Cycling UK Forum

I was unable to avoid a water-filled pot-hole. I immediately punctured.I put in my spare tube. When I came to repair the puncture I had three snake bite punctures... there may have been more but I gave up after two! I was using Pasela Tourguard 700x 25 tyres and Specialised tubes. Would I have been better served with other tubes and tyres?
Thanks

The second and third punctures happened as you slowed down with a flat tyre.

cooper_coleraine wrote:.......... Would I have been better served with other tubes and tyres?
Thanks

No but you may have been better with a little more air in the tyre,snakebites are cause by the tyre folding and pinching the tube against the edge of the rim and is usually a result of under inflated tyres.

some MTBers run heavier tubes and tyres in order to ward off snakebites but you would need tractor tyres to make this a good scheme. I prefer lighter tyres and tubes, even if it (as Colin suggests) risks additional snakebites as you roll to a halt on a flat tyre.

Best thing is to keep your tyres well inflated; if you don't have a good feel for this, get a gauge and use it.

cheers

Bigger tyres and/or more pressure will help - but overinflation will lead to a harsher ride.

Something similar happened to me a fortnight ago. I was on 28mm Continental GP 4 Seasons inflated to 80 -90 psi. The rear tyre deflated instantly as a result of half inch long snakebites. Both rims were dented (so I'm lucky the front tube didn't puncture as well) and the rear rim buckled. Once back home I managed to adequately straighten the braking surfaces with an adjustable spanner, but couldn't quite get rid of the buckle in the rear despite one spoke having no tension at all and the adjacent one being the tightest in the wheel!

It would have taken very large tyres to have survived such a hit. Maybe the same applies to yours?

I think that if your tyres had been inflated to somewhere near the manufacturer's recommended max as displayed on the tyre sidewall (105 psi or more for 25 mm?) which you can't gauge without a gauge, you would not have had snakebites ie tube being nipped between rim and lip of hole. That's not to say you wouldn't have had other damage to the wheel, or to the tyre casing itself. It's a good reason for not riding into even the most innocent looking puddles although there are often reasons why it's unavoidable. eg puddles measured in comparisons with the area of soccer pitches, full of water measured by the Olympic-size swimming poolful.

At least you haven't come on here looking for advice on a personal injury claim after going down one of these monuments to the neglect of the road system.

^ we don't know what pressure he was using, and we don't know his weight.

sometimes, despite doing the right thing, 'stuff' happens. i use 90 psi front and 95psi rear on 25's, rarely puncture for any reason and like the ride quality this combo gives. but i still had a bad rear snakebit puncture in november while failing to totally avoid a pothole going downhill on a sharp bend with traffic around.

andrewjoseph wrote:^ we don't know what pressure he was using, and we don't know his weight.

sometimes, despite doing the right thing, 'stuff' happens. i use 90 psi front and 95psi rear on 25's, rarely puncture for any reason and like the ride quality this combo gives. but i still had a bad rear snakebit puncture in november while failing to totally avoid a pothole going downhill on a sharp bend with traffic around.

And I did the opposite with a tyre at max pressure after I went over a cattle grid at around 45 mph.
The tyre developed a nice bulge where the carcass had delaminated.

So it's a bit swings and roundabouts.

I've foind theres just about nothing you can about snake bites, other than go tubeless!

If you hit a pothole hard enough, you are stuffed whatever.
It's not just snakebites - a dented flange can render tubeless unable to hold air, and a big hit can put a flat spot in a rim big enough to have the brake blocks trying to brake on the tyre rather than the rim, even if the tyre is big enough and hard enough that you don't get a snakebite or dented flanges.

Wide tyres and higher pressures help aviod snakebite, provided you have the clearance, but don't eliminate the possibility altogether.

What's a snakebite puncture?

Slowroad wrote:What's a snakebite puncture?

From Sheldon Brown

Pinch Flat
A hole in an inner tube caused by getting the tube pinched between the rim and a hard, sharp object, such as a rock, curbstone or the edge of a pothole.
Pinch flats (also known as "snakebites" because there are usually two small holes in the tube, as if made by the fangs of a snake) are usually caused by carelessness or riding under-inflated tires. They can also be caused by the use of a tire which is too narrow for the weight it is asked to carry.

If the tire is too soft, or too narrow, it is easy for it to bottom out when striking an obstruction. Rim damage also may occur, loosening spokes and possibly causing a rim brake to grab.

If the tire is hard enough and plump enough to carry the weight, the air will keep the tube from being pinched between the rim and the road hazard.

http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_p.html#pinchflat

Smudgerz wrote:I've foind theres just about nothing you can about snake bites, other than go tubeless!

FWIW I've never had a snake bite puncture in over 45years of cycling,20 of those tandemig,in which time I've hit a fair few potholes andridden my fair share of offroad tracks and trails.
IMO,If the tyre rim combo is right and the tyre pressures right for load they are completely avoidable.
EDIT:-I've never ridden tubless.

reohn2 wrote:

Smudgerz wrote:I've foind theres just about nothing you can about snake bites, other than go tubeless!

FWIW I've never had a snake bite puncture in over 45years of cycling,20 of those tandemig,in which time I've hit a fair few potholes andridden my fair share of offroad tracks and trails.
IMO,If the tyre rim combo is right and the tyre pressures right for load they are completely avoidable.
EDIT:-I've never ridden tubless.

Of course they are completely avoidable. We could all ride everywhere on heavy duty touring tyres. I ride many miles on heavy duty touring tyres, but I also enjoy nipping about on my road bike, and the odd snakebite is unavoidable when riding that kind of bike.

blackbike wrote:Of course they are completely avoidable. We could all ride everywhere on heavy duty touring tyres. I ride many miles on heavy duty touring tyres, but I also enjoy nipping about on my road bike, and the odd snakebite is unavoidable when riding that kind of bike.

I beg to differ,I don't ride heavy duty touring tyres.
I like supple tyres(albeit a bit bigger section than most people)with a nice ride,nor do I ride them at silly high pressures,either solo or on the tandem.That said I find no comfort in anything smaller than 28s(though mostly 32s and 35s) but I do weigh 83kg.
FWIW,IMO there are a lot of people who sit on the bike like a sack of spuds with no appreciation of how to unload the wheels or ride with a bit of finesse when riding bad pothole strewn roads,or avoid the bad glass strewn margins at junctions,etc .
There is an art to having sympathy toward and with the machine which some just don't take the time to learn or understand.
I was listening to Magnus Backtedt(sp?) talking about the same subject in racing,he was saying that an awful lot younger riders coming through didn't know how to look after their machines on the road,wrecking drive trains due to unsympathetic gear changing under full power and puncturing more often than they should than if they'd look after their machines when riding much like I mention above.He also reckoned there's a lot of money sloshing about and riders just buy a new tyre or tube rather than repair.
I term it the arrogance of affluence but that's another story.
My LBS reckons he has certain people who he knows wreck tyres and puncture more often than they should or than others doing the same or even higher mileages.
I was chatting with someone the other day who rides heavier duty tyres than I do and punctures far more often despite less miles,I happen to mention that I check my tyres for foreign bodies regularly,especially in winter when a puncture can result in me getting very cold if I need to change a tube by the roadside.
He told me he never checks his tyres