So I picked up my new P3 a week ago and I absolutely love it, but I’ve had numerous problems with the new wheels & tires. Arggghhh!!!
The front wheel has flatted twice and there is nothing in the tire, the tube or anything. It ruined my first two rides as it would run flat every 15-20 minutes. If I pumped it up and left it sitting it would hold air for 5-6 hours. I finally swapped out the rim strip from “stock” to cloth Velox tape and it looks to be holding so far. This was driving me insane.
Should I make it a ritual to deepsix the stock rim tape on all new wheels?
The rear wheel and tire yesterday was a complete nightmare. I was 18min into my 100mi ride and went over a speedbump and BOOM! complete blowout of the sidewall. I’m not sure if I ran over a piece of glass or metal or if it was just the force of going over the speedbump. I swapped out the tube and pulled out the dollar bill trick to try and limp home, but only made it halfway home. The tube pushed through the dollar bill and was sticking out and hitting the seatstays and brakes. I had to bust out the cellphone and call in reinforcements to come get me.
Has anyone else had these kind of problems on Velomax wheels or these tires?
I’m hoping its just bad luck, but honestly I feel jinxed by these wheels and am going to swap cassettes with my old training wheels tonight to save my sanity.
I’m figuring that it is just crappy rim tape and bad luck on the tubes that were in there. Or at least thats what I’m hoping…
The tube issue was the fact that the hole in the tire was so big the tube was sticking out at least 1/2 inch or more. With the limited clearance in the P3 rear end it was rubbing.
I figure with all these issues I should have my share of flat tires covered for a long while…
What pressure are you running? I have velomax vistas with rubino’s and only had a blowout when I blew them up to 120 and it got hot. A sidewall blowout through the tire sounds like it got sliced or something. Maybe there’s a burr on the rim that wore into the tire.
I bought a P2K back in Feb. and had the same problems. My ridding amigos couldn’t believe I spent all this money on a bike and constantly was getting flats!
I think the Velomax wheels are fine.
Absolutely ditch the stock rim tape and put on the Velox cloth tape.
As for the tires they can be both good and bad. My front Rubino has performed flawlessly but the rear one had a sidewall blowout much similar to yours. I was descending a long way from home and also had to make the call for the first time.
Hammer On with your P3.
One friend just bought the velomax circuit wheels, we installed velox tape, no problems. Another couple bought trek 5200 bikes with bontrager wheels/tires about two months ago. After like 150 miles her tire blew up in the garage, he changed the tube it, it blew up again. He could not find anything wrong so he took it to the LBS where they bought it, they proceded to explode two more tubes before they said screw it and gave them a new tire and tube. Later they found the tire had separated just above the bead. Nice gesture on the part of the LBS in my opinion.
The rim tape was a good start, make sure to check all of the drilled holes and where the rim was welded or seamed together for tiny burs. After that spend a few dollars and buy a nice set of training tires, nothing like the feeling of riding on questionable tires. They are the only traction between you and the road. I replace my rim tape when I replace my tires, it may not be necessary, but for 3 bucks who cares.
glad you brought this up, since i just go a new bike (not p3) with the same wheelset and tires, and have yet to take it out for long distances. so i think i will do what others have recommended and replace the rim tape with the velox tape. vittoria tires should be solid, but if you want a good bombproof tire for training, then go with the specialized armadillos.
I have the same problem with my dual. Same tires (maybe different model) and different wheels. I flatted after my first 20 miles out of the LBS.
I had about 5 flats all on the back wheel. I changed the tape on the back and rotated tires. No more flats on the back, just had my first on the front.
The thing that made these flats odd was that in only one of the five flats did I find a puncture. The other four were all from tears within 2 inches of the valve stem.
This has got me puzzled so I think I am just going to bite the bullet and get some bombproof training tires. Hell, I have already spent that much in tubes!
The Rubinos are far from the most durable tire out there, but I have put about 1100 miles on them and the tread is in one piece although it is starting to look pretty rough.