Help with tyre punctures

[Lou.love]

Hi, I have Pinnacle Akrose D3 gravel bike which I've had since May. Between May to early October I never had a single puncture, however in the past month I have had 4 between both tyres. They're 700x45c tyres which I've been running at 45psi. It's been cold this past month, but not exactly proper winter weather yet. One was caused by a nail, however I can't tell what caused the other 3.

Can anyone suggest what might be causing them?

This is the first time I've owned a bike that wasn't a mountain bike and I rarely ever got punctures with them so I'm quite a novice at changing inner tubes.

[julk]

If you are new to mending punctures and taking tyres/tubes off and putting them back on then it is possible you have nipped the tubes putting the tyres back on. Very easy to do especially if you are using tyre levers to get the tyres back on.

If the punctures are caused by something penetrating the tyre then the position you find the hole in the tube will give a good guide to where the object has come through the tyre. A check for the item still being in the tyre is to run a finger gently inside the tyre - no blood then the object is out!

Finding an ‘invisible' hole in a tube is easily done by inflating the tube and passing it close to an eye. You will feel the tiny jet of air from the hole on your eyeball.

I hope this helps.

[backnotes]

Could be caused by farmers giving their hedges an autumn haircut? Our road was done the other day and the road is now covered in thorny twig fragments.

You can get the ends of black-ish thorns caught in a tyre. They break off flush with the outside of the tyre, and sit just poking through the Kevlar etc. anti puncture band on the inside, and so can be pretty hard to spot from either side.

Do the punctures keep happening in the same place relative to the valve - that's a clue that there's something hard to spot still lurking in the tyre? It's a good idea to try and find where the hole in the inner tube is, and then look carefully for anything poking through the inside of the tyre that far round from the valve, remembering which way round the tube was in the tyre.

Lots of other possible causes, but hedge trimming around this time of year and punctures often seem to go together for me.

[backnotes]

Sorry - I was typing while julk was saying the same thing about checking the inside of the tyre!

At least we aren't saying two different things.

[DNC123]

Dare we suggest going tubeless?

[andrew_s]

There's a large degree of randomness with punctures. I've worn 2 consecutive tyres down to the canvas with no puncture, and then had about 8 with the next tyre (including 3 different holes on the same day) - all the same model of tyre.
Other things than luck are worn tyres (thinner), and wet weather (water lubricates sharp things so they penetrate more easily, as well as washing sharp things out of the gutter).

However, "I can't tell what caused the other 3" is somewhat concerning. If you don't find what caused the puncture, there's a fairly good chance it's still in the tyre, and will cause another puncture in a relatively short time.
It's good practice to line up the tyre label with the valve. Then, when you find the hole in the tube, you can line up the tube with the tyre, valve to label, and identify where in the tyre the sharp object is lurking. It's much quicker and easier to carefully examine 3 or 4 inches of tyre than it is the whole thing. Just take care not to turn either the tyre or tube round, otherwise you may be inspecting at 4 o'clock when it should be 8 o'clock.
If you can't find the hole, pump up the tube more - the bigger the tube is inflated, the more stretched the hole will be, and the faster the air will come out. This sort of thing is where a proper sized pump comes in useful.

It is possible to get punctures from small fragments of glass or flint that are lurking within the thickness of the tread, and which aren't visible or feelable from either inside or outside. To find them, you've got to check each little nick in the rubber, flexing the tyre to open the nick up, and maybe probing the nick with something sharpish (like the awl/reamer on a swiss army knife).

[andrew_s]

Dare we suggest going tubeless?

It's an option, certainly, but nothing's without drawbacks.

Over in another place, there's someone asking how to get solidified sealant off the underside of his mudguard, where it's built up enough to reduce the clearance to the point he's got to do something about it (sealant can spray about a bit before it seals the hole). Not using a mudguard isn't too good an option either - apparently it's virtually impossible to get the sealant off your clothing.

Another problem is that if the hole is big enough not to seal, getting the tyre off to fit a tube can sometimes be very difficult, should you have picked the wrong tyre/rim (you should really identify and resolve this problem before ever leaving home).

I tend to view tubeless of replacing the occasional minor inconvenience of dealing with a punctured tube, with the rare possibly serious problem of dealing with the failure of a tubeless tyre to seal. Since it would cost me new wheels, I haven't bothered.

[dim]

perhaps you have done many miles with the tyres and they have worn thin, so need replacing?

[dim]

Dare we suggest going tubeless?

It's an option, certainly, but nothing's without drawbacks.

Over in another place, there's someone asking how to get solidified sealant off the underside of his mudguard, where it's built up enough to reduce the clearance to the point he's got to do something about it (sealant can spray about a bit before it seals the hole). Not using a mudguard isn't too good an option either - apparently it's virtually impossible to get the sealant off your clothing.

Another problem is that if the hole is big enough not to seal, getting the tyre off to fit a tube can sometimes be very difficult, should you have picked the wrong tyre/rim (you should really identify and resolve this problem before ever leaving home).

I tend to view tubeless of replacing the occasional minor inconvenience of dealing with a punctured tube, with the rare possibly serious problem of dealing with the failure of a tubeless tyre to seal. Since it would cost me new wheels, I haven't bothered.

I've been using tubeless for a few years now

use orange sealant (the regular sealant not the endurance version), .... get proper tubeless tyre levers (IRC are very good), and use proper tubeless rims .... get a decent tubeless repair kit such as the Dyna plug racer kit ....

If ever I get a puncture that won't seal, or that won't seal with the dyna plug, I will just fit an inner tube (I'd have to do that anyway if I had clinchers)

I'm very happy that I have opted for tubeless .... plus I can use normal clinchers aswell

[DNC123]

I've been using tubeless for a few years now

use orange sealant (the regular sealant not the endurance version), .... get proper tubeless tyre levers (IRC are very good), and use proper tubeless rims .... get a decent tubeless repair kit such as the Dyna plug racer kit ....

If ever I get a puncture that won't seal, or that won't seal with the dyna plug, I will just fit an inner tube (I'd have to do that anyway if I had clinchers)

I'm very happy that I have opted for tubeless .... plus I can use normal clinchers aswell

Same here. I guess I've had a few punctures because occasionally pressure will fall in one tyre. Never goes flat, and few strokes of the pump once I'm back home restores equilibrium.

I carry plugs but so far have never needed one. Also carry a tube as belt and braces security.

[roubaixtuesday]

Repeated punctures almost invariably are caused by the culprit remaining in the tyre, be it a shard of glass, piece of wire, thorn or whatever. Inspect it very carefully inside and out. Run your fingers around the inside to feel for it.

If you can't find it, next puncture, remove the tyre from one side of the rim only. Leave the tube valve in the rim, but remove the rest of the tube. Pump up. When you find the hole, you can line up against the tyre and get an exact fix on where the issue is and remove it. IMO this is good practice every time you get a puncture and it's not obvious from the outside what caused it.

Surprisingly small pieces of glass can be almost entirely buried within the tread of the tyre and still cause punctures.

[Brucey]

don't forget the possibility that the punctures are being caused by faulty/misplaced rim tapes, and are not being caused in the normal way. IME rubbish rim tapes are not at all uncommon on a lot of new bikes; it seems to be the first place they try and save a few pennies on the specification.

cheers

[roubaixtuesday]

don't forget the possibility that the punctures are being caused by faulty/misplaced rim tapes, and are not being caused in the normal way. IME rubbish rim tapes are not at all uncommon on a lot of new bikes; it seems to be the first place they try and save a few pennies on the specification.

cheers

Absolutely - and note that the same method will pinpoint where an issue with the rim is causing the problem.

[peetee]

If you have had them on both wheels and if (you weren't specific) the rear punctured first I am inclined to suggest you have ridden over glass fragments which penetrated the rear tyre first (carries more weight) and there are one or more fragments buried in each tyre casing, too small to be seen or felt from outside or inside. As suggested earlier, careful inspection of every cut with a thin metal point is necessary.

[dim]

don't forget the possibility that the punctures are being caused by faulty/misplaced rim tapes, and are not being caused in the normal way. IME rubbish rim tapes are not at all uncommon on a lot of new bikes; it seems to be the first place they try and save a few pennies on the specification.

cheers

Absolutely - and note that the same method will pinpoint where an issue with the rim is causing the problem.

I've read many reviews where people struggle to fit tubeless tyres (check wiggle reviews on Gp 5000 Tl)
wrong rim tape, or too many layers

I'm currently having a new wheelset built for my touring bike using HED belgium plus rims with Son 28 dynamo hub ...

I've been in touch with HED and they advised me to get their new rim tape .... 1 layer is all that is needed .... I've bought that so will update this thread in 2 weeks time when I have the new wheels

also, get decent tubeless valves .... I've opted for the Silca Tubeless