Originally Posted by
noodle soup
I see you've never ridden in the Southwest US.
Started in this sport while living in El Paso Texas and spent my first two years of riding and racing there. I got a lot of flats there. *shrug* That doesn't change anything I posted. Some people are flat magnets.
These threads always make me feel like when a customer buys a new tube and then goes and rides on it and gets a flat in the first month of having a new tube that we installed. They storm through the door sure in their conviction that they have been wronged and that we must be at fault somehow. While they're talking I find the hole and trace it back. "You ran over glass. Here it is." "That's impossible! I don't remember riding over any glass."
Me:
Them: "Well I better not get a flat on this new one this time."
Me: "The only way to remove the possibility of getting a flat is to not ride the bike. Things happen when you ride."
Them: "Oh, I understand that-"
Me: internally - "do you?"
As a shop you quickly dial in to the fact that there are repeat offenders in every group. Doesn't matter what they are riding, tire, etc.... while all these things will impact the absolute value of the frequency of occurrence it doesn't change the fact that for the same conditions and rides, etc...some people just get more flats than others.