Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Pinch flats are a symptom, not a problem. Yea, the tire goes flat but if you have put the proper amount of air in the tire to prevent the tire from bottoming out on the rim, pinch flats aren’t a problem. Tubeless users make the mistake of saying that they can’t experience pinch flat, which is true. But if you run too low a pressure, the tire can still bottom out on the rim and, instead of pinching the tube, the rim gets bent. Now you’ve traded a 25¢ problem for a $200 problem.
I thought I’d done this recently and I don’t even run particularly low pressures. 80psi on a 25mm. Hit a pothole so hard the tyre was flat inside 30 metres. Couldn’t get it to stay inflated. Had to borrow a tube from my son to get home. Could see where the air was escaping and there was a small deformation in the rim. Once I’d got it home and redone the tyre from scratch it was fine though. Lucky.