Friction Drive causing flats?

thevacilando

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Sorry if this is the wrong section for this question, but I'm not sure what to do about a persistent flat I'm getting.

I'm running the staton friction drive on an 80's touring bike with 27inch road wheels. I've gone through three innertubes in a very short period of time and I'm wondering if the added pressure from the friction drive is the cause.

With the first two wheels, I noticed that the tubes seemed to have marks in them from the bead of the tire, It was the original tire and the bead actually seemed to be separating from the tire at certain spots on the inside. I put a new tire and a new tube on the bike yesterday, went out for a ride today and in no time I had another flat. Looks like I might have pinholes on either side of the valve.

The rim itself only has a thin plastic/rubber type guard around the spoke heads. Could the spoke heads be my problem? Could I fix that with electrical tape?

Or could I be using too much pressure with the drive system? Pushing it into the tire too far? Or are the tires improper? Would it be better to have this system on a mtb with lower pressure tires?

Basically, I feel like this has been caused by something I'm doing with the friction drive, because I wasn't getting flats like this by riding the bike alone.
 
Make sure that a spoke end is not protruding through the nipple. You might want to get a high quality fabric rim tape from a bike shop.
 
I had a problem with some Kenda thorn resistant tubes I bought at a local bike store that failed at the seams (that run across the tire), apparently from being flexed backward (from the depression made from the friction drive). Maybe it was a bad lot of tubes. I bought another brand at another bike store, filled it with Slime and haven't had a problem since. (I run Tuffies on the outside of the tube and the rubber rim liner that came with the bike (1981 Schwinn Cruiser 5) on the inside.
 
I had this problem as well with one of my friiction kits. I found that the softer tire I was using, combined with the friction roller was causing problems. A harder tire compound, less drive roller pressure, Mr. Tuffies tire liners, and extra thick thorn resistant tubes helped immmensly...
 
Sorry if this is the wrong section for this question, but I'm not sure what to do about a persistent flat I'm getting.

I'm running the staton friction drive on an 80's touring bike with 27inch road wheels. I've gone through three innertubes in a very short period of time and I'm wondering if the added pressure from the friction drive is the cause.

With the first two wheels, I noticed that the tubes seemed to have marks in them from the bead of the tire, It was the original tire and the bead actually seemed to be separating from the tire at certain spots on the inside. I put a new tire and a new tube on the bike yesterday, went out for a ride today and in no time I had another flat. Looks like I might have pinholes on either side of the valve.

The rim itself only has a thin plastic/rubber type guard around the spoke heads. Could the spoke heads be my problem? Could I fix that with electrical tape?

Or could I be using too much pressure with the drive system? Pushing it into the tire too far? Or are the tires improper? Would it be better to have this system on a mtb with lower pressure tires?

Basically, I feel like this has been caused by something I'm doing with the friction drive, because I wasn't getting flats like this by riding the bike alone.

Doesn't take (I have noticed on my MB) very much pressure down on the drive unit - to have no slippage - I figure the less the better as long as there is no slipping.. Spokes (if coming through) need to be filed down smooth.. Maybe a thicker better grade tire and tube ? Happy Riding from - Mountainman
 
One thing that may seem stupid to ask,,, but you aren't using screwdrivers to get your tire back on the rim, are you ? That will usually leave what I call, " Snakebites !" Two small holes less than an inch apart.
 
Twice now ive had a puncture that is more like a tear across the width of the tube. No sign of any thorn in the tyre so I wonder is the FD roller eating them up as it's on the side that would be going against the roller. After repairing the puncture the roller slips for a bit each time it goes over the patched area since I couldn't patch it while it was pumped the tear being the size it was. These were Commie Land's finest bargain basement tubes so that might have something to do with it. If the patch on this one stays good I might hold on to it for use in the front tyre
 
A 27" tire isn't very meaty when it come to friction drive. How much power are we
talking about here? Going WOT with a lotta torque will likely drag the tire across the
tube surface pinching it. Braking hard might do the same.
 
Just a quick question, what tyre pressures are you running? Tried pumping the up a bit harder? The reason I ask this is that I run a trike assisted by a 50cc Honda using a self designed/built friction drive. Competed in this in a 24 hour race and never touched the rear wheel. Tyre still showed tread after close to 800km. Guess running a 20" rear wheel with a BMX type tyre helps.
 
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