was obvious - a nice largish piece of glass right
through the tyre.

Can anyone suggest some useful countermeasures?

On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 08:53:38 -0000, Lee wrote:

Just so you know.. i had ANOTHER bleedin flat rear tyre when i left work
last night.

this really is starting to get me down!!!

This time the culprit was obvious - a nice largish piece of glass right
through the tyre.

Can anyone suggest some useful countermeasures?

Yes, look where you're going and try to avoid riding over glass. Easier
said than done, I know.

If you post the size of your existing tyres lots of people will give you
suggestions for durable alternatives. But, in the end, no tyre is
impenetrable.
--
Michael MacClancy
Random pleonasm - "Lead-lined coffins called a health risk."
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk