krazygluon

Just curious...part of my commute takes me on a bikepath for the last ~2/3 of a mile to my workplace and riding home today in a 93degree heat index I managed to get a flat right at the end of the path. walking back (since my aprents house is closer to work than my apartment) I noticed lots of glass on the bikepath...thought I'd see if this is a general phenomena and as such yet another reason to stay off these things.

superted

I've only ever had 1 flat (2 weeks ago) and it was on the road, I cycled over a broken beer bottle remains. The tyre went pop and then hissed as all the air came screaming out, I could feel it on my leg.

notfred

I don't know, I don't ride on bike paths.

bmclaughlin807

My commute is half on a path, half on the roads, but I've never had a flat while riding, only slow leaks (on 2 occasions) that I repaired at my destination, so I don't know if I got the hole on the path or road! That said, I haven't gotten a single flat since I put on my new tires... they're cheapie kevlar belted tires from Performance.

krazygluon

I'm kinda upset with my tires...they're about amonth old and 2 flats (both seem to be from glass particles)...Continental Gatorskins...with that name and $40 per tire...I was hoping for more. I don't seem to be bonking on the commute, so I may add flatstrips and some slime if things don't improve. either that or invest in quickrelease skewers (both of my wheels are bolt-on)

BOIP

^ i replaced my rear tire with a gatorskin when i had that first flat. it has not failed yet (sure, it's only been a couple weeks).


this is purely anecdotal, but of the three flats i've had, i'd say two were on the road. all three were within about a week of each other. i discovered the first flat, which was in the rear tire, after my bike had been parked for a couple hours. the second flat (slow leak, really), in the front tire, was caused by a couple tiny glass fragments that tore through the tire. most likely occurred on the road. and the last flat was entirely my fault: i had just pumped up a tube when the valve stem ripped from the tube. that was about two weeks ago. so far, so good.

ken cummings

Definately roads. As can be expected as I ride on a lot of busy roads. Roofing staples that are bent like caltrops and flat headed nails are my big enemy even with Armadillo tires.

al-wagner

I ride both on the road and bike path and have NEVER gotten a flat tire. So I voted about the same

bike2math

We've had a series of house fires in my neighborhood, so with all the demolition and construction I've been picking up nails at a pretty steady two a month since March. usually within two blocks of my house so I just walk it home and fix the flat while I'm waiting for the leftovers to warm up. Not to many construction projects along the bikepath.

cyclezealot

Riding on the roads. SO much glass. California's construction. So many nails. AT the last in Murietta, I was getting a flat at least once a week. In a couple months, that even included our cars.
On the bike paths. Once saw condoms littering the roads. Don't think those cause flats.

sauerwald

I ride almost exclusively on roads, and have been blessed with no flats for the past 4,000 miles. Just an observation - last year, I was on a long road ride (450 miles), with about 100 riders. We had a few flats - nothing serious, until we hit one particular city (Haverhill, MA) where we had several flats (over 40 as a group, in about a 5 mile stretch) - the roads had a lot of debris, potholes and were generally yucky. I would therefore think that the state of the surface that you are riding on - MUP or road, would have a big effect.

In addition to the tires that you use (I put most of my miles on Schwalbe Marathons), the inflation pressure has a lot to do with it - rock hard tires are easier to puncture - let some air out, and enjoy a softer, more flat free ride.

jimmuter

I run over glass all of the time but have never gotten a flat from it. The only flats I've had in the past two years have been on bike paths. Both times I found a tack in my front tire. It makes me think someone set them there intentionally. My commute is about 1/2 path, 1/2 road.

krazygluon

hrm...so for 110psi tires go down to what, 80 or 90?

DataJunkie

I have not had a flat *knocks on wood*
Voted about the same.
I run kevlar tires, puncture resistant tubes, and tire liners. I believe sooner or later I will have a flat. My extra items on my wheels are to keep that from happening as long as possible.

Our bike paths tend to be fairly clean. The roads are not bad but if you will find any glass or nails it will be there.

CrosseyedCrickt

Every single flat I have gotten was on the bike path and I have never gotten one on the road.
The bikepath that I ride and refer to as the "Freeway" runs along side Metro Parkway, one of the most heavily used arterys in the metro area. There is about 8-10 feet of grass seperating the two and the bike path seems to be a target for everyones beer bottles and sacks of garbage as they travel down the parkway.

Mariner Fan

The bike trail I use is very clean other than some tree limbs now and then. The road ways here will have all kinds of crap on the sides. I guess cleaning the roads is way down on their priority list.

habernac

That's what I said a few weeks ago and last week I got my first flat in over 6000km of riding. I have no idea if I picked it up on the road or the bike path as my tire wasn't flat until the next morning. Picked up a small nail.

mihlbach

I'm guessing that on average all of us collectively put way more miles on roads than on bike paths..therefore biasing the votes toward road. I, for one, ride less than 1% of my miles on bike paths, so naturally nearly all of my flats have been on roads.

tachi131

I vote for roads in front of or near pubs or clubs where alcohol is served. I tend to find more broken beer bottles around those establishments; particularly after a Friday or Saturday night before the streetsweepers have been around. I've learnt a couple of times, broken glass and rubber don't go well together.

bike2math

I only do about 30 percent of my miles on roads. But 90 percent of my flats have been on roads.

oboeguy

I think I get more flats on the bike paths in NYC. That being said, I rarely ride my road bike on them for that reason; with the folder's Marathon tires, flats are rarely a problem anywhere.

ghettocruiser

Roads are swept more often, but they also have MUCH larger sources of flat-causing objects from the frequent car accidents around here. Riding at the edge of the road, roads are worse. But out in the lane where the cars drive, roads are better.

saharvey2

Bikepath, definately. After the winter rains the goats heads wash on to the bikepath. Those nasty thorn give me slow leaks on occasions. Most of the time I get home before having to fix the tire. On the other hand, the few flats I've had on the road are the hissing type. I have no choice but to fix the flat before going on.

Ny Cykel

This is one subject I needed to see results on, I ride bike trial and quiet streets when ever possible.
All year no flats there, but twice going to the grocery store on major city roads I got flats.

CBBaron

If you ride in the gutter/ hugging the curb you will get alot of flats on city streets even with tough tires. However if you ride in the tire tracks from the cars then the roads even in the worst part of town are pretty clean. It amazing how quickly auto traffic ejects debris to the side of the road.
Bike paths don't have this type of cleaning so if you ride in areas that tend to have your normal beer smashing drunks the bike paths will have glass across the path for much longer than the roads.
Craig