So far cheap tires are winning the day for me. I live south of the Denver metro area and there are trails everwhere, all 100% guaranteed to be chock full o' goatheady goodness, especially in late summer.

My wife and I bought a couple department store bikes with WTB Velociraptor tires one summer. This was before I got back into bikes seriously. One weekend between the two of us, we had EIGHT flats.

Fast forward a few years and now I'm commuting on a '90s rigid MTB. Afraid of constant flats, I went to Performance Bike store and bought a pair of Forte Gotham tires (26" x 1.75") and Forte puncture-resistant tubes. Those tubes come in a box that's twice the size of a regular MTB tube.

When I installed the tubes and tires, I immediately noticed the bike felt heavier. Much heavier. But, I've had zero flats since buying these tires, so I can't complain. The tires were around $13 each or something like that -really cheap!

I also commute and excercise on an older road bike and it's currently wearing $11 tires from Performance Bike - Forte Strava 700x25. I put them on this spring and haven't had a flat yet, despite being very nervous about those teeny little tires (it's my first real road bike). I "tiptoe" (ride slowly and carefully) over a couple short little dirt paths where it's ridiculous to ride the long way around for commuting purposes but it otherwise stays on the pavement and away from the goatheads.