Tube advice

[mythprod]

Hi guys, I have a steel frame mountain bike (no suspension) that's running pretty well. I got my first rear flat a few nights ago (I run a front wheel hub) and I get the sense this is going to be happening again if I don't buy a better tube. There was an inch or so slit that I assume came from a pinch since I saw nothing in the tire to indicate a puncture. Where I ride I get very few flats (some road, mostly paved bike trails to and from work, etc.) so puncture-resistance is less important to me than just a heavy duty tube that can take the weight of my battery (and butt!) on the bike's tail. Obviously a heavier tube is expected and no problem. Having puncture-resistance is great and I'd certainly take it if given, but I'm really focused on a tough tube that can take the pressure / weight with the occasional bump and possibly a curb hop now and then.

Anyone have any advice on a tough rear tube that can take the abuse?

 

[amberwolf]

There's a number of threads about flats, preventing them, or curing them, which have lots of helpful info in them--you might want to search thru those, too.

 

[biohazardman]

Just don't get them at Performance bike if you are in the U.S.A.. I got two of the thick and heavy tubes from them and both of them failed right at the union of the valve and tube in short order. Other parts from them have been fine. Most local bike shops should have the heavy tubes. Still you have to keep them pumped up to a reasonable pressure to stop pinch flats and thin-ish rims can give you trouble there.

 

[icecube57]

Ive had slime X 5x thick tubes from walmart for aboout two years with 2.35 big apples. No issues. Now we could go back and forth on whats the best and everything but Im just sharing my experiences.

 

[dogman dan]

I've shifted to a name brand from the LBS. Currently they are carrying bottranger tubes. Get a size that fits your bike tire better, part of why I started buying at the LBS. They had a fat tube size not stocked in walmart.

Still gonna be made in china, and man whaddaya do? One batch is great, another gets a rip at the stem or the seam in no time. Back in the day, we used to make huge rafts of inner tubes and float the river. Same tubes lasted a decade. Sometime in the 90's we had to get something else. New tubes bought last summer were rotted one year later. Now we use PVC air beds and stuff like that.

Rubber is not the same these days, but I seem to be having better luck with the bottranger tubes than I had with walmarts whatever brand.

 

[The fingers]

I had bad luck also with Wal-Mart slime tubes and went back to LBS thorn resistant tubes. When you open the box you smell rubber, so maybe they're fresher. Folded in the box, sitting for long periods, I believe tubes will crack, and thus fail sooner, IMHO. :wink:

 

[itchynackers]

Kenda downhill 2.25mm thick tubes. These are TOUGH and heavy. I have 2980 miles on mine with no flats. I also run Specialized Armadillo tires though.

 

[migueralliart]

Been using the AVENIR thorn resistant tubes from amazon with a tire liner. So far no flats althou I avoid riding over crap on the streets and trails.

 

[john7700]

You had a pinch flat. No tube in the world can really prevent that. Wide rims, fat tires, and most importantly, proper inflation will.

 

[mythprod]

I've got a Holy Roller on the back (http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/Urban/Holy-Roller.aspx) and decided on the Maxxis freeride tube (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00466ISBC/). It's 1.2mm thick and am hoping it will take a better blow to the bumps with the weight on the back. I have a 48v / 20ah battery on the rack so I figured I have around 25 pounds back there including the battery, controller and rack, give or take. I'm only riding on (relatively) smooth pavement with the occasional minor bump as I transition from sidewalk to road and back, the occasional pothole, etc. According to what I've read about them they're sort of in between a "normal" tube and a downhill tube. I'm hoping they can help reduce any weight-related flats I may encounter ... hopefully.

 

[mythprod]

You had a pinch flat. No tube in the world can really prevent that. Wide rims, fat tires, and most importantly, proper inflation will.

Yeah I'm guessing the inflation may be where I went wrong on my flat, just before the ride I put more air in my tires thinking it would cushion more of the bumps and keep my tires from popping, but I didn't use a tire gauge and suspect I put too much in it before it blew.

Being a noob I'm assuming more air pressure will help keep the rim away from the ground (with the risk of the thin tube giving way) and less psi take some pressure off the entire tube with a greater risk of a pinch flat. My tire gives me a recommended pressure of 35-65 psi and right now I have them set at 47-50 or so, wanting to hit the middle of that range until I figure out what I'm doing. Is it better to keep them as high as possible in these heavy weight scenarios or in the middle like I have them? Also, when I get my "good" tube which is thicker and tougher, I'm assuming I'll want to set it closer to the upper limit the tire tells me?

 

[Ykick]

1st, get an air pressure gauge and use it often. Bicycle tubes do not perfectly seal and most, if not all, will lose air.

Buy 2-2.5mm thick downhill tubes. I've had good luck with Avenair, Kenda and a couple of others but they're probably a mail order option more often than LBS. The box should be 3 times bigger than standard tubes.

Buy the correct size. Many of us move up to wider tires (2.3-2.5") but reuse tubes intended for 1.5-2" tires. Not a good situation.

Learn tire/tube repair. You're gonna need it if you ride any significant amount of time.

 

[The fingers]

Good tips for sturdy tubes, I'll certainly try some of those!

 

[mythprod]

Buy 2-2.5mm thick downhill tubes.

A dumb question, but since I have non-downhill rims, I'm assuming I would need to upgrade my rims if I were to upgrade to downhill tires and tubes?

 

[aroundqube]

This is why Howard Johnson had 21 flavors of ice cream,people have different favorites. I am happy with Maxxis Downhill specific tubes-26x2.50/2.70 , 468 grams , 1.5mm thick walls, and Stop Flats 2 tire liners. Both from www.niagaracycle.com They work with the original rims and tires. I have them both front and back. Don't forget good rim strips too !

 

[john7700]

You had a pinch flat. No tube in the world can really prevent that. Wide rims, fat tires, and most importantly, proper inflation will.

Yeah I'm guessing the inflation may be where I went wrong on my flat, just before the ride I put more air in my tires thinking it would cushion more of the bumps and keep my tires from popping, but I didn't use a tire gauge and suspect I put too much in it before it blew.

Being a noob I'm assuming more air pressure will help keep the rim away from the ground (with the risk of the thin tube giving way) and less psi take some pressure off the entire tube with a greater risk of a pinch flat. My tire gives me a recommended pressure of 35-65 psi and right now I have them set at 47-50 or so, wanting to hit the middle of that range until I figure out what I'm doing. Is it better to keep them as high as possible in these heavy weight scenarios or in the middle like I have them? Also, when I get my "good" tube which is thicker and tougher, I'm assuming I'll want to set it closer to the upper limit the tire tells me?

Well, pinch flats are usually caused by to little air in tires. The tire and tube compress from landing hard, a curb corner, pot hole edge etc. and pinch the tube between the tire and rim causing the puncture. The puncture often shows as two little parallel slits. With that large battery you have on the back, I would run the pressure right up to 65 LB and be careful on holes, curbs etc. You will feel the bumps a lot more however with higher pressure in your tires.

The holy roller is a good choice. I am running one in front right now. Go for the biggest you can squeeze in there like a 3.4 . You don't need special rims for them and you can run down hill tubes on any rim. Put a fat tire on the front as well, especially with the weight of a motor up there or you risk getting pinchers up there as well. And speaking of rims, if you are hitting hard enough to get pinch flats, make sure your rims are staying true. They get racked from those kind of hits and china kits are known for cheep hoops that are not tightened up well so check your spoke tightness also.

 

[Ykick]

Buy 2-2.5mm thick downhill tubes.

A dumb question, but since I have non-downhill rims, I'm assuming I would need to upgrade my rims if I were to upgrade to downhill tires and tubes?

I use Mammoth Fat rims. Doubt if they're considered Downhill but the only obvious differences I can see about DH tubes is heavy and thick. They fit well on my rims/tires.

I don't run em on my non-powered front wheel as I prefer to keep that light and it's easy enough to remove. Punctures on front tires being very rare. Front tires usually roll over nails, screws, staples, etc. kicking the debris up at an angle that usually spears the rear tire.

 

[dogman dan]

I run 60 psi, mostly because slime works better at high pressures that squeeze the pinholes against the tire, and I'll have pinholes with all the thorns around here.

So from time to time, I get the rubber ripping a hole about an inch long. The closer to the same size as the tire you run the better. I still have problems with the rear tire on my dirt bike. 2.5" tire, and the biggest tube the lbs sells is 2.25. Usually though, on that bike I just replace both tubes at least annually because 200 pinholes is about 100 too many. Sounds like velcro when I pull the tube from the tire. Then remove all the thorns from the tire.

Less of those rip failures with fresh smelling LBS tubes than with walmart stock. If you buy the last one at WM, it may have been sitting at the back of the shelf for years. My lbs sells enough tubes to have them all be very fresh.

 

[El_Steak]

I use downhill tubes from Maxxis (2.5"-2.7") with Hookworms.

I had 2 flats this years (none in the 3 previous years), both were punctures (a nail and an unidentified piece of metal). I have kevlar liners inside my hookworms and the nail just went through it like it wasn't there.

 

[mythprod]

Thanks guys, all good advice. I have a front hub motor which I'm really glad I got, weight-wise. I can't imagine putting any more weight back there, along with my ass and battery / rack and gears there's enough back there already. I do need to eventually swap out the tire and tube that came with the kit for something more decent, I'm trying to stagger any purchases that aren't essential so I don't have to keep pouring money into this new bike conversion. I'm just commuting on relatively clean & paved trails and have a pretty sweet 14 mile route into work where I'm on the road very little. If I can resolve this back tire / tube issue I think it's going to work out pretty great. I've biked the route traditionally (before the conversion) multiple times but it's just not practical to do everyday like I want, the mornings are okay because it's cool and a little easier going than coming back, but in the late afternoon after work it's hot and more uphills kill me enough to not want to do anything when I get home. I think the ebike is going to help alleviate that quite a bit. Be green and still get some exercise, etc. I have all of the folks at work checking it out, maybe some of them will catch on as well.

I ordered the Maxxis freeride tube 26X2.2-2.5 (1.2mm thick) so I'm hoping it's beefy enough to hold up pretty well. I'll invest in slime / kevlar lining and such as I go. When I do replace the front I'll probably go with a Hookworm - Urban with some downhill (thick as I can get) tubes with kevlar lining and perhaps slime too, if I end up liking it for the back. Since I don't ride in places where I (typically) get flats I'm hoping all of this armor will help keep me riding - hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. :wink:

 

[mythprod]

I had another flat today although didn't notice today until after I rode (no dramatic blowout like the first flat). I'm still waiting on the Maxxis freeride tube but noticed the rims say 26x1.50. Since my Maxxis holy roller tire is a 26x2.2 I'm wondering if my pinch flats are coming from having too wide a tire on too narrow of a rim. I have a narrower (cheap) tire with another cheap tube I'm going to test my theory on before the new tube arrives next week. Before the ebike conversion I'd been using this maxxis 2.2 tire on the front and seemed to work fine, but perhaps because of the extra weight and the fact that I'm now using it in the back this is what's contributing to my flats.

 

[mythprod]

here's a snapshot of the evidence. Notice the circular impression next to the slit. I checked the rim for any spokes poking out but couldn't find any, anyone have an idea on what they could be? I've heard of a snakebite, is the slit one snake tooth and that circular impression the other?

 

[john7700]

That sure looks like a spoke poking through to me. You do have some type of rim strip in there now yes? It does not appear to be doing its job. make sure all your spokes are tight. Run your hand around around the rim and the inside of the tire to make sure you don't have any thing rough in there. On the cheep for a durable rim strip, you can take an old tube and cut it up and make a strip about 1" wide then wrap it around your rim, see where it needs to be size wise and glue it together with some tire patch glue. I have run these for years on some bikes.

 

[Ykick]

No snake bite there. They appear on either side of the tube at rim edges. This is down the middle and the round indent sure looks related to spoke head.

I use Hockey tape or similar athletic cloth tape for my rim strips. They sell similar stuff for bikes but much more expensive to pay Pedro to use his name on it, you know?

Thicker tubes should help but that does look like a spoke head is coming through at that spot? Get some chalk or grease pencil to mark your tire/tube/rim to know it was mounted for further investigation.

Practice working with and get good with tires, tubes, wheels, spokes, truing, etc. Simply part of the deal with bicycle components used under strenuous and long distance electric duty.

 

[itchynackers]

Did you wipe the inside of the rim, AND wipe the tube off prior to install? If you get grit/sand sticking to the rim/tube, it can wear through.

Incidentally, with my setup (Specialized Armadillos tires, Kenda downhill 2.5mm tubes) I didn't get a flat, even when getting hit from behind by some dipsh_t in an old truck. My rear rim/tire was wedged under his front bumper, yet no flat. I run 65psi. Take it for what its worth.

Adam