Winter Cycling - 2 Flats this morning!

I headed out this morning at 5:00 am for work. As I exited the warm garage immediately I noticed my front tire was flat. It was 25 degrees this morning, so I am outfitted w/ my warm riding clothes on. Back in the garage disrobing so I'm not a sweat ball to fix the flat. I changed the tube, but couldn't find the source of the leak. I checked the tire and found no culprit there either.

Out the door 10 minutes later redressed and happy. 30 minutes into my 15 mile ride I notice the same tire go flat. I had another tube with me but didn't want try it unless I really needed it. I pulled out my CO2 cartridge and found out the fitting was for a Shraeder valve not a presta:( Now I'm 35 minutes from work in the middle of nowhere in the pitch black with no one to blame but myself:mad:

I limped to work riding slowly. When I finally reached work and checked the tire there was a very small amount of air in the tube. I rechecked the tire and found nothing unusual. I'll have to go to the LBS and pick up a fitting or a small pump to figure this out. It'll be a long ride home tonight if I don't.

I almost always make note of the tire direction, and then submerge the tube in a sink to find the leak. From there I can get a general distance from the stem to know where to check the rim/tire. Or atleast know whether it's the spokes, the bead area, or the contact patch of the tire.

Stinks tracing them down... I went through several repeated flats before replacing my aged rim tape.

Well I inspected the tire closely while at lunch. I found a very small wire that I needed a magnifying glass and tweezers to excise. It looked like it was from steel belted radial auto tires and was less that 1/4" long. I never would have found it in the dark on the trail.

Bummer. Flats in the cold are a real PITA. Been there, done that. No T-Shirt, though.

The one and only reason I run Slime in my tubes is so I can find puncture holes. AFAIK, it's never actually sealed a hole for me, but it really cut down the time to find a hole.

This winter I'm running Specialized Armadillo (Kevlar reinforced) tires with tire liners and thorn-resistant slime-filled tubes. Even so, I had one flat from a screw that pierced them all.

Glad you were able to find the source of your flat. That small a wire might not have shown up even with running your hand around the inside of the tire.