banerjek

All true, but the problem is that real world installation conditions often suck. When you're by the side of a busy road in the dark, cold, and wet while trying to keep debris off the new tube and out of the old tire when you're tired and already late getting home, it's easier to screw up.

rpenmanparker 

Let me suggest you carry a can of Vittoria Pit Stop. It won't seal a big cut, but small punctures are no problem. Yes, it is pricey, but it sure is convenient in that inclement situation you just described. You can continue to ride that tube if you want, or change it, patch it or throw it away when you get home.

Or just add sealant to your tubes when you first install them. I wouldn't ride in the kind of conditions you describe, but if you do, taking advance precautions makes sense.

banerjek

I tried that once. The problem is fails you when you need it the most. What it's good for is limping home on small punctures from glass, wires, etc. But there are other kinds of flats you just have to swap out tubes and you often don't know what you're up against until you've pulled things apart. While an argument could be made you try the easy way first and revert to backup if that fails, having the first plan fail is demoralizing because the whole reason you're pulled over is you just experienced an unwelcome fail.

I probably carry more stuff for flats than most people, but I haven't walked due to a flat tire in over 30 years (that time, I was inadequately unprepared). For winter commutes, I like to carry tubes, tire boot, Lyzene road drive, CO2 inflator (pumps can fail), and some stick on patches. This will let you deal with big gashes, blowouts, double flats with margin to not quite get all the glass out. For urban hops when I'm only going a few miles, that might drop to 2 tubes and a couple CO2 carts since walking a few miles isn't that big a deal and it's pretty unlikely in the dry.

djb

re winter commutes--for me its these sort of fall and spring commutes (and especially fall because of the short daylight) warrant some real tough tires. I get the whole "more supple tire" thing, but screwing around in the dark and cold with a flat is never any fun, so a tougher tire to me is the first line of defence, and perhaps going over your tires more often in the warmth and light of your garage or wherever to check for little bits of stuff stuck in but that havent gone through yet.

I dont ride in winter (ie snow and ice) but I do ride up until then, in fact just got in from a commute at around 0c) and while I usually get about a flat per year , maybe two , as an average, I've been pretty lucky for cold dark flats.
I;ve always figured that in the dark and with puddles and junk on the road more in fall, chances of flats are a lot more just cuz we dont see stuff that we would see in daylight and avoid it.

rpenmanparker 

You pays your money, and you takes your chances. Live by the sword, die by the sword. And lots of other stupid sayings apply here.

djb

better born lucky than rich?

that would apply to flats in any case.....

banerjek

Add in the that many areas throw rock chips down to provide grip in ice/snow the fact that water helps make things adhere to your tires and then lubricates them as they penetrate, and the flat problem gets much worse.

But some inconvenience and added expense is way better than not getting to ride.

djb

this is one of the reasons I tend to ride my old mtn bike with 26x1.5 regular Marathons on, riding over all kinds of the small sharp rock bits grit stuff goes better than on my 28mm gatorskins (which do very well all in all considering) but the last time I had a pinch flat was on the 1.5s but it was due to the old "puddle hiding the small pothole with a rather sharp edge" thing, that if dry I would have never gone over because I would have instinctively avoided it.

Gatorskins for me are a great tire for handling a certain amount of sharp stuff. I once rode loaded on a very long section of gravel of a road being torn up completely, and some of it was with pretty large stones, and not smooth. I did slow down a fair amount but given I had a good 40lbs on the bike, the 28s had no issues--I still put most of that down to the lines I chose and speed going over sharp stuff I couldnt avoid.

banerjek

Mystery solved.

After getting another flat today this morning I took a really close look at the tire since all the other flats were in the dark during rainstorms. Anyhoo, I discovered about 1/4" where the bead was separating from the sidewall and that was cutting my tubes -- i.e. except for a recent hard hit on the front, I don't know for a fact my other flats were pinch flats.

I put a couple layers of electrical tape over the separation which got me into work and should get me home where I can mount a new tire.

Of course I had to touch my chain when changing the flat (haven't had to do that in years) -- and this would be the day I had to meet with a candidate within 3 minutes of arriving at work. But everything is back on track.

djb

typical sort of troubleshooting, this happens in life sometimes, we expect something to be the cause of X, and only later find out the little surprises. Hope a new tire gets rid of the flats. Repeating flats are annoying (touch wood).