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what's the deal with bike innertubes nowadays - are they made of paper?
eznfrank - 27/7/10 at 07:31 PM

When i was about 12 i got a second hand scratty old mountain bike and i used it until i was about 19. I rode like a bloody lunatic, spening much of my time going sideways in crazy long skids to the point that towards the end there wasn't really much tyre left. In the summer holidays i was never off it and must have covered hundreds if not thousands of miles on it. I don't ever remember getting a puncture.

Nowadays me and the missus have mountain bikes and after a rather sedate 44 miles on canal towpaths and roads, i've had 2 flats!! Are the innertubes of 2010 made out of dairylea or something??


Stott - 27/7/10 at 07:35 PM

Depends, sometimes the std ones on new bikes are sheeite, mine were, got Contis then from wiggle and they are better

The high performance light ones are wafer thin

atb
Stott


Mark Allanson - 27/7/10 at 07:47 PM

Luke, my son, went through 4 tubes on the first day of his John O'Groats to Lands End trip - he was a bit disillusioned to say the least!

Luckily he has been OK since - staying in Whitchurch tonight


tomgregory2000 - 27/7/10 at 07:54 PM

Quality of the tyres

Nothing wrong with the inner tubes its all down to the tyres you use


spdpug98 - 27/7/10 at 08:10 PM

It may be pinch punctures you could be running too low a pressure and getting pinch punctures.

I have been doing quite a bit of MTB'ing over the last few years, and like you when I started I had more punctures in the first few months than I'd ever had in the last 30 years!!!!

I up'd the tyre pressures and no issues since


adithorp - 27/7/10 at 08:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Luke, my son, went through 4 tubes on the first day of his John O'Groats to Lands End trip - he was a bit disillusioned to say the least!

Luckily he has been OK since - staying in Whitchurch tonight


Tell him to get breakfast at "The Raven" cafe, 2 miles south of Whitchurch. Regular haunt of cyclist and truckers. Don't go for the "gut buster" though as he'll never get back on the bike.

adrian


l0rd - 27/7/10 at 08:36 PM

I used to get loads of punctures when i was young riding up and down the farm next to wild plants etc...

I got fed up and in the end, I got an old inertube, chopped off the valve and used it in between the tyre and the normal inflated inertube.

I do not recall ever again having a puncture


Liam - 27/7/10 at 09:25 PM

There's probably a crucial difference between you as a teenager and now - several stone

As above could be pinch flats if your pressures are too low, or could just be crap tyre/tube. Try higher pressure and a decent tube.


Mark Allanson - 27/7/10 at 09:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by adithorp
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
Luke, my son, went through 4 tubes on the first day of his John O'Groats to Lands End trip - he was a bit disillusioned to say the least!

Luckily he has been OK since - staying in Whitchurch tonight


Tell him to get breakfast at "The Raven" cafe, 2 miles south of Whitchurch. Regular haunt of cyclist and truckers. Don't go for the "gut buster" though as he'll never get back on the bike.

adrian


Promptly copied and pasted into a text - I imaging by 8:30 he will be tucking into a gut buster - they are currently averaging between 90 and 100 miles a day and need the calories!


mangogrooveworkshop - 27/7/10 at 10:01 PM

Get some slime and up the pressure in the tyres.
The slime helps stave off the problem with the thorns and buckfast carpet that chavs seem to leave anywhere they go


Mark Allanson - 27/7/10 at 10:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
Get some slime and up the pressure in the tyres.
The slime helps stave off the problem with the thorns and buckfast carpet that chavs seem to leave anywhere they go


I fitted both the wheels with slime tubes before he left - probably good for little punctures, anything else you just get covered with loads of sticky green snot!


Ninehigh - 28/7/10 at 12:02 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mangogrooveworkshop
Get some slime and up the pressure in the tyres.
The slime helps stave off the problem with the thorns and buckfast carpet that chavs seem to leave anywhere they go


My dad used to do the same thing with milk, the idea being that it would turn into cheese and create that layer.

I managed to get 8 punctures in 2 days without using the bike! Thorn was still stuck in the tyre


40inches - 28/7/10 at 12:18 PM

Thorns are a nightmare used to have at least one puncture caused by thorns every run out, changed the tyres to semi slicks running at 50psi, slime in inner tube, can of slime in bag, along with a C02 inflator, haven't had a puncture in 2 years
Go figure!


02GF74 - 28/7/10 at 02:44 PM

^^^ the more you are prepared fro something, the less it is likely to happen.

there are many factors but the best one I have seen is to fit schwalbe marathon plus tyres - my frind was getting a pouncture or 2 per week - muggins here was forever fixing them - after fitting those tyres and slime tubes, (slime tubes and puncture protectors were used before but still punctures happened,) she has not had a single uncture on those tyres.

yes, they are expensive, 30 quid a pop, but are the best ones - check the cycle forums for the endorsement.

downside they are a slick tread design but I think I read recently they were making them in a more knobbly offroady tread.