I wondered if anyone had any good ideas on this. My son seems to get through a new inner tube about once every half dozen rides or something. The first time it happened was likely a case of vandalism, with a bike left at school, but I'm less sure that any of the recent ones have been. Both wheels seem affected... hopefully the puncture I've circled is visible... I'm at a loss to explain it? Thanks very much in advance?
Small abrasions/punctures on inner tubes, repeatedly - any ideas?
- Thread starter TFP_SA
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
I slip a 'polo' type bit of inner tube over all my valves. For a Schrader (presta smaller: penny) cut a shilling sized shape from a BER inner tube and then a star of cuts ~8mm long in the middle. This protects the seat of the valve from any abrasion against the rim (valve hole edges).
Also take off the rim tape and emery paper the edges of said hole.
Also take off the rim tape and emery paper the edges of said hole.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I had the same problem on one wheel and that was what I did to fix it.
That reminds me that I was going to start doing it on all of my wheels in future, just in case. (Probably not needed, but unlikely to cause any harm, so why not?)
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
Yes, a simple one time check and smooth of every wheel (rim) when tyreless takes minimal time and effort and mitigates the risk of valve base 'punctures'.
Same for the polo approach. Tube reaches end of life: transfer 'polo' to new tube. Equip (carried) spare tubes with polo before tightly wrapping.
Same for the polo approach. Tube reaches end of life: transfer 'polo' to new tube. Equip (carried) spare tubes with polo before tightly wrapping.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Some inner tubes I get here have a metal concave ring which slips over the valve and sits at it's base. This only comes with Woods type valves unfortunately, probably as a consequence of being fitted to Chinese bikes which may have less than perfectly finished wheels.
presta
Legendary Member
1) De-burr the holes
2) Fit leather washers on the valve stems
3) Don't use pumps with no hose
Problem fixed.
2) Fit leather washers on the valve stems
3) Don't use pumps with no hose
Problem fixed.
That's just more of the same material that's failing.
wonderloaf
Guru
I've had a similar problem when the rim tape has been very stiff and the edge around the valve hole acts like a knife and cuts into the inner tube. Maybe a piece of tape or the rubber 'polo' to protect the tube might work?
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
Yesbut what's 'failing' (assumed) is the base of the valve where it's bonded (or whatever) into the tube by abrasion.
And that 'same material' acts as a layer of protection. Your leather washer (of the correct size) is a Brooks standard approach, but a dead inner tube costs nothing and is easier to source and fashion to size/shape.
As for 'poncho', @TFP_SA fine, but the protective effect is only required in the immediate area of the valve stem base.
presta
Legendary Member
What's failing is the rubber. If you take the trouble to remove a valve from a tube, you will see that the base that's moulded into the rubber is just slightly smaller than the hole in the rim, so the valve and the hole together form a punch and die that neatly slice the valve from the tube. More rubber delays that, but won't prevent it.
My leather washers took barely a minute each to make with a pair of scissors, and also cost nothing. Of the three I made 22 years ago, the spare is still unused in the toolkit, whilst the two on the bike, far from showing wear after >40,000 miles, have acquired a high polish.
I have to support the leather above rubber washers, in the past I resorted to rubber pieces to avoid abrasion, but the rubber had to be replaced alot, and much more frequent if stretched (for ex, a knot). I didn't think about leather, as I didn't have leather. Later on, after finding leather here and there on garbage dumps in city, I got the idea to try leather, first application were those very light backpack alu frames, as the one barely visible that acts as roof of the cage on my rear rack in my avatars pic bike.
The shoulder straps of such backpacks are often mounted as metal rings that go over pens that go through holes drilled in the frame. The problem is dat those metal rings shift left right due to peoples shoulders moving, which wears away the aluminium.
I tried rubber rings, but these didn't last long, it was like the rubber "aged" in speedy gonzales fashion. they became like brittle to just fall off.
Then i made some leather ones, and those lasted.
By the way, there is a trick to cut rings from flexible material, Ajax Bay used star shaped cuts in a shilling shaped cut out, but you can fold the round piece together, and with a fine pair of scissors like is used for clothing, you can cut out, if small enough even in one scissors together, a nicely round hole. That also attributes to life, since the cut(s) follow the roundness, and won't "grow".
The shoulder straps of such backpacks are often mounted as metal rings that go over pens that go through holes drilled in the frame. The problem is dat those metal rings shift left right due to peoples shoulders moving, which wears away the aluminium.
I tried rubber rings, but these didn't last long, it was like the rubber "aged" in speedy gonzales fashion. they became like brittle to just fall off.
Then i made some leather ones, and those lasted.
By the way, there is a trick to cut rings from flexible material, Ajax Bay used star shaped cuts in a shilling shaped cut out, but you can fold the round piece together, and with a fine pair of scissors like is used for clothing, you can cut out, if small enough even in one scissors together, a nicely round hole. That also attributes to life, since the cut(s) follow the roundness, and won't "grow".
Most new bikes now come with this very stiff plastic rim strip and they are in my opinion garbage. If you have a double walled rim, you need to install rim tape instead. Do not use the rubber type as the high pressure can actually bulge it into the hollow area of your rim. But if you're running single wall rims, you can get by with the rubber type which are only a couple bucks each. The kind you're showing on your picture actually will shift back and forth as you're riding and saw or cut into the valve stem. Especially if you have low air pressure. Kids don't always check the air pressure before they take off and if you don't have them at the correct PSI, this is what happens. So basically be vigilant about the air pressure and get the correct rim strip for your type of wheels rim type.
Hope this helps.
