Gresp15C

I meet your criteria. I used to get a lot of flats, and thought it was just going to be a condition of my commute through an area where there seems to be a lot of broken glass and debris. Then I started using a Mr Tuffy on my rear wheel a couple years ago. No more flats. And I've been using super cheap tires, Cheng Shin C637. I got them before I heard about puncture proof tires.

I once tried taking the Mr Tuffy back out, to see if the ride was better, and it went flat overnight. There was glass embedded in the tire, that had not penetrated the Mr Tuffy. Then I found several more bits of glass. So the Mr Tuffy is definitely doing something.

As a result, I now have a new ritual, which is that I occasionally inspect my tires for embedded stuff, and pry it out with a little awl, which obviously has to be done delicately, lest the awl poke through the tube.

My general opinion is that all of the measures that seem logical, are probably beneficial, and they probably all add up. Belt and suspenders. But at the same time, you can't reduce the incidence of flats to zero, so you need a contingency. I've gotten pretty quick at changing a tube while on the road.

PennyTheDog

I use Schwalbe Marathon when there's no snow, and Schwalbe Marathon Winter, and I change them when the tread gets worn down. A couple years ago I started being really careful about the tube position when I change tires. After the tire is seated I go around both sides making sure no tube is peeking out under the tire before I inflate. If I see any tube I reposition and do it again. I'd guess it's been 8,000 miles since my last flat tire. I think most of my previous flats were from pinching.

Sullalto

let us know which one you choose and how it fares off-road! As well as if you feel it slows you down on the road. my 28mm marathon supremes are inadequate off the pavement.

mconlonx

I tried Marathons, good tires, more supple than I'd have ever thought; heavy.

I tried Panaracer T-Serv, good tires, light, supple, a joy to ride; not the best flat protection and I had bad luck with sidewall damage.

Now riding Panaracer RiBMo, lighter than Marathons, better flat protection than T-Serv, just right.

But that's it -- no tire goop, no tuffy liner; just properly inflated tires with built in flat protection. I still suffer through a flat or two every season, but it beats tires with no flat protection at all...

FBinNY 

Only foolproof method is to not ride the bike.

There are ways to reduce the chances, such as fluid sealants, belted tires, barriers inside the tire, and so on. But IME the biggest factor in flat probability isn't what you do, or what or how you ride. It's where you ride. My commuter is much more flat prone than my road bike with lighter thinner tires, but then again the road bike is ridden on better roads in nicer areas. There simply isn't a fraction of the amount of glass or other flat causers out there.

Wolf Dust

I will do that after I get them and at least ride them through the summer. Currently running Club Roost Cross Terra 700x35's...has great all-rounder abilities.

mgw4jc

Yes, please don't evaluate until after riding at least 20 miles per week for 3 months.

I started using Bontrager AW2 tires about a year ago. I rode about 4000 miles before replacing the rear due to tread wear. No flats. On my commute I see (and try to avoid) gravel from overflowing driveways or side roads and the occasional patch of broken glass.

caloso

Well said.

bmthom.gis

I don't meet your requirements...I have only been doing this for a year and a half, but I watch the road in front of me and try to avoid road hazards and not ride in the gutter, and to top off your tires every day (if you are using high pressure tires). I have no experience with goatheads here in South Carolina. Most of my debris is broken glass or sharp pieces of metal. The set of tires I have now are the first set I owned that have flat protection. I've gotten a few flats before I switched to these tires (I couldn't justify spending the extra money when the tires I had worked just fine). I am now using Pasela RibMos and with ~80 miles on them I am liking them. I'm sure I will eventually get a flat, but hopefully only a few a year (note: before I switched to these tires I probably have only gotten 5 flats in a year and a half with most of them being very slow leaking - slow enough where I got home and they were fine until the next morning when they were flat).

wphamilton

All of this is a bigger factor for me than are the tires I use. I have to be more concerned about fallen branches, water, seed pods and broken glass than sand, goatheads and road debris. Different environment than Ft Worth Tx but the same concept.

Wolf Dust

I know, I know, I'm a hypocrite! But I HAVE ridden the Club Roost's for 2 years. Redeemed?

FenderTL5

I've only had 1 flat in the last year running Bontrager AW1 Hard-Case Lite, 700x32c
Prior, I had as many as 11 flats in 8 months on other tires.

However, I think the tires have less to do with the fewer flats than the conscience decision to 'stay out of the gutter and debris.' YMMV

RubeRad

I made myself cycling panties out of Mr Tuffy tire liners. I can't even remember the last time I got a thorn in my a$$.

RubeRad

I'm sorry, I've only been commuting full-time 11mi/day for 2.5 years, but if I met your arcane requirements, I would say:

Mr Tuffy tire liners work very well (inside 700x32-ish tires)

Marathon Supreme tires work very well (700x50)

I got one flat in the Supremes in about 2000mi, it was a shard of metal that somehow stabbed through the sidewall. Prior to that on the Tuffys, if I ever got a flat it was a valve failure.

no motor?

This is my approach. My last flat was on the thicker heavier Town and Countries I use at the beginning and end of the riding season for me when a piece of glass pushed through one of the grooves in the tread.

surlymonk

I commute about 4,000 miles a year and have been running Vittoria Randonnuers since 2010. I've worn out one pair and own three other pairs on three bikes. I am still waiting for my first flat. I admit that there seems to be less glass and debris on the roads in Vermont than most other places I've ridden. This is probably just because we have a lot less traffic. I had maybe one flat a year before I started using the Vittorias. I will never use any other tire on the road as long as they keep making them.

HardyWeinberg

I don't know if they're changing gp4000s but I had one split from bead-to-bead boy was that a pain at around mile 200. Back to marathon supremes for that bike (28mm).

I have had great luck w/ all schwalbe tires. Marathon Supreme, Marathon Extreme (they don't make that one anymore, under that name at least), and Big Apple.

Giant Doofus

I hadn't heard this, but it rings true. I'm using Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. I've gotten to where I only check the pressure once a month, and even then they don't really need to be topped off. No kidding: I pumped them up to 80 PSI on March 1; checked again on April 1, and they were still at 75 PSI. My tubes have dunlop valves, and I had wondered whether that was what made the difference.

By the way, these tires have 1500 miles so far with no flats.

rmfnla

I don't see how; it's the tubes that retain the air, not the tires...

Giant Doofus

I'm really glad to hear this! I have a Bianchi Volpe on order and these are the tires it comes with. Here's hoping my luck with them will be as good as yours has been.

Andy_K 

I think it would also be worth asking:

1. What kind of flats each respondent typically encounters without the suggested protection scheme.
2. What kind of flats each respondent typically encounters with the suggested protection scheme.
3. At what mileage the suggested tires become prone to flats.

The OP is in the Rockies, which suggests to me that goat heads are a likely problem. I can tell you what prevents flats for me, but since I don't generally encounter goat heads it may be irrelevant.

Now, to answer the question:

I've had really good luck with 700x28 Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons and Schwalbe Marathon Supremes in a variety of sizes (700x32, 700x35, 700x50, 26x1.6).

With other tires, I've gotten flats from everything from sharp pebbles to shards of glass -- typical bike lane debris.

I had one pair of Conti GP 4 Seasons prevent all flats until the casing split, which is remarkable but the casing split at a lower mileage than I would have hoped for (2100 miles in the rear, 2800 in the front). With another pair of GP 4 Seasons I've gotten two rear flats from unknown causes (no physical evidence left in the tire) but probably just typical bike lane debris and another flat from a wood screw -- all three in under 1000 miles. So I'm not sure what to think with the GP 4 Seasons. Either my first pair was exceptionally good (or I got lucky) or the second pair was exceptionally bad (or I got unlucky). Factoring in other user experiences that I've read with these tires, I'm inclined to recommend them. I still have them on a bike that I use regularly, but it's not my go-to bad weather bike so I'm hedging a bit.

With the Marathon Supremes, I've put a total of about 5000 miles on four different sets of tires. To date, I've only accumulated as many as 3000 miles on any one set of those tires. After 3000 miles, those tires got three flats in 300 miles from random bike lane debris and I retired them. (Most tires have some mileage at which their puncture protection becomes ineffective.) Aside from that, I've gotten two flats from wood screws and one from a sharp piece of gravel cutting the sidewall. Pretty much nothing will stop a wood screw if its point gets squared up with the tire just right. The sidewall cut was from a fairly large piece of freshly broken gravel near a construction site. There are tires that would have been better with that, but it's a tough attack to stop.

The real problem here is that even 5000 miles over four sets of tires is a relatively small sample size. It's possible that I've just gotten lucky. However, other people report similar experiences with the Marathon Supremes, so I'm inclined to accept it as a reliable result until I see otherwise. On the other hand, at least one member of this forum has had a significantly contrary experience. I'm inclined to believe that this is attributable to differences in typical riding conditions.

walrus1

Echoing the people saying screw your requirements. You realize this is an open forum right?

I've tried various tires over the years and I've found that while tires help the single best, and cheapest, thing you can do is make sure you get your tires up to the maximum PSI of your rims or tires whichever is lower. Every time I lube my bike I check for glass in my tires and remove it.

Gresp15C

Valid questions. For me:
1. Like you say, typical road and bike path debris: Broken glass, bits of metal, possibly the occasional thorn.
2. None so far.
3. I've used cheap tires, so they pretty much start out flat-prone unless I use a MrTuffy. The last two, I replaced when I could see the cords.

Wolf Dust

Fixed it, all better now. Thanks

kickstart

I run 700B-38 Schwalbe Delta cruisers with Schwalbe tubes on my daily commuter. Other than avoiding obvious hazards, I don't take any special precautions as to what I ride over, or what part of the road I'm on, and no way in heck am I carrying my bike over the unpaved section of my commute.
Unlike many enthusiast commuters, I don't adjust my commute to work with my bike, I adjust my bike to work with my commute. I have had one flat in the past year on poor condition roads.

I have the same tires on my path racer but it has Sunlite tubes and they definitely loose pressure quicker. I have also read Dunlop valves hold pressure better than Schrader valves so I ordered some Dunlop valve tubes from Schwalbe to give them a try.