Fifty Plus (50+) - Do flats just happen?

In the last 3 years I have had 2 flats. Yeah I know that some of you have 2 flats per day but my flats brought some questions to mind. My first flat occured after I had riden 3 miles and stopped to visit my mom. We were sitting and talking and the tube blew. There was a 1/4" diameter hole about 1" from the valve stem. I never saw or found anything that could have caused the tube to blow.

My second flat occured yesterday. I was doing my hill repeats and I dislike going fast down hill and I had a bad feeling about hitting the pavement at speed so I was riding cautiously and braking to keep my speed around 20 mph. Close to the bottom of the hill I applied the front brake to slow even more for my turn around and the bike had a feeling like a car with a brake dragging. The bike steering had a pull to the right which really felt strange. I started my turn around going to the left and had to struggle with the bike since it wanted to go to the right. I made it through the turn and was thinking about just riding it back up the hill but I decided that I needed to get off and see if I could see a problem. Well the front tire was flat. I have checked the tire and found a pin hole in the center outside of the tube. I have checked the tire itself and have not found anything that could have caused the flat.

So my questions are what could cause these type of flats to occur and is there anything that I can do to stop these wierd flats? The first tube blew after about 5 miles of riding the second tube developed the pin hole after about 3500 miles of riding.

sometimes they're an 'unexplained phenomenon'...sort of like how your dryer 'eats' single socks...

If you have 3000 miles on the tube/tire combination, it might be time to replace one or the other... rubber does tend to rot over time. When I was riding only one bike--I have since progressed to "n+1", I made it a point to change the tubes and tires at least once a year, even if it looked like it wasn't needed. Nothing worse than doing an "A" ride, only to have an untimely flat.

train safe--

A few years ago I was driving with my bike in the van and thought someone had shot at me. I was in the USA and we tourists can be apprehensive about your gun culture. A couple minutes later I stopped to look for bullet holes and discovered my bike tire had exploded. I had finished a long ride about a half hour earlier, so why it didn't blow then I will never know.

There is also something called "compression flats". This is caused by pressure that is too low, and the tire can bottom on on a bump, causing the tube to blow.

High pressure blow outs can sound like a gun shot. I was inflating a tire in the bike shop one day while a group of kids were at the counter talking skateboards. The tube started buldging from the tire and I was trying to deflate the tire but before I could get to the valve the tube blew like a shotgun. The kids jumped and then acted real cool like nothing had happened. I played along and said "man you guys must have nerves of steel. I didn't even see anyone flinch."

So it looks like flats do just happen. I do check for wear, cuts, buldges and blimishes on the tires but unless something looks unusual I ride until the tire wears so that it is getting so thin that the thread is about to show. After all lighter tires are supposed to be faster and cost more. I'll just make out like I am running scuffed tires like the Nascar guys.

There are so many comments in this thread that fly in the face of my experience that I hardly know where to start....
You've had TWO FLATS in three years? As you predicted, I've often had two in a day, and more often than not have two in a week (200 miles max, typically 125-150). Lots of thorns here in the desert--I can't even imagine cycling in a world where a flat tire was a mystery, or even a notable occurrence. Or, for that matter, where they were so rare that I had to get off the bike and look to see if I had one.
The "spontaneous" blowout could have been just that--a failure of a defective tube. More than likely, though, there was something else involved, previous damage or overinflation (don't use a gas station hose) or a protruding spoke or something. You'll never know now, and if it hasn't recurred, it's probably not worth worrying about. FWIW, I've had only two of those in 30+ years.
The other leak sounds like a classic puncture: You ran over something, a shard of glass or thorn or whatever, and it poked through the tire, punctured the tube, then fell out or was rubbed out by friction of the road. I'm amazed you haven't encountered it at least dozens of times.
You can't eliminate flats, but you can reduce the incidence by checking tire pressure, WITH A GAUGE, before every ride, inspecting the tires for thorns and other sharps, not jumping curbs or slamming through potholes, stuff like that. Also, as the other post mentioned, 3500 miles is a long way for a bike tire. I typically get half that or less. If they're worn thin or have age cracks (you can see the fabric through cracks in the rubber), replace them.
Really, though, flat tires are a fact of cycling. If you ride without at least a pump, patch kit, tire levers and the knowledge and skills to use them, you're begging for a walk home.

In Colorado esp. west of Denver as you enter the foothills and then the mountains
We don't have many flats

Flats happen when you've been a bad person and are feeling guilty.

I have noticed a modest increase in the frequency of tube failure flats, particularly at the base of the valve stem. I have also had a seam or two fail, mostly on older tubes.

3,500 miles is a good life to get out of a tyre and the rubber on it will be getting thin. Run over a sharp stone or flint and it will go through that thin rubber very easily. That is if the flint did not stay on the rubber and then get pushed into the tyre on each rotation. A good tip passed onto me by my LBS was to wipe the tyre after each ride with a damp rag. Then inspect the tyre for and flints- thorns or bits of glass that are in the rubber and not yet penetrated to the tube. Dig it out with a screwdriver- and it the tube starts hissing once it is removed- then you have the chance of repairing the puncture in the Living room and not on the road on the next ride.

And as to do flats just happen?---- Only to tightwads that don't fit new tyres when needed.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

A good tip passed onto me by my LBS was to wipe the tyre after each ride with a damp rag. Then inspect the tyre for and flints- thorns or bits of glass that are in the rubber and not yet penetrated to the tube. Dig it out with a screwdriver- and it the tube starts hissing once it is removed- then you have the chance of repairing the puncture in the Living room and not on the road on the next ride.


Oh yes - quite agree. I do this right before the wash and wax and every link chain clean - ah! then I can rack the bike. And I wonder why I have no time to ride:lol:

On your second flat, I'd attribute to old age.
New tube time.

I bought my touring bike in 2001 and have only ever had one flat. The bike gets loaded heavily, has been to Europe twice, has about 12,000 km on it, replaced the tires & tubes once. Touring bikes come with pretty good tires. Mine are 38 mm wide. Road bikes, with skinny tires and thin tread, will undoubtedly flat much more frequently.

2 flats in 3 years? How many miles do you ride in an average year?

I put new tires and tubes on the bike a year ago and have since had the two flats. I put the 3500 miles on the tires and tubes within the year. I want to see how many miles I can get on the tires so I am going to atleast wait until I get my next flat before I trash the tires.

I have nice and clean roads to ride on otherwise I would have to get some better/tougher tires.

2 flats in 3 years? How many miles do you ride in an average year?

I've just had eight in two weeks!!
One from a glass shard, one valve stem blew off, 4 from the same source which I eventually found - a piece of wire about the diameter of a hair and about 1/8" long and which several of us and myself missed when examining the tire several times and one from another piece of wire, probably from a roadsweeping brush. All the tires were new, BTW.

A few years ago I was driving with my bike in the van and thought someone had shot at me. I was in the USA and we tourists can be apprehensive about your gun culture. A couple minutes later I stopped to look for bullet holes and discovered my bike tire had exploded.you should have driven to a police station straight away to ensure the crazed gunman wasn't simply reloading more bullets into his clips. americans change like that when they're around their guns.

I've only had two ... and one occurred when my bike was in my car! I had my 'bent pumped up to its 100 psi max and left the bike in my car on a hot summer day. When I took it out, I found that the tube had blown apart - I'm presuming from it getting so hot that the pressure exceeded what the tube could hold or the tube seam weakening at high temps.

Two secrets to fewer flats:
1. Sufficient air pressure to prevent pinch flats. PSIMet's Tire Pressure Method (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=410701&highlight=)
2. New tires. An occasional flat is inevitable, but if I get two flats in a week, it is probably time for new tires.

More helpful tricks:

Wipe your tires occasionally, and especially after riding through suspicious looking debris. I use the leather on my glove for this.

Try to avoid riding through areas where trash pickup occurs. There is usually residual glass and other sharp bits lying in wait. Even after someone sweeps up broken glass there's plenty left over for our tires to pick up.

When possible avoid riding through grass or weeds slung into the road by mowers. Here lie many gremlins from nature waiting to work their way into our tires.

One thing I found out the hard way is that with many rims you better not use the nuts on presta valves. Tendency is to keep tightening them as they rattle or when you check them, then the valve stem pulls off the tube. Never use presta nuts!

Ok, one may want to put a nut on them when inflating with a CO2 inflator but then it should be removed.

My last flat was almost exactly 2 years ago. I had one of those !@#$% dual-sized 20" tubes in my front tire, and it had been in there for so long, the fold in the tube had abraded a small hole. The leak was slow, but it was in the middle of a metric century and I didn't want to have to keep stopping to pump it back up every few miles.

Barring a hole in your tire, a blowout was most likely caused by a pinched tube, i.e. the tube is poking out from under the tire bead. It's surprising how far you can ride that way; sometimes for a week or more before it finally gives out. By contrast, a snakebite (rim pinch) deflates fast enough to hear the air hissing out but there's no bang, and a spoke poke is much slower.

Flats are God's punishment for the sinful behavior of the rider for one or more of the following sins:

LUST - lusting after other's bikes.

ADULTERY - riding another's bike

GREED - having more than 6 bicycles

SLOTH - failing to do a weekly century

WRATH - being highly irritated by the Roadie forum.

ENVY - well, you know!

PRIDE - thinking that 50+ is an exalted state!

In Colorado esp. west of Denver as you enter the foothills and then the mountains
We don't have many flats
This is an interesting comment because it very much describes my own experience. I ride up here 95% of the time - mountain and road, though more road than mtn lately. I've had one road flat up here in 3 years of roading (@1k miles /yr), and only 2 mtn flats in 10 years.
Then last year on the MS150 ride from Broomfield to Fort Collins? Two flats!
I am one of those guys who inspects my road tires before every ride. I do wipe them with a shop cloth and then - from the stand - spin each tire looking or cracks, bulges, stuck on crap. Still not totally comfortable riding 50 mph on top of a one inch wide piece of rubber inflated to 110psi.

"My first flat occured after I had riden 3 miles and stopped to visit my mom".
"Close to the bottom of the hill I applied the front brake".

Seems obvious to me...don't visit your mom on your bike and don't use your brakes. :)

I get LOTS of flats in CO from goatheads.

"Do Flats Just Happen?"

No. There is always a cause and sometimes it can be quite obscure. Experience will help in detecting the cause and preventing flats. The cause can be both due to a penetration of the tire or problem with the rim or stem.

One interesting suggestion I heard once was to carry a small cotton ball and sweep the inside of your tire (tyre to those over the pond) to detect pinprick-sized snags.

I also subscribe to the twice-a-week rule. If I get two flats in a week then the tire is gone (barring exceptional circumstances like goatheads).

On our 224 mile ride to Paso Robles last week one guy had 4 flats in just a few miles then two more later in the day. All on the rear. Lots of very experienced riders but no one could figure it out. Even changed the rim tape there on the road. That evening he went out and bought two new tires and a case of tubes...Problem solved but nobody really had a good explanation for what was going on. His tires appeared to be worn at about 2/3's lifetime so there seemed like a reasonable amount of tread left.

On the Tandem- we have a fair amount of flats- a fair number of which are Flints and thorns. Last september I did a ride on the tandem and although it was not Offroad- The bike path was a broken surface all the way and in places had a few holes in it. On that ride we had 4 flats in 35 miles, all on the rear and each one was a snakebite. Only ever had a couple of those in 5 years offroad.

Only thing I can put it down to was that I was Pilot for that trip instead of stoker- and The inexperienced Stoker was heavy and stayed in the saddle all the way. No taking the strain off the tyre on the bad bits by standing on the pedals.

There are numerous reasons for Punctures- but if you do start getting them- there must be a reason.