Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Sorry but your solution is just not true, especially when it comes to goatheads. I've gotten flats on tires that have built in tire liners and on knobbies which are a heavier tire than road tires. Slime, tire liners, heaviy tires, etc. can all fail. Even tubeless isn't foolproof. I've been on rides where tubeless guy's got flats from goatheads.
About the only thing that doesn't fail is a solid tire but given that installation of those is painfully difficult, ride quality suffers and they weigh somewhere north of what your average battleship weighs, they just aren't a very good option.
You can reduce the number of flats but you just can't stop them.
I think it's impossible to stop all flat as well but having lived in the Mojave Desert where Goatheads were rampant I was able to come up with a solution that I went from averaging 2 to 4 flats a day to none in 3 years and over 15,000 miles...I moved...just kidding. What I discovered was simply using Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires and a just a lightweight tube and no liner nor a thorn resistant tube, I never got another thorn flat the rest of the time I lived there. My only other sort of successful attempt was using Conti Hardshell with a Mr Tuffy and a thick tube but even that combo got me about 2 to 3 flats a week. I also found that the Armadillo and a ultralight tube was lighter than the combination Conti Hardshell, liner, and heavy tube.
Also in todays world there is a liner on the market that weighs almost nothing called the Panaracer FlatAway, I use that liner today but only on the rear (I use it on front and rear on my touring bike) and so far I haven't had a single flat on a tire that had that liner and my road bikes use lighter weight tires than the Armadillo.
Specialized did change the Armadillo All Condition tire to make it lighter since I last use them so not sure how the new one works against flats. But another tire company Schwalbe also makes a really nice flat resistant tire too called the Marathon. Both of those tires are heavier than a standard road tire but if flats are a huge issue than the weight is worth it vs setting on the side of the road repairing flats.