Done it for the first time....but...

[joanna]

I got a wisper 905se city a few weeks ago, just in time for all the snow. Promptly went on holiday (complete with wisper, and powercycle salisbury), so this is my first week for cycling to work.

I tried it Monday. It is 18/19 miles, with quite a few hills, over the Chilterns. I made it most of the way. One really steep hill I got off and walked for 100 yards (well I have not been on a bike in years, and was not sure how the battery would hold up for the rest of the ride if I pushed it too much). Took me about 1 hour 15 to get 15 miles (at best the journey takes 1 hour 10 on the train, I expect this will get slightly quicker as I work out route, confidence in pushing the bike etc etc)- Really enjoyed it and felt fine, very awake until...

about 4 miles before then end of the journey my back tyre went flat, totally completely and with out a hope of re-inflating. They are gel ones, so should re-seal, but nothing like that. Had to walk the rest of the way, took me 1 1/2 hours!!!!! Bad blisters on my feet as I was not expecting to walk, so had the wrong shoes on, and arrived at work exhausted.

I found the rubber holding the valve on had broken off. I was a bit put out as the front one arrived with a faulty valve, and I have done very little cycling so far.

I bought a new inner tube and thanks to this forum and my search on removing the back wheel I managed to change it quite well (with all the men in the office deciding I desperatly needed help....boys!!!!). I now cannot inflate the new inner tube while it is in the tyre, but can when it is loose from the tyre. Had to take the biike home on the train, and walk it up the hills, got green slime everywhere.

What am I doing wrong? is my pump defunct? Can I really have 3 faulty tyres?

 

[Mussels]

That all sounds quite familiar and hopefully I can help.

I tried it Monday. It is 18/19 miles, with quite a few hills, over the Chilterns. I made it most of the way. One really steep hill I got off and walked for 100 yards (well I have not been on a bike in years, and was not sure how the battery would hold up for the rest of the ride if I pushed it too much). Took me about 1 hour 15 to get 15 miles (at best the journey takes 1 hour 10 on the train, I expect this will get slightly quicker as I work out route, confidence in pushing the bike etc etc)

I found that the 905 was geared a bit too high for steep hills, mine came with a 52 tooth chainring and I found replacing it with a 36 tooth ring made it much better to ride on hills. The Megarange isn't good for hills as the gap between 24 teeth and 34 teeth meant a load of useful gears were missing! After fitting the 36 tooth chainring I found I made full use of gears 2-7 and ignored the big 34 tooth cog. It means you can't pedal very fast but you can pedal to over 20mph and then coast downhill, you can't coast up.

about 4 miles before then end of the journey my back tyre went flat, totally completely and with out a hope of re-inflating. They are gel ones, so should re-seal, but nothing like that. Had to walk the rest of the way, took me 1 1/2 hours!!!!! Bad blisters on my feet as I was not expecting to walk, so had the wrong shoes on, and arrived at work exhausted.

You will get a lot of punctures unless you get the Marathon plus type tyres. My 905 came with Kenda tyres which seemed particularly fragile and I have tried various kevlar lined tyres but still get a puncture every 200 miles or so. I like the ride of the Big Apples* so I put up with punctures, though I haven't had many recently as I had winter tyres fitted.

I found the rubber holding the valve on had broken off. I was a bit put out as the front one arrived with a faulty valve, and I have done very little cycling so far.

This happens when you ride with an under inflated tyre, order a few spares and carry one with you. I find the Continental inner tubes very good, they have longer valves and a lockring to hold it in place better.

I now cannot inflate the new inner tube while it is in the tyre, but can when it is loose from the tyre. Had to take the biike home on the train, and walk it up the hills, got green slime everywhere.

You should be able to push it in just far enough to attach a pump, then slip the tyre on and inflate. The answer is to get the longer valves I mentioned, order from chain reaction in the morning and it will probably arrive the next day.

What am I doing wrong? is my pump defunct? Can I really have 3 faulty tyres?

I don't remember if it was you asking about pumps before but I have tried a few premium ones and found the Topeak Morph pumps to be much better than mini pumps.
Whilst you have the back tyre off get a new rim tape as the original I had was a bit too weak and again caused punctures. You will find after practice that it takes 5 minutes from getting a puncture to being back on the road, as long as it's not tipping it down.
When you get a puncture take not of what is causing it and what type of puncture it is, not all are caused by sharp things.

* Very large tyre that may not fit your bike even though it's the same model.

 

[flecc]

I now cannot inflate the new inner tube while it is in the tyre, but can when it is loose from the tyre. Had to take the biike home on the train, and walk it up the hills, got green slime everywhere.

What am I doing wrong? is my pump defunct? Can I really have 3 faulty tyres?

This can happen if the pump connector is pushed on too far or not enough, so experiment with the connector on to different degrees. It's unlikely to be the pump if it works when the tube is out. Also make sure the tube isn't folded at the valve point and trapped under the tyre beading at the edge.

A few people have luck with slime, but most find it fails them and I would personally never use it, more mess than convenience. Mending punctures on dry tubes is much easier than you might think.

P.S. Crossed with Mussels post.
.

 

[murphy61]

Halfords advised me not to bother with those self sealing tubes- slime tubes, I think they're called- as most punctures are caused by thorns and there's usually more than one, in which case they very often won't work.

 

[Mussels]

This can happen if the pump connector is pushed on too far or not enough, so experiment with the connector on to different degrees.

The 905 rims are very deep and normal valves are too short, I found them very awkward. I think the only ones that have been found suitable are Kenda or Continental.

 

[Mussels]

Halfords advised me not to bother with those self sealing tubes- slime tubes, I think they're called- as most punctures are caused by thorns and there's usually more than one, in which case they very often won't work.

Don't bother with the slime inserts either, I promise that on the 905 with Kenda tyres they will slice up the inner tubes.

 

[torrent99]

Thorns !?!? Long time since I saw one of them on a London road On the other hand broken glass is a good substitute

(The Schwalbe Marathons seem like a good investment though if you are using the bike as a commuter)

 

[flecc]

Thorns !?!? Long time since I saw one of them on a London road On the other hand broken glass is a good substitute

Try my London Borough of Croydon, thorns in abundance and broken glass.

Biggest thorn problems are usually on hedge lined cyclepaths after hedge cutting.

Same is probably true of all the leafy outer boroughs though.
.

 

[Mussels]

Try my London Borough of Croydon, thorns in abundance and broken glass.

Biggest thorn problems are usually on hedge lined cyclepaths after hedge cutting.

Same is probably true of all the leafy outer boroughs though.
.

Get thorns on lots of cycle paths in London, Thames path and various parks as they carry a lot of cycle routes. Glass is everywhere and the most common puncture of mine.

 

[torrent99]

Get thorns on lots of cycle paths in London, Thames path and various parks as they carry a lot of cycle routes. Glass is everywhere and the most common puncture of mine.

Alas I only get to ride on "on street" cycle paths a.k.a. glass collection areas...

 

[flecc]

Alas I only get to ride on "on street" cycle paths a.k.a. glass collection areas...

Yes, they are bad news, but fortunately lots of helpful motorists park on them in my area so I'm able to ignore them and ride well out in the road, avoiding the glass.
.

 

[rog_london]

I got a wisper 905se city a few weeks ago, just in time for all the snow. Promptly went on holiday (complete with wisper, and powercycle salisbury), so this is my first week for cycling to work.

(snip.....)

What am I doing wrong? is my pump defunct? Can I really have 3 faulty tyres?

Hi Joanna. What a nightmare!

Your pump, if it's the standard one which came with the bike, probably IS defunct. The guys from Wisper admit that it's a very sub-standard item which slipped in from China, and the latest ones should have that problem remedied. By all means pick up a decent replacement from Halfords, or any other decent or half-decent cycle shop.

Can't comment about the tyres yet - so far so good. As others have said, they need to be pumped up good 'n' hard though. At home I use a 12 volt tyre pump (from Argos) to get the recommended 50 psi or so. A hand pump generally will struggle to get up to that pressure, unless you have arm muscles like an all-in wrestler, so is best taken along as an emergency measure in case you get caught out.

Rog.

 

[JohnInStockie]

lots of cycle paths in London..

That sounds like a veritable paradise, he he he he ....

 

[flecc]

That sounds like a veritable paradise, he he he he ....

We've got so many of them there's 19 free maps to show where they all are.
.

 

[Vikki]

I used to use a footpump until it fell apart. I replaced it with a Master Blaster road pump. It is amazing and easily gets up to 60psi even with my feeble muscles. Its end stands on the ground with a little fold out thing to stick your hoof on. The handle flips round 90 degrees and gives an easy push down action, using your weight more than muscle power. I think it's great

Best regards.

Vikki.

 

[tenderbehind]

I'm always a bit tempted to inflate my 905 tyres using, discreetly, a garage inflator meant of course for car tyres ...

 

[alsmith]

I got one of the large pumps - I think they called it a track pump- from Aldi for around £10 I think. It is quite large and doesn't take so many strokes. No doubt the dearer ones will be better but this is OK, I haven't tried a more expensive one. A home thing rather than carrying with you but should make it easier.
But how about considering the CO2 cylinders? They are small and will be even easier to use so you can consider taking a couple on rides.
A quick google brought up this as a track pump, and CO2 cylinders, I'm not recommending the supplier in particular, just the first search results I came across.
I've not used the CO2 ones -perhaps others have?

And don't forget to inflate to the pressure usually shown on the tyre wall- around 75psi. Lower can make the punctures more likely.

 

[dazzie]

Sorry to hear about your first ride in being such a bitter sweet event Joanna! Hope you get things sorted and you can add me to the list of very happy customers of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres - virtually puncture proof and much lower rolling resistance than the big heavy wide mountain bike tyres found on the wisper - mine added over a mile an hour to my average trip speed.

 

[essexman]

. My 905 came with Kenda tyres QUOTE]


seriously! Who the hell would ship an expensive bike with such sh***y tyres! Thats really tight.

I have to say my kalkhoff continentals have been very good, it could persuade me away from the basic marathon.

PS For people who are of the skinny and weak armed persuasion, the ACME long tube bike pumps very hard work or just impossible. The best types of pumps can be placed on the ground a seperate tube and valve attaches to the inner tube valve and pumped using the body.

I use a cycleair on the road (very weak person friendly) and a big track pump at home. The top peak mini morph often gets very good reviews so worth considering. I've never used CO2, has anyone else? The real pro seems to be the compactness of the cylinder, but is it easy and flexible to use?

 

[Mussels]

And don't forget to inflate to the pressure usually shown on the tyre wall- around 75psi. Lower can make the punctures more likely.

It's not always a good idea to inflate to the highest pressure indicated on the trye, lightweight/cheap rims can't always take the pressure and will distort. Same goes for rims where V-brakes have worn them. This is more likely to happen with fatter tyres.