Thanks for the detailed study. I see a bit of a hole that needs filling, though... you did not correct for weather, riding conditions, etc. I don't think your results are truly valid unless you had two identical bikes and riders riding through exactly the same debris on exactly the same road every day.

Although I agree with your conclusion. I am pretty lucky when it comes to flat prevention. I have been commuting to work on and off for the past six years on bad pavement and gravel, 14km each way, and never had a flat during a commute. I may have had two or three flats I discovered hours or days after I parked my bike, but I have actually never had to fix a flat on the rear of my IGH equipped bike (I would remember that).