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?
I remember getting flats, because I remember walking my bike up to the bike shop to buy patches and/or spare tubes. It must have happened at least a few times for me to remember it. Now, I will say back in the day, I used my bike mostly for getting around town, so if I got a flat, it was usually not more than a couple of miles from home.