I keep getting a flat in my rear tire. No spokes popping through the rim and no apparent debree inside the tire??? WTF is going on?
Try replacing your rim tape.
Inspect your punctured tube. Which side of the tire is getting the puncture? Rim side, road side, or sides of the tire? Does it look like a snake bite?
You still using that cheap plastic rim tape that came with your bike? Ditch it. Get the cloth based stuff. I think its called Velox or something like that.
If you are using aero wheels, its not likely a spoke could cause the flat, but the spoke hole could if your rim tape fails.
Look at the tire and see if there are cuts in the tread. The same thing happened to me and I noticed several gashes in the tire. I replaced the tire and haven’t gotten a flat since.
You’ve probably got a piece of glass or other sharp object stuck in your tire. It punctures your tube, you replace the tube (but leave the offending object in your tire), and you flat again not long after…
Take the tire off the wheel, turn the tire inside out, and carefully inspect it for embedded objects. I’ve seen glass, wire, thorns…
Post a picture of your tire.
Post a picture of your tire.
Yeah, because without a picture on this site, it never happened.
You’ve probably got a piece of glass or other sharp object stuck in your tire. It punctures your tube, you replace the tube (but leave the offending object in your tire), and you flat again not long after…
Take the tire off the wheel, turn the tire inside out, and carefully inspect it for embedded objects. I’ve seen glass, wire, thorns…
I have had glass in my tire before and gotten probably half a dozen flats before finding the piece of glass. It took me a couple inspections to find it. When you run your fingers over the inside wall of the tire feel for rough spots, not necessarilly sharp. The rough spot is where the glass is working through the tire and rubbing on the tube. You have to look very close but it’s worth it to not replace an otherwise good tire.
You’ve probably got a piece of glass or other sharp object stuck in your tire. It punctures your tube, you replace the tube (but leave the offending object in your tire), and you flat again not long after…
Take the tire off the wheel, turn the tire inside out, and carefully inspect it for embedded objects. I’ve seen glass, wire, thorns…
I have had glass in my tire before and gotten probably half a dozen flats before finding the piece of glass. It took me a couple inspections to find it. When you run your fingers over the inside wall of the tire feel for rough spots, not necessarilly sharp. The rough spot is where the glass is working through the tire and rubbing on the tube. You have to look very close but it’s worth it to not replace an otherwise good tire.
Me too.
When checking my tire, I have a really small micro screwdriver hand for picking really small objects our of my tire.
I have also got into the habit of squeezing bits of Shoe-Goo II (similar to silicone sealant) into the larger gashes. I let it dry for 2 days then gently sand off the excess Shoe-Goo II with 120 sand paper.
I only do this on my commuting tires, when they are newish, to get the max miles out of them. Race tires are always new (ony ridden once to porve they work etc) for big races.
I’ve had a really small tear in my tire. When you inflate your tube it goes out into that little tear and then eventually punctures. In my case I couldn’t get farther than 1 block, that was a very frustrating day! 3 or 4 tubes later I figured out what was going on.
I had the same problem a couple of years ago. I got 3 flats in 2 weeks (one of them in a race!). Nothing seemed to be wrong with the tire, but the hole was always in the same spot. I even took the tire into a mechanic at a bike store, but he couldn’t see what the problem was either. I got a new tire and it’s been fine for 2 years. Tires are cheap compared to the time and frustration of constantly changing a flat. Just buy a new tire and be done with it.
Dawn
So will duct tape, and it’s cheaper. I like to wrap a strip of duct tape around my tire lever in case I flat because of a slice during a ride. More convenient than using dollar bills or Gu wrappers or whatever you hear being used by some people in emergencies…
Thanks for the tips. The tire is new, only about a week old and I did retape the rim. Inspected rim and inside of tire today after turning it inside out. Guy at bike shop says it is probably due to inflation of 170psi with this tire and forcing the tube inside the holes in rim and rubbing against spoke. He suggested that because I keep my bike in a shed after rides it may heat up and expand the tire. Not sure if I buy it but at this point I’ll give anything a try. Thanks again for all your words of wisdom.
Do you have clincher? … and inflate to 170?
Your pressure need not be over 120 PSI. But that aside, you need to be your own detective and look at where the hole is in the tube. Take the punctured tube, fill it with air, put it in a sink and see where the bubbles are coming from. That will lead you to the cause.
Bob,
I didn’t know old guys like you visited this place 
.
I think this happened to me Thursday! Coming back from my longest ride to date, I flatted, changed the tube, went two blocks, then flatted again. One tube left and 15 miles to go and the same thing again. Sat on the side of the road for an hour and a half waiting for someone to pick me up. Why is it we love this sport? Oh yeah, because I was smiling when I got home because I had so much fun that day…
Yes clinchers… why is this a problem? The tire says max psi 175 (Vredestan-Fortezza superlites). Bike shop guy (who is a 150 mi/week rider) swears by them and says this high pressure reduces rolling resistance. So far I like the feel (except for the flat of course) of the ride at this pressure. Are you suggesting that I may increase my chances of flatting due to this hight psi? Just curious.
I have Vred Fortezzas too, and ride them at 120 psi. I think 170 would be waaaay too high for those tires, regardless of what the stated max is.
doesn’t sound like this is your problem…but i figure i’ll throw it out there anyway
two years ago I had a bunch of flats and couldn’t, for the life of me figure out why…no puncture, no debris, etc
turns out my rear-mounted bike rack was leaving the rim/tire directly in the path of the exhaust pipe, heating the tire so it would blow shortly after i started riding
boy, did i feel stupid when the guy at the LBS diagnosed it in about 30 secs.