Hot answers tagged innertube
24
As you mentioned, one of the primary differences between a Presta and Schrader valves are the diameters--with Schrader valves being slightly larger--and therefore the valve holes on bicycle rims are drilled to suit one size or another.
Your foremost concern with using a Presta valve in a rim drilled for a Shrader valve shouldn't be 'movement' of the valve ...
20
Do yourself a huge favor, inflate them daily.
As they are high pressure and low volume they tend to lose air quicker than that of a tube that is low pressure and high volume (MTB).
With daily inflation checks you will vastly reduce the instances of pinch flats, which imo are typically the result of too low pressure. Butyl tubes, the typical tube, retain ...
19
I haven't tried them specifically with goatheads, but I've run through nails, staples, glass and just about anything else you could find in an urban environment on Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires.
I have never had a flat over thousands of miles with their Marathon Supremes, either--and they're much lighter and better riding--but they're not as puncture-proof ...
15
Inflating daily might be a bit more work that necessary. Inflate them before every ride. From my experience with 700x25c tires at 115 PSI, I find they lose about 5 PSI after 24 hours, just due to the natural properties of the rubber.
I ride a few times a week, and it's part of my standard pre-ride checklist to give each tire about 3-4 strokes on the floor ...
15
If you're at home, use a floor pump. They are very easy to use and have a gauge so you can measure the pressure.
When you're on the road, the quickest and easiest way to get you back on the road is to use CO2 cannisters. They are not that cheap though and the CO2 will leak out of the tube faster than air (mostly N2), requiring topping up over the next few ...
13
smaller hole in the rim is good (presta +)
schrader has piece that inserts into the valve (screws in) with a spring mechanism to seal it - these parts sometimes fail (schrader -)
presta uses tire pressure to seal it (presta +)
rocks can lodge in uncapped schrader and cause leaks (schrader -)
presta does not need a valve cap to keep rocks out (presta +)
...
13
It's not unusual for narrower tires to need pumping up every day or two, but if they really are losing air after "a few minutes" then the tubes have been holed somehow.
Did anyone check the tires for small pieces of wire, etc, sticking in them? A tiny piece of wire can puncture a new tube within minutes. Did anyone check the rims to make sure that the ...
11
Nobody has noted this yet, so maybe I'm particularly clumsy.
The caps prevent you from bending the somewhat delicate presta valve stem if, like me, you're fitting a fairly beefy lock between your spokes every day. I smacked mine pretty good after a groggy morning commute, and it bent the valve stem pretty severely. They're somewhat known for snapping off ...
11
The inner tube has no significant effect on max pressure. The valve stem area is the only area sensitive to pressure, and in general the valve can withstand 200 PSI or better. (And if you exceed whatever limit there is the result is "catastrophic" failure, not simply the inability to pump in more air.)
What it sounds like you're noticing is the geometry ...
10
Just about any tire is going to be vulnerable to punctures especially as they age/wear. I've found the Continental Gatorskin tires to be effective and I match them with Mr. Tuffy tire inserts. As long as I check the tires for embedded thorns/glass every few weeks, I can go a few thousand road miles or more without a flat.
The downside of using inserts and ...
10
If you're putting in 5 or maybe even 10 PSI every week, that's not too much out of line; it's normal for tires to lose a little bit of pressure over time.
If your tires are sinking down to much more than that, you may have slow leaks. If both tires are decreasing by the same amount, perhaps you have older tubes that need replacing. If one tire is doing ...
10
Sometimes it can be hard to find a small hole. Sometimes it helps to mix water and dish soap together and either pour that over the partially inflated tire, scanning for leaks or submerging the tire in a bucket of soapy water. The soap will bubble and make holes more apparent. You also probably want to immerse the valve to see if the leak may be ...
9
How about recycling them yourself? Here are some ideas posted on the brilliant BikeHacks website.
Shoelaces, wallet, yarn, handlebar tape, top tube passenger seat, dog lead, Maglite handlebar attachment, rack, key chain bling, bike bell, repaired bike seat...
9
Schrader valve/Schrader tube
aka "American valve" or "Automotive valve"
The Schrader valve consists of a valve stem into which a valve core is threaded, and is used on virtually all automobile tires and most wider rimmed bicycle tires. The valve core is a poppet valve assisted by a spring.
8
Check inside the rim at the point where the punctures occur.
Is the rim tape intact?
Does a spoke push through when weight is placed on the bike? One of my friends had a problem like this, and it turned out that when he sat on the bike his weight caused the end of a spoke to push through the rim and puncture his tyre.
8
Presta's main benefit is more about how the valve functions, in regards to getting pumped up to higher pressures. Because the stem of the valve needs pressure in the pump head to get high enough before it pushes the valve stem in, and start flowing air into the tire, when you try to get to 120 to 160 lbs of pressure it works better than a Schrader valve ...
8
Don't bother with an air compressor. Get a proper bike pump. They are cheaper, and will fill a tire to 60 psi with minimal effort. A good bike pump will also require less maintenance. Also it'll only take a couple pumps to top up your tires. Much less time than to drag out a big air compressor. Have you had problems with standard floor/track pumps? What ...
8
This is common and is a result of the constant friction and increased heat of the small roller on the trainer. Larger diameter rollers will see lower degradation of the tire, but it will still be a problem.
Most riders I know use less expensive tires, or older tires that they no longer trust for use on the road when they switch to the trainer.
7
Replacing a tire isn't that hard, but it will take a few times for it to seem like second-nature. If you have a road bike with skinny high-pressure tires, you can expect that the tires will be harder to remove and replace.
This is how I do it on my touring bike, offroad bikes, cruiser, and folding bikes. You'll need a pump to match the valves used on your ...
7
A few things come to mind:
Using a presta tube on a rim designed for schraeder valves. This would cause wear around the valve stem. See "Can I usea a presta tube in a schraeder rim?" for more details.
Worn out rim tape near the valve. Does the tape look worn? Is there some nasty edge or burr under the tape that's getting through? Try replacing the rim ...
7
Somewhat off topic but when I was 13 (or something like that) I went to a scout summer camp. A bike shop had given the camp a big pile of used tubes. It was Awesome. We made tones of stuff with them that summer including giant sling shots between two trees. I am not sure but maybe an ad on kijiji or craigslist could find a home for these.
7
I think that it is definitely worthwhile to patch a tube for many reasons:
five patches go for about $5, lower than the price of a single tube (~$7).
a patch kit can be taped under the seat whereas a tube must be carried in a bag or pocket (and if in a pocket, remembered).
Given the ability to avoid flats almost entirely (e.g. using puncture-resistant ...
7
It's not going to be directly proportional. Leaving aside the quality of the tyre and what it will be rated for, the shape of the graph is likely to be a U shape:
at the lower pressures the tube will be susceptible to puncture because it cannot repel sharps adequately, in addition really low pressures might let you trap the tube between the road and the ...
7
I don't think that you will have a problem with the patch ballooning out as long as the tube is inflated while fully mounted with rim and tire. To my experience there just won't be any room to balloon to.
If you fear that this will be a security risk, I would recommend a new inner tube when the old one has such a big hole. When you are on a ride and have no ...
7
The tube will last the life of the tire, and more, if not punctured too much.
The tire will last until it wears too thin and starts puncturing a lot, unless damaged.
Tires do, however, become brittle and crack in the sidewalls from UV and ozone exposure, and will need to be replaced every 10 years or so if not worn out first. White wall and gum wall ...
6
This is a debate that gets picked up on every bicycle forum known to man (okay, that might have been exaggerating a bit). Typically you start to ask the question when you notice that the morning after you have used your CO2 cartridge, your tyre is ridiculously low.
By no means am I a chemist but, as it has been explained to me, CO2 and butyl are more ...
6
Nowadays 'baby powder' is made from corn starch rather than talcum powder, due to concerns that talcum powder gives cancer etc.
The traditional substance for punctures is 'French Chalk', a.k.a. talcum powder. To quote wikipedia:
French chalk has also historically been used in the repair of punctured inner tubes of pneumatic tires, such as are found on ...
6
In my experience smaller ones go in fine and last as per normal (not that I have pushed this to extremes with a 700x20 in a 700x40 but I only have 26x1.5 MTB tubes and they work fine in 26x2.00 tyres).
Allegedly putting a smaller tube in the tyre becomes a problem if and when you repair it, the patch doesn't necessarily stretch with the inner tube and it ...
6
There's a bunch of weird standards for naming the size of tires and rims, and there's an actual ISO standard.
The best thing to do is ignore the big letter printed names that have inconsistent conventions, and look for the ISO standard stuff, like "42-622".
The ISO standard size of your tires and rims is 622. (18mm wide rim and 42mm wide tire)
ISO 622 is ...
6
Look at the tire. It will have the size embossed on the sidewall -- either inches diameter & width (like 26x1.5) or metric sizes (like 700C-32). Use a tube that says it's for that size.
Tubes generally are made to fit a range of sizes. Eg, a single tube may fit both 27" and 700C tires, and 1.25-1.5 inches or 32-38 mm wide.
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