Now, let’s discuss the most important maintenance issue of all, flat tires. Apparently, flat tires make a deep impression on everyone who has ever had one and that includes almost everyone. I say this because people ask me about flat tires all the time. How many do I get? Can I fix them? Have I ever been stuck in the middle of nowhere? Answers: I get flats about once a month. Yes, I can fix flats. I carry a reliable pump and everything I need to fix flats. I have never been completely stranded with a flat tire although I have come close a few times. Once, in the Big Bend area of Texas, I ran out of patches and was forced to devise a patch using Gorilla tape!
The part of Texas near Big Bend National Park has lots of mesquite trees. Mesquite has long, needle like thorns which will definitely give you a flat tire. The state mows the shoulders of the roads and in the process of mowing small mesquite trees along the outside edge of the shoulders are chopped into pieces. When the mower swings onto the shoulder to turn, small mesquite branches fall off the mower deck onto the shoulder. Every year I encounter this hazard.
One year, I was on the side of the road fixing a flat tire when an entire family pulled up to ask if everything was OK. After thanking them for checking on me, I told them I was fixing a flat tire and complained about the mowers sprinkling the highway with mesquite branches. A ten year old boy in the family looked deeply concerned and then gave me some excellent advice, “If you don’t run over the thorns you won’t get any flats.”
The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly applies to flat tires. The young man was absolutely correct! Avoid running over thorns and it will save you lots of time and trouble! And the truth is, you CAN avoid most of the mesquite twigs if you really try! I smile and think about this piece of youthful wisdom every time I return to this area. Let’s consider some other preventive techniques. How about slime tubes? The idea is that you won’t get any flats because the green slime will immediately seal any puncture. Well, this works to some degree.
Slime works best with thicker gauge, heavier tubes. I purchased very light weight 700 x 25 presta valve slime tubes with high hopes. The very first time I got a totally ordinary puncture from a tiny piece of wire did the slime do its job? I removed the wire and the tire deflated. I gave the tire a good spin to redistribute the slime and pumped up the tire. Down it went. In my opinion, the nice, expensive, lightweight presta valve slime tubes do not work at all. Now here is the real kicker, slime tubes cannot be repaired with a patch! The slime manages to defeat the patch adhesive no matter how good a job you do with the patching process!
Slime tubes worked extremely well on my trailer, however. I bought heavy duty slime tubes at Walmart. These tubes weighed more than the tires. The trailer could go over anything, even cactus with no leaks. Maybe a few green bubbles on the outside of the tire and then the hole would immediately seal. The thick gauge of the rubber tube allowed the slime to do its job.
Eventually, the trailer tires with the slime tubes wore out. I pushed on the valve stem to release the air in order to remove the trailer tires. No luck. The slime had sealed the valve. I tried to remove the valve stem. This proved to be extremely difficult. I ended up having to push my knife through the sidewalls of the tires to release the air. Fortunately, I had new tires and new tubes to install.
The bottom line is I no longer mess with slime. I use tire liners on both my bicycle and trailer to help prevent flats. Tire liners are generally unnecessary in most parts of the United States. My bicycle route includes parts of the country, especially in the western United States, however, which have thorns called “goat heads.” In these parts of the country, thorn proof tubes or tire liners are an absolute necessity!
Thorn proof tubes are very heavy gauge tubes (no slime) which are very effective in areas with grass burrs and “goat heads.” They would not help with the longer mesquite thorns, however. The problem is they are extremely heavy. They weigh about as much as the tire. They are also expensive. I don’t use thorn proof tubes. Tire liners are almost as effective and are much lighter. Tire liners are flexible plastic strips which go between the tire and tube to help prevent flats. My favorite brand of tire liner is the “Rhinodillo” brand which is available at REI. Rhinodillo tire liners have special rubber tips which make them less likely to cause flats than other brands (see discussion in the next paragraph). They are very effective at preventing flats caused by grass burrs and “goat heads.” They are only modestly effective at preventing flats caused by wires from pieces of tires and by other road debris. In any event, at least they are lightweight.
When you insert a tire liner, the ends of the tire liner overlap. This creates a slight ridge at one tip of the tire liner which will eventually cut the tube. These types of flats are called “friction flats.” Trust me, this is a serious issue! If you don’t solve this problem, the tire liners will cause just about as many flats as they prevent! There are several ways to address this issue. The Rhinodillo brand of tire liner has a soft rubber tip at one end to help eliminate this problem. That is why I recommend Rhinodillo tire liners. Another method is to use a sharp pair of scissors to trim the ends of the tire liner at an angle. This beveled edge will help protect your tube from being punctured. Another method is to cover the tip of the tire liner with a short piece of tubing cut from an old inner tube. To prevent causing a bulge in the tire, I use a SINGLE layer of old inner tube to cover the ridge where the tire liner overlaps and hold it in place with the partially inflated tube. Even with Rhinodillo tire liners I still use this method. One tip of each Rhinodillo tire liner has a soft rubber tip. Unfortunately, the OTHER tip can be partially exposed if the tire liner does not perfectly overlap. Therefore, I cover the area above the other tip with a single layer of old inner tube. It may seem like a good idea to use Gorilla tape to cover the ridges and to help keep the tire liner perfectly aligned. Unfortunately, the high pressure in the tire will cause the Gorilla tape adhesive to ooze and contaminate the tire and tube.
Hard shell tires offer some protection from goat heads. If you keep getting friction flats, you may prefer to remove the Rhinodillo tire liners from your bicycle and depend on your hard shell tires for protection. I recommend keeping the Rhinodillo tire liners for future use, however. They work well when carefully installed and “broken in” (over time pressure will conform the tire liner to the curve of the tire). Trailer tires are less prone to getting friction flats because the tubes are thicker and the tire pressure is lower. For this reason, I almost always keep tire liners installed on my trailer. After nine years of bicycle touring, I changed my mind about the best ways to prevent flats. Using tire liners, I continued to get a fair number of friction flats on my trailer. I finally decided that standard weight slime tubes were the best solution for my trailer. For my road bike, I just use hard shell tires and standard presta valve tubes. Who knows? Maybe I will change my mind again! I hear good things about tubeless tires, but have yet to give them a try.
Repairing Flat Tires
Now, let’s turn our attention to the task of repairing flat tires. Even when just inserting a new tube you will need a reliable pump to inflate your tire. Your pump is an absolutely critical piece of gear. Avoid pumps that push onto the valve forming a rigid connection because it is easy to break the tip off a presta valve while pumping. My favorite pump is the Lezyne pump. It has a short rubber hose to connect to the valve. The hose allows for a little movement while pumping. One end of the hose is for presta valves and the other end is for schrader valves. The hose is stored by inserting it into the hollow barrel of the pump.
I don’t store my pump on the bicycle frame to be exposed to rain and road grime or to possibly be stolen. It is much too important for that kind of treatment! I store my pump in an Eagle Creek zipper bag along with my electrical charging gear and my tire repair gear. My tire repair gear includes three tire irons, a tire repair kit, a ball point pen to mark the location of the leak, a safety pen to open the glue, and a couple of extra valve caps and valve nuts saved from discarded tubes.
I carry two extra tubes for my bicycle and two extra tubes for my trailer. These are reserved for emergencies. Therefore, I always do my best to repair flats on the spot.
You could probably get by with one extra tube of each type. If you used an emergency tube, however, this would leave you with NO backup tube. This could possibly leave you stranded. Therefore, carry TWO backup tubes. If you use one, replace it at the first opportunity.
I begin the repair process by inspecting the outside of the tire for hints regarding the location of whatever caused the flat. For example, a small piece of wire might be sticking out of the tire. Remove the wire and note the location of the wire relative to the valve stem. This will really help you to quickly zero in on the location of the leak after the tube is removed from the tire.
Starting opposite the valve stem, insert a tire iron, pry back the tire bead, and secure the other end of the tire iron on an adjacent spoke. Take another tire iron and repeat the process until you can use your fingers to free the tire bead all the way around. Pull the tube out of the tire taking care to push the tire out of the way to free the valve stem. Completely remove the tire from the rim.
Inspect the tire and run your fingers around the inside of the tire several times to locate and remove whatever caused the flat. Also run your fingers along both sides of any tire liner to feel for anything protruding through. Inflate the tube to try and locate the puncture. I have found that the best way to find leaks is to slowly move the tube past my ear. The ear is sensitive. It is usually not a problem to locate leaks using this method. If necessary, use a cup of water and submerge short sections of the tube to locate the leak. Dry the tube with a clean paper towel. Mark the leak with a ball point pen. I use marks offset one inch on either side of the puncture so the marks will not be erased by buffing the tube with sandpaper and applying glue.
Use the sandpaper in the tire repair kit to buff the area where the patch will go. Wipe away any dust from the tube with a clean, dry paper towel. Apply a very thin layer of glue with your finger tip to an area somewhat bigger than your patch. Wait five minutes for the glue to dry. Peel back the patch from the foil protective layer and apply. Squeeze very firmly with your fingertips. I do not use glueless patches. I tried them and frequently experienced patch failure.
I like to put just a bit of air in the tube so it will lay in the proper position in the tire. This also helps hold any tire liner in place. With the tire completely detached from the rim, insert any tire liner into the tire. Next, insert the slightly inflated tube to hold the tire liner in place. Insert the valve stem through the hole in the rim and push one tire bead over the edge of the rim all the way around. The other tire bead should end up laying flat against the rim with the tube nice and relaxed all the way around. Finally, push the second tire bead into the rim with a rolling motion of the heels of your hands starting with the area adjacent to the valve stem. Try to get it in all the way around without using tire irons. At this point, it is often very helpful to let ALL the air out of the tube. This will really help you to install the tire using only your hands. If you have to use a tire iron to finish the job, be very careful not to pinch the tube.
Inspect both sides of the tire to make sure that the bead is seated properly and that the tube is not sticking out. If necessary, hold the wheel with the tread on the ground and push firmly straight down to force the tire bead into place. Inflate to 90 psi. This requires about 125 strokes of my Lezyne pump. Be sure to keep your tires fully inflated to avoid pinch flats. Pinch flats occur when you hit an object with an abrupt edge causing the under inflated tire to pinch the tube. When you locate the puncture, two small cuts in the tube adjacent to one another are an indication of a pinch flat.
Every now and then you will run into a tire which is incredibly tight on a particular rim. After you insert the first tire iron and pull it back, you may find it impossible to get the second tire iron under the edge of the bead. Solve this problem as follows. Take three tire irons and space them 2-3 inches apart along the rim. Make sure they all have a grip under the edge of the bead before pulling back on any of them. Then pull back each tire iron in turn. This method works like magic.
When dealing with an extremely tight tire bead, it is best NOT to partially inflate the tube before inserting it. Protect the tube from being punctured by a tire iron by carefully pressing the completely deflated tube into the curve of the tire. Make sure the tube is nice and smooth all the way around so it will inflate properly. This will allow you to use a tire iron to help force the bead into the rim without worrying about puncturing the tube.
It is amazing the number of ways it is possible for things to go terribly wrong with tires, tubes, and tube repairs. Here are some examples:
- After a rest break, you return to your bicycle to discover a flat tire. The problem is that there doesn’t appear to be a leak in the tube, even when using a cup of water to try and find the leak. Possible explanations: someone let the air out of the tire to annoy you (very unlikely); the leak is so slow it is releasing an air bubble only periodically making the leak difficult to detect; the valve stem was left slightly open; the valve stem was not properly seated. Solution: reinstall the tube. If the problem persists, install an emergency backup tube.
- One of your trailer tires is on its last legs. Once you see fabric, it can be a shockingly short interval until the tube is exposed. Solution: the first time one of your 700 x 28 road tires wears out (preferably a folding tire with a plastic bead so it will be easy to cut) cut a 6” piece of the tire and store it with your tools. This piece of tire is the perfect size to use to “boot” your trailer tire.
- You are traveling through the Big Bend area of Texas. It seems like you are repairing flats almost everyday. Suddenly, you realize that you are down to your last few repair patches. Solution: cut each remaining patch in half. They will still work and you should be able to make it to your destination. Desperate solution: a small piece of Gorilla tape will work in an emergency. Proceed as usual with the sandpaper and glue. You need to create a patch with a double layer of Gorilla tape, otherwise air will leak through the Gorilla tape. Gorilla tape adheres very well. Tenacious tape doesn’t work at all because it does not adhere well in this particular application.
- One day you fix a flat tire. The very next day you get another flat tire. The weird thing is the puncture goes through the patch you put on the day before (or very close to the patch). What are the odds of this happening randomly? Very low odds indeed! Looking very carefully you discover that you missed the object that caused the flat the day before. That little piece of wire was lurking behind so it could cause yet another flat! Solution: remove the object that caused the flat and install an emergency backup tube. Putting a patch on top of another patch usually leads to patch failure and even more problems. Resolve to be more careful in the future when checking your tires for whatever caused the flat!
- It is raining and you have a flat tire. Past experience tells you that tube repairs often fail when performed under very humid conditions. Solution: go ahead and use an emergency backup tube. Repair the punctured tube when conditions are more favorable.