Originally Posted by Keith99
How have you managed to never have a ride from h3ll?
I know you do rather long rides. It would seem sooner or later you should have had some bad luck. On my very first double I ended up giving away my number 2 spare after less than 25 miles to a guy who was already on his 3rd flat. On one other long ride (2nd day of the Land Rush) about 150 miles in there was a very bad auto accident with glass everywhere. I'm sure several people flatted in that section.
I recall one other ride where I picked up a pieve of steel belt and went through both spares before I finally found it (yes I do line up the logos on tires, still missed it on the first 2 tries and it took over 5 minutes on the third try).
I've had flats on rides ... I've had multiple flats on rides ... but I just replace the tube each time.
However, in order to reduce the number of flats I get, I do the following:
-- replace my tires and tubes in the comfort of my own home relatively frequently. I don't go out on a ride of any distance (I'm talking a 600K, 1000K, or 1200K) with more than about 3000 kms on my tires.
-- use tires with a decent amount of tread ... I don't use racing tires. In fact, when I bought my Giant, it had racing tires on it. I flatted one of them as I was cycling home from the shop, and flatted the other one about an hour later while I was riding around. I hastily disposed of those tires!
-- ride very carefully. The moment I see anything in the way of road debris, I will do all that I can to avoid it. I have even gotten off the bicycle and cautiously walked it for a while or carried it over certain areas.
-- fill my tires to 90 psi rather than any higher pressure than that. That way I can run over sharpish rocks and they won't instantly put a hole in my tire.
Now, on the Last Chance 1200K last year, I had three flats ... goatheads got me! But I always carry at least three tubes with me (and for that ride they recommended more, because of these goatsheads, so I think I had 5 with me), and I always have a supply of them in my drop bags (I think I had about 5 in each bag).
This year on the BMB 1200K, I pinch-flatted both tires going over a bridge in the middle of the night. I hit a bit of metal that was sticking up. I hit so hard that at first I actually thought that both wheels were on the verge of collapse. On that ride I think I had 3 tubes with me, and about 3 tubes in each of my drop bags.