Question
My bike over the winter lost some air in the tires ... which is normal. unfortunatly when i filled them back up, within 3 hours the tires were empty again, is there a cheap and easy way for me to repair the tires without having to buy new ones?
Answer
As you mentioned, tires lose air normally over the course of several weeks, since the rubber is not actually completely air-tight. If your tires had deflated over a month or two, then you would just pump them up and ride on. 3 hours indicates a real leak some where.
Chances are that your tires themselves are fine (but check them for excessive wear and/or cuts that go right through the tire). It’s probably the tubes that need replacing or repairing. Take the tubes out and check them for leaks by filling them with some air and dunking them in a bucket of water. If you find air bubbles leaking out of a pinhole then use an ordinary patch kit to fix the leak. If you find multiple pinholes, your tube is shot and needs to be replaced. If you find air bubbles leaking out of the valve stem then you’ll have to get new tubes. If there’s a leak where the valve stem meets the tube then it’s also new tube time. If you have to replace a tube, remember to bring your old tube to BikeWorks and dump it in the tire recycling bin.
posted Apr 16, 2007
