Originally Posted by
1Coopgt
Dumb question. When I started riding bikes 48 years ago were tires and tubes that much better than today? From about the age of 8 till I was 17 I road my bikes and never had a flat or leaky tire. I rode on road and off every day (3 speed stingrays and 10 speed road bikes which I rode off road) I was doing cyclocross before it was a thing lol. Fast forward to today I'm 56 now and read where people are constantly having leaks /flat tires and actually carry spare tubes with them along with patch kits . What gives folks?
One fact:
The most reliable way to increase a bicycle tire's puncture resistance is to just use lots of thick tread rubber. That was true 100 years ago and it's still true today. The two tires with the best puncture resistance are probably the Schwalbe Marathon Plus and the CST Salvo, and (in the 26" x 1.75" size) they both use tread rubber that's around 7mm thick.
Various opinions:
Tire companies today have tried to create the impression that you can have paper-thin bicycle tires that weigh mere grams and that still won't get punctures--and that's not true, of any brand or casing material.
If you want less flats, get wider tires that have thicker tread rubber and run them at lower pressures.
Also it sounds silly, but
don't ride in the gutter of the street.... I've seen a lot of people who aren't regular riders do this, because they're trying to stay as far away from passing cars as possible. And they're constantly riding in the gutter where all the glass and nails end up. You have to try to keep your bicycle tires on
CLEAN pavement if you want them to live long lives....