tronnyjenkins 

I know I need to switch tires. How do I know? Because I was rolling with the Vittoria Rubino Pro Slicks on my Allez before I sold it. I got a flat on day one after installing the tires. It was a piece of a shell or rock or something and I thought it was a coincidence. Turns out it was an omen for the relationship I would have with these tires. I won't get into all the frustrating details, but let's say I had around 5-10 flats on those tires before I pulled them off. I'll be generous and say it was around 1000 miles.

Fast forward to this week. New Felt F3. Guess what tires came on it? (yep, the Rubino Pro Slicks!)
Thought I would give them another chance because I honestly like the way they roll, their light weight, and the grip (except in rain on white road paint). Well, under 100 miles on them and two flats! I'm done with these.


What tires do I need?
Riding style is 100-150 miles a week. Solo, T-Shirt rides, and group rides.
Texas chip seal/ill repair highways.

RonH

If you read thru Bike Forums you'll find that most folks, including me, love Continental Grand Prix 4000s. I haven't had flat in almost 3 years.

tronnyjenkins 

Those are the ones I was leaning toward, but I stumbled across some complaints of sidewall failures. Any truth to that?

NormanF

If flats sicken you, get Continental Gatorskins.

They're great for urban debris and goathead territory.

RonH

I've been riding on them since 2007/8? and am very please with them. Got a cut in a sidewall once but I was riding thru a bad" part of Atlanta with lots of glass and metal debris in the roadway.

IcySmooth52

Conti 4000S have my vote too. Once my Mavic Yksion tires wear out, I know what I'll be putting on next.

BTW, Continental's mountain tires are great too. And I've never ridden them, but there's plenty of talk about the GatorSkins.

fietsbob

the features added to the tread to reduce flats add weight and decrease ride supple ness . thats just how it is.

Marcus_Ti

OP are these puncture or pinch flats?

If they are puncture flats...do you live in goathead country?

10 Wheels

Flats are part of riding for most of us.

Looigi

Flat rate is highly variable. I haven't had a flat in the past 3k miles, but there have been times when I got 3 flats in one week. It's the nature of randomness.

GP

My #1 tip for avoiding flats: look ahead as you ride. Your bike will follow your eyes. If you have your head down and only are looking a couple feet ahead, it's too late to miss running things over.

#2 tip: be sure to get whatever caused the flat out of your tire before you put a new tube in.

#3 tip: never use a lever to install a tire. If the tire is too tight, switch tire brands or work on your technique/hand strength.

#4 is a PIA and I don't do it often enough: after a ride, check your tires for new cuts. If the cut looks big or has a space, let the air out of the tire and check for a little piece of glass stuck inside. I've found lots of little pieces of glass stuck in cuts being patient and working their way to the tube.

tronnyjenkins 

Thanks all. They're all puncture flats. I had one pinch flat, but it was substantial enough that I knew exactly when it happened and don't really count that against the tires.
I try to ride with my head in the game to avoid running over glass and debris when possible...

I haven't popped the tire off today to check for thorns or glass, but I will for sure. Flat before last (Wednesday) there actually was a thorn still stuck in the tire, I was very glad I checked for that!

Probably the most frustrating part is that my best riding buddy does the exact same trails/roads as me and I can remember ONE flat he had. LAST OCTOBER. Haha. (His tires are on my list to check out- Schwalbe Durano S)

MarkND

I've had good results with Continental Gatorskins. As in I've never had a flat and I'm on my second set after wearing out the first set. They probably aren't the fastest tire, but I'm not the lightest person either. I switched to them after getting to many flats. Flats suck!

Mark

jgadamski

In five years of daily commuting on US30 in NW Portland, aka 'the dirty 30', i had not had a flat on Specialized Armadillos. This is especially noteworthy as it is a high freight volume corridor with bike lanes that collect huge amounts of detritus from the trash and recycling trucks. They are not the fastest tire by a stretch. I probably would not put a set on my roadie. But they earn high marks for an urban bike.

danny124

I used to get them all the time and I run Continental Krylon tires. But I installed tire liners and it helped unbelievably.

Leebo

Rider weight, rim width, tire size used and psi? Run bigger tires?

TenSpeedV2

Gatorskins are not flat proof. Flats are bound to happen, be it a failed tube, road debris, improper pressure or whatever. I run Gatorskins on my bike and yep, I have had flats. One was a big piece of glass and the other a piece of what looked like a bent coat hanger. Stuff happens. It is all luck of the draw as to what is out there on the road.

Stucky

I haven't had a flat since switching to Gatorskins a few years ago. Life is good when you don't have to deal with flats.

grampa.sjb

Yup. I put on a new set of Gatorskins, and on the first ride, got a staple through the center of the rear tire - a weird kind of "snakebite"!

I haven't had any flats since then, and overall I'm pleased with them, but any tire can get a flat.

DrIsotope

I ride in what I believe to be the broken beer bottle capital of the world-- not to mention bullthorns (goatheads) growing right out in the cracks in the roadway. Flats became such an issue I now ride on Thickslick Elites, probably the heaviest tire you can buy in a 700x28. But they are as close as you can get to flatproof without riding on solid rubber hoops. More comfortable than Armadillos, even. Cheaper, too. If you can't get away from flatting, or you ride on roads as bad as the ones I frequent, a dedicated "urban" tire might be the way to go.

dmanthree

If you want a tough tire that rides pretty nice and rolls OK, look at the Conti GP 4Season. I've never flatted one of them. I put them on at the beginning of October and ride them through April. Excellent tires. For the summer riding I ride GP 4000s. And no flats this year!

The other tough tire that rolls nice is the Michelin Pro4 Endurance. Michelin updated it recently and it rolls nicely, in addition to being tough. Worth a look.

delcrossv

Not to my knowledge. We have them on two bikes- great tires, no issues

StanSeven

All good advice. Regarding number 1 above, someone at a LBS gave me a tip years ago - wear cycling glasses and watch for glass and debris. It's second nature now and I see stuff on the road without trying.

BlazingPedals

I'd put a new #1 in front of all the others:
1) Stay out of the shoulder. Ditto bike lanes. They should be renamed, "debris lanes."

tronnyjenkins 

Thanks all for the replies. Will definitely ride out of the shoulder when I have the courage here in Plano/Dallas.
I found a crazy good deal on some Scwalbe Durano 25c's. I'll definitely try the Conti tires next.