PaulH

Schwalbe Marathon Plus with Mr. Tuffy here. I get flats maybe every 20,000 miles, or comparable to how often I get car flats.

Gnosis

Initially, I was doing relatively well in avoiding flat tires, but as I began pedaling out of the saddle on virtually every ascent and even on flat ground at times to hasten my pace, THAT’S when my rear flat tire plague began.

digibud

Do your flats often have two small holes like snake bites? If so they may be due to under inflating.

osco53

On my Mountain bike...
I run tubes by choice, I run enough pressure in my MTB so I don't pinch or have tire squirm, I never want for more traction.
In my fourth year now,,, ONE FLat, a massive thorn shaped like a Vampire's fang..

On my bent,,never in five years, I hit all kinds of things, have cut two tires so bad they were toast but never flatted, no liners ... who knows ?

Dan Burkhart 

+1. Most of my bikes wear these, a couple with plain old Marathons. Can't remember my last puncture. It's been years.

Dan Burkhart 

I know all about the roads in Winnipeg. Try driving a tightly sprung truck over them. Thankfully, it looks like the city is busy expanding the cycling path infrastructure. There is a new path that goes right past our terminal on Sherwin Ave.

Gnosis

Respectfully, you’re way off track in your analogy of my circumstance. They’re 26” x 2.0 street tires inflated to 70 and 74 PSI (front & rear), so they don’t experience pinch flats. I always run higher pressures.

Pedaling out of the saddle provides greater torque to the rear tire, making them more prone to driving debris into the rear tire (the front tire almost never goes flat). They’ve been pinhole flats from tiny pieces of metal which can’t be spotted when riding (i.e., just the needle portion of a small thumbtack and a fine piece of wire like that from a radial tire, both of which just barely penetrated the inside of the tire). They permitted me to ride several miles before I had to repair the tire, but as the air pressure dropped, the rear tire became “bouncy” and its rolling resistance became objectionable.

When the rear tire is inflated to 74 PSI (these 26” x 2.0 street tires are rated 60 to 80 PSI), my 32.6 pound Giant Rincon is a fast moving mountain bike, but by the time the pressure drops to 50 PSI, it begins to feel like a brake is dragging. If I can feel the slightest bounce in the rear tire, its air pressure is too low. Even though squeezing the tire with my fingers with 50 PSI gives the impression of a highly pressurized tire, it’s still too low to provide pleasing rolling efficiency.

My friend always thought 50 PSI was a good air pressure, but when I told him to inflate the tires to 70 PSI front and 74 PSI rear (I bought him the same set of tires because I knew he’d love them), he noticed how much easier it was to roll along at higher speeds. When he tried going back to 50 PSI, he was surprised by how much more effort was required to cruise at the same speeds. At their large volume, they still provide a satisfactory ride even at the higher tire pressures.

BlazingPedals

I had a rash of flats last spring. They were all weird occurrences, almost all snakebites. One I hit a rock in a corner. One was a 'stealth' pot hole. One I never found out what caused it. Only one was a tube pinch. Nothing (so far) this year.

az_cyclist

I run Conti Gatorskins. For the most part my flats are from wires, which I would dispute can be avoided. I did have a thorn go thru one a couple of weeks ago. They come and go. I would say I have less than a dozen a year, which would mean less than 1 a month. I ride between 5000 and 7000 miles a year.

Wileyrat

You all are tempting fate just talking about flats.

I got tired of chasing a leaky front tube on the mtn bike (had the tube out three times to be patched in two weeks), so last weekend I checked the tire for any protrusions into the tire, and replaced the tube.

I managed to pinch the tube.

I do much better on the road bike.

osco53

Flats are no big deal,, You get the wheel off, do the nasty, put the wheel back on and ride away,,,Nuttin to it.

Newso

I've had 3 road flats since the start of 2014 using Continental GP 4000 tires. The can roads are pretty bad in San Diego. I'm 165lbs and go 115psi

InTheRain

Once every five years on the commuter (specialized armadillos.) I've switched from armadillos (rough ride) to schwalbe marathon plus. Two months... no flats - hopefully that continues for several years.

On my road bike. A few flats each year (michelin krylions.) I recently switched to continental gator skins... slower than the krylions, but I'm hoping for even less flats. At 50+... it's not about speed anymore for me.

InTheRain

You do the nasty when you change a flat? hmm... interesting. I'll pass.

Doug64

When I was commuting, I had 5 flats in 5 days. Then it would go for a long time between flats. I like to ride light supple tires on all our bikes, including our touring bikes. On a 1000 mile ride last summer we had 4 flats, all within 2 days of the end. All were from goats heads. On a 3 month ride we got 13 flat tires between 2 bikes. Half were from goat heads. On average we get a total 3- 4 flats a year.



I really don't mind putting in a new tube while on the road. It takes 15 minutes at most, and is not a hassle. My wife can change a tube in about that time; and she is really proud of her skills remounting the tire without tools. I'll happily trade the responsiveness and lighter weight of the tires I use for changing out a tube once in awhile.

No, it is not a garage sale

Old_Roadie

I went tubeless 3 1/2 years ago and have had 1 flat in over 13k miles

fishboy316

I have about 1500 mi on my s5 and only had 1 flat. Was a small staple in the road in front of a plant nursery. Am running Vittoria proIII tires at 110lbs. They seem to hold up pretty well.(knock on Wood)

Bill

Wow Doug,looks real funky behind you in that shot!lol

Stopalot

This year so far has not been good for avoiding flats. This past weekend I had my 6th of the year. Spring is always the worst for flats around my area. All of the debris from the winter is scattered all over the sides of the roads and broken into very small pieces that are hard to see. As the rains come the roads get cleaner and the rest of the riding season is much better. I ride Continental 4000S 700/23.

JimF22003

I often go a year or more without flats. Now I've just had two flats in two days, on two separate bikes. Can't wait for today's ride

Mark Stone

This. Except I use Continental Touring Plus - My last flat was in maybe 2006? 2007? Schwalbe and Continental and maybe a few other brands are putting out excellent puncture resistant tires that make flats very, very rare. You're not going to win the TDF on them, but for commuting they are gorgeous. And yes I do live in a goathead city

GlennR

Well... i got my first... after 6800 flat free miles.

It was a pinch flat from hitting a pothole.

5 minutes later I was on my way again.

OldsCOOL

I wouldnt necessarily log that as being a flat since it was caused by the pothole.....though you still had to fix it.

OldsCOOL

Back in the day when riding on big, heavy 27" rims I never had a flat. Man, was that thing heavy by today's standards.

GlennR

I had to stop and replace the tube... its a flat.

OldsCOOL

Was the rim knocked out of true?