Air-filled wheel problems...any advice please?

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

I have had buggies with air-filled wheels for 10 years but seem to be getting punctures all the time at the moment.

I've never used slime because I was worried that it would make the buggy heavier to push but I admit that I don't really know how it works so could be totally wrong.

The pushchair which is causing problems at the moment is my ABC triple. I bought a few inner tubes from go outdoors (cheap) and the wheels always seem to be flat when I go to use the buggy. There is still tread on the tyres but I'm considering buying new tyres and inner tubes in the hope that I'll be puncture-free for the foreseeable.

Any tyre/inner-tube recommendations? Is slime worth doing or will it make an already heavy triple buggy impossible to push up a big hill? Should I go to a proper bike shop or any online recommendations?

I get my inner tubes ASC Ltd on ebay, about £6 for two.
I don't get many punctures, around once every six months i change the inner tubes. Never used slime but i have purchased something similar from poundland which did the job in an emergency. Just carry a tube of sludge/simular around with you for emergencies.

I have a phil & teds sport, quinny buzz and mamas & papas herbie and i find the inner tubes listed above very good.

If you do get new tyres, ebay do good ones that have lasted me for a year and still going strong.

Slime makes it harder (impossible) to repair punctures, but doesn't sound like you would try.
Slime does not make buggy noticeably harder to push ime.
Only put in recommended amount if you do try slime.

If you do buy new tyres or tubes I recommend that you buy quality ones, not the cheapest available.

Thanks for the reply...I'll have a look on eBay.

The first P&T I had was in daily use for 3 years and I only had one puncture, in one wheel, in all that time. At the moment, I'm getting a puncture every couple of weeks but I wonder if it's because of carrying more weight due to the abc carrying three children. Also, I'm not making note of which wheel is flat each time so it could be either back wheel or both.

X-post (slow typing)

No, I don't try to repair the punctures. I generally only notice the flat as I'm about to go out so find it much quicker/easier to change the inner tube. I do have a couple of punctured ones though that I thought I could repair and have as spares but have been stuffed into a drawer out of the way

Hi Hiccup Just thought I would mention that I am a fellow ABC triple owner and we put the slime in the wheels as soon as we bought ours, just to make sure of no punctures. It's been brilliant - we've had our ABC for about a year and no punctures yet!
To be doubly sure, I would buy new new tyres and before even using them, I would use the slime to just make sure that there are absolutely no punctures.
I can't really comment on how good the other 'slime's are, but we use this one from Halfords; although as long as it's the same brand, I'm sure you could find it cheaper online.
Good luck :)

Are you sure there aren't any sharp object still embedded in the tyre, you've checked tyres carefully after each puncture, right?

Thanks, Kate.

I think I'll give the slime a try

My ABC is a single with a single on top and another infront. I bought it secondhand so not sure how long the wheels had been used before I had it. At the moment, I'm choosing to go by car instead of walking with the abc because I'm so paranoid that I'm going to get stranded with a puncture which is such a shame because it's such a good workout pushing all that weight to and from nursery .

I put slime in most of my air filled tyres (the rest is because DH forgot!) and I have never had a puncture yet :)

Slime, slime, slime!

And stop buying cheap inner tubes, they are a false economy. I say that as a cyclist and pusher of various air tyred pushchairs.

Ooh Hiccup I don't think I've seen one like that before? Sounds exciting!
I've got the double with a single seat on top for my triplets. It's such a brilliant buggy - before this one I was subjected to a triple tandem buggy... was like pushing the Titanic!
How are the slimed tyres doing?

It certainly gets a lot of attention when I take it out!! It is fabulous but slightly redundant with the current puncture issues.

Thanks for all the advice and I will give slime a go.

Unfortunately, my car has been under a few inches of snow since Friday so I haven't been able to get out to buy new tyres, inner tubes or slime and don't really know where to start with choosing somewhere online.

Can anyone recommend a brand of tyre? Or should I just start with better quality inner tubes with slime?

Yes we get lots of attention too when our with ours too!
Sorry, I can't recommend any brand of tyres as we bought our ABC brand new and haven't had to replace the tyres yet. But maybe have a google on other parenting forums - I've got lots of tips from places like netmums, from other mums who have an ABC.
Maybe just start with a good inner tube and slime.

I've just been to halfords and bought some new inner tubes and a bottle of slime. I now have half an hour without children. I wonder if I can change all four wheels in that time...

The main causes for punctures on tyres are firstly if they're not full inflated, as the inner tube can pinch between the tyre and the wheel, so first thing is to check the pressure and make sure they're correctly inflated as often as you can, say once a month.

Then the other thing to avoid is the old fashioned wheel, the metal spoked wheels, as the size of pushchair wheels is much smaller than a bike the spokes are more angled and can eventually pierce the tape on the wheel and then the inner tube, so you should avoid these. Mind some of the metal wheels you might find don't have a real spoke thats screwed into the wheel rim, these are welded, but again sometimes the weld can be a bit scrappy on the inside and this can causes punctures.

The chance of getting a puncture due to a thorn or something piercing the tyre itself is probably the last cause, and again this is more prone to happen if the tyre is under inflated.

That's really useful, thanks. I will definitely keep it in mind in future .

All tyres still inflated at the moment but will check the pressure...how would I find out what it needs to be?

I promise I don't work for this company and you might be able to get it elsewhere but www.oybcycles.com/ is amazing. My i candy apple tyres started to get lots of punctures after two years of use so I bought new tyres from this site.

They sell an amazing thick plastic lining ('easy rolling tread') that comes inside the tyre and basically blocks punctures. It means no messy slime and it was easy to fit onto the wheel. I've had no punctures after another year of use.