mystery flat......

[halfatruck]

anyone had this problem? I rode one of my bikes back in Jan and the next day went out to use again...the front tire was completely flat..no air at all. It took a while to find a good patch kit (the tube is a vintage Western Flyer, very heavy), finally got around to removing the wheel a few of days ago. I thought it might help to air it up before removing the tube (thought it might be the stem) so I put about 40 pounds in.......now 3 days later it hasn't lost anything??

 

[SKIDKINGSVBC]

Check the valve, sometimes get loose...Also have had a pesky super tiny piece of metal in the tire .So small the only way to find it was to turn the tire inside out and rub your finger slow across the surface with a magnify glass...

 

[halfatruck]

talk about the twilight zone...I saved 2 tubes from a 40's girls bike (both 2.25 Western Flyer) the one had a couple of patches and leaked. The second was good (until it lost all air per posting), the one that lost all air continues to hold, plus the second one (I removed the patch and there was a pin hole) needed a new patch. I was going to use the new patch kit and re-inflated the tube to make sure of the pin hole area....guess what that one also is now holding air......they must be possessed...???

 

[Andrew Gorman]

Check the valve, and wiggle the stem around- sometimes there are cracks in that area. Fill up the bathtub and look for bubbles while turning the inflated tube. And also check the inside of the tire for little pokey bits.