Inflation problems

Yesterday night, I went out and bought a pair of brand new inner tubes from Walmart. I put in one of the inner tubes that same night, but put air in it this morning. My friend called and was on my way, road on it fine and everything (although for some reason something kept leading me to think the rear tire was flat). I get back from riding, I assume the tube is fine, about 10pm I go to take the bike out of my truck bed and find the rear tire is FULLY flat. It is a 20" Schwin Flacon that my older brother gave me just because.


... ... why is this happening? ... HOW is this happening? I filled up the inner tube around 9am, held air fine. got to my friends house and started riding about 12/1 I think, checked the rear tire and FULL of air, even put a tire gauge to it and it read to 40 psi (which is how much I put in when I filled it this morning), come home about 5/6 pm ... I am assuming the tire is still full of air at this point, 10pm go out to take out the bike from my truck and COMPLETELY flat.

 

what brand/thickness/model innertubes?

 

found out what has been causing all my flats. my stupid rear tire is fairly worn to where the stuff that pokes out isn't doing it's job anymore.

I have been going out to this one bike trail spot, problem is, that there are these thorns that are able to pop your tire and you not really know it until it's dead flat. I have caught one recently and patch my inner tube BUT the back in general feels like it's flat all the time even when I inflated it to the 40 psi (also tires are VERY dry rotted). Any suggestions for some good 20" mountain tires? or just ones that will keep the thorns from getting close enough to puncture? My front is fine, thread is still there somewhat but both tire are rotted.

 

was looking at that Slime stuff. Does it really work?

 

FORGET SLIME!!!! Although pricey, this is SICK!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f67Ok_OcDs

 

Yes, Stan's is great but it also seals the valve. Another thing you might want to consider, is that if one day you want to change your tire, and with thoughts that it has done its job sealing, what will the inside of your wheel look like? Remember that the stuff SEALS so if there are punctures enough to spray out, there is sure to be some seal between tire and rim.

 

Tuffy liners are a great choice.

 

Is this better than using the goop? I searched online about Slime and there's somewhat of a 50/50 debate on weather it works or not. I haven't seen these around though (only the Slime in a bottle and in the inner tube for sale where I am).

 

VERY true. Think this is better for tubeless tires then (found this - have to scroll down to the postings, saw the posting about Stans sealant, when looking, saw mainly tubeless tire installs)

http://www.gizmag.com/slime-self-sealing-smart-tubes/14577/

 

just saw the review section of that liner .... not good

 

I've worked as a mechanic at a bike shop for 8 years now. started in hich school, and now i do it part time to help get through college. your thorn issue is the most common reason people get flats, followed by underinflation, which causes pinch flats.

SLIME IS WORTHLESS. it will do alright in car tires because the tire is so thick and has multiple layers that help the slime plug the leak. this is also the same reason car tires loose air so much slower than a bike tire. bike tires/tubes are simply too thin for slime to work effectively, with any sort of reliability. slime will also clog up the valves, making it realy hard to put air in or take it out of the tube.

stans is great stuff, but unlike in the video, odds are, you do not have a tire/rim combo that will allow you to run tubeless. stans will still help in a tire that requires a tube though.

for your purposes though, i'd recomend a tire liner like the orange ones posted above (don't get the green slime liners). They work very well, and will stop jsut about anythingshort of a full on nail when installed properly. they come in all kinds of sizes, so just make sure you order the ones that fit your tires diamiter and width.

if you make a trip down to your local bike shop, they should be able to tell you all of the same stuff. they can do the install as well if you're not sure if you're doing it properly.

and for the record, as much as i love to shop at walmart, anything bike related there is junk, tubes included.

 

Great post, Colin. Thanks for your input. Are you a member of BikeForums.net?

 

I know people who are and hear good things, but i unfortunately have not found the time to join. between school, the bike shop job, a real job, and running a small fabrication company, it's hard to even find time to come on here some days.

 

x2 on the slime. It's worked ok for me in the past on ATV tires but didn't work great on smaller tires. Plus, it is a mess when you need to change the tire, that shit gets EVERYWHERE!

 

When you get the time and decide to join, let me know via PM here. I run that site.

 

no way! well in that case i'll have to make some time then. i'll let you know when i join.

 

thanks guys. I lucked out and found a bike store that carries the exact same liner that was posted (not the Slime one).

 

perfect check/inflate the tires on a regular basis and you should be good to go