My bike's front tire keeps getting a flat?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Meighan M
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Meighan M

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I had a flat, fixed it, and then the next time I took it out it went flat again (pretty dramatically this time.) I was near a bike shop so I took it in. The mechanic put in a new tube and inflated my tire, but was concerned because he could tell the old tube had been punctured but couldn't find what had done it. I rode about 15 miles on it and it seemed fine, but this morning I found that my tire was flat again. What should I do?
 
The tire has a splint/splinter. something really thin and small (electrical wire or something) that is very hard to locate. you can go back to the shop and ask them to find it. But it would be cheaper to buy a brand new tire and tube w/ liner rather than paying them labor to find that damn thing.
 
I would start by checking your rim strips. If they are old they may look fine by just looking at them. But with the pressure of an inflated tube the rim might be cutting them. I have had problems with the cheep rubber rim strips slipping over to one side when the tire is aired up. That exposed the bare rim to the tube. And the wholes through the rim where the spokes are lace to is pretty sharp. Replace your rim strips first, or in a pinch use a few layers of masking tape. After that if I still have a problem I go for a tire. If your riding anything more expensive than a Wal-mart bike. Tires are probably in the $30-50 range each. Get a cheep $15 tire at Wal-mart and see if that is the fix before emptying out your wallet at the local bike shop on a nice one. Wal-mart carries a lot of bike tires these days. I've seen bmx to mountain to road bike sizes. Hell I bought a pair of white walls for a beach cruiser from there the other day. Not near as nice, but for $12.99 each.........
 
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