In our Tech Q&A series, we tackle cycling queries – big or small, complex or simple – with insights from the BikeRadar team and trusted industry experts. Next up, a reader wants to know what her 12-year-old son can do to alleviate his puncture woes.
I wondered if it would be possible for you to do a feature on punctures and how to avoid them – or perhaps offer some advice to the frustrated mum of a not-quite teenager.
My 12-year-old son has spent the summer mountain biking and loves it, but he’s been plagued by punctures – sometimes every single ride. I’ve taught him how to fix them properly, but it keeps happening. He’s ridden different bikes this summer, including hire bikes on holiday, and still gets punctures.
At this point, I think it must be his riding style or how he’s inflating his tyres. He jumps off kerbs, rides down steps and is obsessed with wheelies and bunny hops. I rarely get punctures, so the common denominator seems to be him.
As my lovely son is 12, he naturally knows everything and won’t listen to me – but he’s a new BikeRadar user and reads MBUK magazine voraciously. I’m hoping he might listen to you.
Ellie Hughes
This sounds like how many of us here at BikeRadar rode when we were 12 years old!
Frequent punctures are generally a combination of riding style and tyre setup, and because you say your son is regularly jumping off kerbs and riding down steps, it’s likely he’s experiencing pinch flats (where the inner tube gets trapped between the rim and tyre on an obstacle).
A pinch flat is also known as a snakebite puncture due to the appearance of the two parallel slits in the tube.
Senior technical writer Simon von Bromley adds it’s worth checking the tyre thoroughly to see if there isn’t anything that’s continually causing the punctures, such as a thorn.
It also sounds as if your son is running tyre pressures that are too low for his weight. Jack Luke suggests 25psi for a mountain bike tyre as a starting point for what your son likely weighs, but it might be worth increasing this to 35psi, and he can work his way downward from there.
Furthermore, if the bike has cheap or worn tyres, or he’s using particularly thin or undersized inner tubes, that will also explain his frequent punctures.
We’d also recommend checking your rim tape in case there’s a split or an exposed spoke hole. The jagged edge of the spoke may be what’s causing the tube to deflate, although if he’s managing to puncture tyres on hire bikes, that suggests the rim tape might not be the problem, but it’s something that’s still worth checking.
To be honest, it sounds as though he’s a bit of a shredder (and good on him!).
If punctures continue to be an issue once he’s taken this advice, we’d suggest opting for tougher tyres with reinforced casings. It’s common for brands to spec lighter tyres with flimsier casings on bikes in an effort to save weight and reduce cost, and it’s something we frequently criticise in reviews.
The ultimate fix would be for your son to convert to a tubeless setup. Since the inner tube is removed from the equation, it will result in a more forgiving ride (because you can run lower tyre pressures), and he’s less likely to pinch flat because there isn’t an inner tube to pinch. The tubeless sealant inside is designed to clog up any small holes.
It’s also worth teaching him a careful landing technique. But more than anything, don’t let punctures put you or your son off, we think it’s great that he’s loving mountain biking so much.
