Originally Posted by
acroy
out of curiosity... how often do you pinch flat those 23's? Mind if I ask how much you weigh? what type of rims & rubber do you use?
i'd like to plug your numbers into the interia calculation and see what I get compared to my setup
edit: interesting setup with the big ring & wide ratio cogset on back - how much do you use those lower gears?
cheers
You know one thing I've kept hearing through this whole discussion is people worried about flats with road bikes. I've run anywhere from 23's to 28's and never had a pinch flat. My understanding is that unless your tire is underinflated or too narrow for the rim, the chance of getting a pinch flat is pretty small. My weight runs between 150 and 160 FWIW.
Intuitively I understand the fear but I heard one comment that any gain in speed from using a road bike is lost in changing flats. I'd have to have flat almost everyday for that to be true. I've seen other people change flats, I've had slow leaks due to a tiny puncture but the one blowout I witnessed on my commute home happened to a guy running knobbies on his MTB.
My brother gets flats all the time on his MTB and doesn't even commute, though he does ride a lot. He is slightly over 200 lbs.