Southwest - Is Tucson the Worst City for Flat Tires?

Hi guys,

I'm doing a little research for an article about the worst place in the U.S. for flat tires. A few mountain bike pro's are telling me Tucson is the worst for it's mix of cactus, goatsheads, and jagged rocks. Of course, that doesn't really address the road riding, but I'm wondering if any of you folks had any thoughts on whether or not Tucson is really that bad for flat tires.

Thanks and cheers,
-Matt

It's been almost 30 years since I lived in Tucson, but I certainly remember it being a good place to become proficient at fixing flats. I moved there from Michigan where I had had only a single flat in 3 years (about 10k miles) and experienced 3 flats in the first week in Tucson - all caused by cactus thorns.

I'm coming up on 1000 miles riding mostly in the SE Tucson/Vail area, and I've had only one flat. I contributed that flat to a screw or bolt that I rolled over. I've seen stray cactus pieces or other branches along the rode, but they're always easily avoidable...

I hope I didn't jinx myself....

In my first few years of living in Tucson, I would get a lot of pinch flats. Lots of gravel from drive ways in the paths I road. Not long after that, I discovered my floor pump gauge was way off. I may have been under-inflating for sometime. Now I ride around Sahuarita and Green Valley. Most of my flats have been puncture flats. (Bits of wire, thorns, etc).

Unless you are riding in the desert/offroad you shouldn't have a probably. And not running over anything that would give you a flat.

I have ridden in Tucson for 3 months (about 2000 km). I was getting a flat tire every week on my slicks until I swaped to semi-slicks.
In 90% it was cacti thorns that caused flats.

Tucson does have it's share of road hazards. I get flats on my bikes occasionally, but on my vehicles, I get all kinds of problems. There's ALOT of nails, screw points, metal slivers, goats heads, etc. all around town, and it seems like I'm at the service station regularly fixing leaks/flats. Just part of the experience, I suppose.
P.S. I am looking at going to airless tires for my bike, though.

I grew up in Tucson, now live in southern phoenix, and yes the cities suck for flats. Tucson has not only its share of thorns, wires, nails, screws, rocks, and sometimes huge numbers of pointy caterpillars. What really makes it a crap shoot though is the constant state of poor road maintenance there. Tucson may be one of the best riding cities in America, but I sometimes suspect the tube manuf.'s only say that to boost sales. :(

Living/riding in Tucson for 31+ years.
Flats happen . . .

I ride pretty much on the east side (south of 22nd, east of craycroft) and used to get front and back tire flats every single time I left the house from beer bottle glass, goat heads, drywall screws, mesquite/palo verde/cactus thorns. I went to my LBS and bought pre-slimed thick tubes, tire liners, and slick kevlar tires. So far, no flats (but no speed either!)

I ride the east side mostly... there are a lot of "glass holes" that like to throw/smash glass bottles right on the bike lanes.

It helps if you look far enough up the road, spot the danger, go around and not right threw it and if you run over glass I always scrub off my front and rear tire.

Running thin racing tires with thin tubes is not a smart idea either.

My flat strategy for Tucson

If you MTB: Stop hating your life and go tubeless. It's a better ride, and you'll rarely flat.
If you road ride: Ride a training tire like the Maxis Re-fuse or Vittoria Rubino. I flat once or twice a year on these.

Riding in Tucson can be troublesome because of all the small sharp items that find its way into the desert. I agree with brianallan's approach of making sure you ride with the proper tire.

Spend a little more now, save a lot later