cvcman

I have about 1200 miles on my Giant carbon road bike..I keep getting rear flats, usually its small pcs of glass, pc of wire etc...the tires look like they have many small slits in them and always have tiny pcs of glass in these slits...are these tires junk or too soft ???
Is there a better tire ??

JanMM

What kind of tires? Kevlar or similar belt under the tread can help. Lots of glass where you ride?

Frankfast

I have the same problem with Kenda tires. I've had three flats in two weeks but I've ridden on them about three hundred miles before the problem started. There is lots of glass where I ride so I suspect the tires are too soft.

fietsbob

Im Using thorn resistant tubes inside marathon + tires..

they're 20" so not that heavy..

cvcman

Kenda, just std tires not kevlars that I know of....

ThermionicScott 

Hmm, I've put 3000 trouble-free miles on a set of Kenda Kwicks with no flat protection that I know of.

Myosmith

Flats can be just the luck of the draw. I've gone months without a flat and I've had two within a couple of hours. Tires do make a difference but sometimes it's just bad luck. My Specialized Armadillo have been great, but I've got some nothing special Bontragers on my other bike and haven't had a flat there either (just jinxed myself ). I had some Specialized All Condition (not Armadillo) earlier this spring and had several flats including the two in a day previously mentioned, but there is quite a bit of glass and assorted debris along roads around here so I can't blame the tires.

The Chemist

I've never had any problems with my Kenda Kwicks either. I tend to get about 3000km on a rear tire here in Shanghai before I start noticing problems with flats, mainly because the roads are pretty crappy and have a lot of debris. If I lived somewhere where the roads were better, I'd probably get more life out of them.

bjtesch

I'm 200+ but the Michelin 700x23's and 700x25's on my road bike could normally go 500 miles or so between flats. After I totaled my road bike I got a cheap Trek hybrid bike with 700x35 Bontragner tires and started having flat tire after flat tire. This was a used bike and the tires had a lot of wear, I think they had just worn thin in the middle.

Soft tires + thin tread + bad roads + bad luck = lotsa flats. And YMMV.

AlphaDogg

My Fuji road bike came with Kenda Kadence tires. The front tire developed a tear in cords of the sidewall after about 1000 miles. The LBS gave me a used gatorskin for free as a favor for me. The rear tire has a tire liner between the tube and the tire, so I rarely get flats unless they're pinch flats. But the rear tire is pretty squared off and I only have ~1800 miles on it. I'm gonna start next season with a pair of GP4000S's.

DannoXYZ 

It's not the tyres, it's the debris on the road. Glass is extremely difficult to fight. Best method I've found is to listen for the tell-tale >tick< sounds of running over glass. Then immediately rub on the tyre with a gloved hand to scrape the glass off. The glass typically does not go through on the first rotation, but requires repeated pounding to work its way through. Same with goat-heads and metal shards. Nails are usually the only thing that can puncture on 1st impact.

It's also a good idea to put in kevlar or Tuffy tyre-liners. These increase the thickness that must be penetrated before the object reaches the air-chamber of the tube. And using thorn-resistant tubes with a thicker side facing the tyre-tread also increases the thickness. And finally, add some sealant for that last-ditch effort. I rode cross-country, 3500-miles back in 1995 and got just 2 flats with that all-out combination.

Also, DO NOT pump up your tyres to maximum pressure possible. Use the Michelin on-line calculator to find a 15% sink-rate. I like a 20% sink-rate myself for improved traction and cornering-grip. Lower-pressure allows the tyre to wrap over and around the object and some of your weight will be on the surrounding tyre touching the ground. Higher-pressure will have the tyre not deform when you ride over that piece of glass. Instead, the entire contact-patch will be lifted up and onto the glass with all your weight bearing down on it. Much easier to puncture.

jimc101

From experience with Kenda tires, it is probably the tire, last year I needed a tire quickly for a rear replacement, and the LBS I went to had low end Kenda Kontendor 700x23 in stock, used a 700x23 and had regular punctures for the next few months (around 2500-300km) till I swapped for Conti GP4 Season 700x25. After the swap, I didn't have a puncture till I wore the tire to the threads.

I also used Kenda Kaliente Pros on a different bike, and these are a higher spec tire, and have found these to be great tires. and have yet to have a flat or any other issue with them.

The roads you ride on can make a difference, but in my case was riding both on similar roads so would discount this.

Kimmo

IMO fat tyres increase the chances a lot... skinny ones tend to spit stuff out the side, if they even roll over it.

Looigi

Yes. There is a lot of statistical and seasonal fluctuation in the rate of flatting. I've gone for many months without a flat and then have gotten multiple flats in a week and even on single rides. There was nothing I could point to other than luck.

cvcman

Im thinking of buying the Contenital gator skins...they are 40.00 ea n Amazon,thoughts on the price and tire ?
Mine have so many cuts in them now its amazing...I have been doing an early morning 21 mile ride at like 19.6mph just for fitness reasons then sometimes a longer afternoon and weekend rides...getting these flats is making me late for work

I just think these tires are real soft or something....

ThermionicScott 

Just to play devil's advocate, hard rubber doesn't grip as well, so it's not like softness always means "cheap".

Delmarva

That many cuts and nicks makes me think there is a lot of stuff on the road besides asphalt. You might consider a kevlar lined tire or just adding a kevlar belt.

cny-bikeman

You might also consider where you are riding on the road. Do not ride in or near the gutter, but take at least some of the road - as is your right - while still being considerate. The cars sweep the road where they travel but push all the mess to the side, and a heavy rain tends to both wash some from the roadway towards the shoulder and float some back onto the roadway from the gutter.

FBinNY 

+1,

Where, when and how you ride are major factors in flats. If you watched the women's road race in the Olympics this year, you saw the effect of rain on flats. On a dry day flats in competition are fairly rare, when it rains all bets are off. Some feel that rain washes stuff into the track, and that may be true. My personal theory (no science or research here, just a hunch) is that water lubricates the cutting action allowing stuff to slice in faster and deeper than when dry. (try cutting rubber with both a wet and dry knife to feel the difference).

Another observation is that tire survival is somewhat analogous that of combat pilots. Green (new) tires are very vulnerable, but with age and the seasoning effects of UV and weather, the rubber toughens and if a tire can make it a year, it could go flat free until the walls give out from age.

SteamingAlong

Conti Gatorskins are great tires.

^^^^^^^^
This is true, but some companies compensate with materials like "Black Chilli Powder".

I'm using Schwalbe Ultremo's, which are hard case slicks and they are supposed to be made from some such compound.

deacon mark

I have Kenda Kaliante iron cloaks great tire. Light get at least 2700 miles a set rare flat.

wroomwroomoops

+1 on t he Marathon Plus tires - though with those you shoot for practically indestructible.

fiestbob, why do you need such... "sturdy" set-up? And what is the brand/model of those thorn-resistant tubes (might want to buy me a few myself)?

wroomwroomoops

I ride exclusively on fat tires and have had two flats (due to puncture) in the last 10 years. So while there might be truth to your assertion, I find no factual evidence for it. And we both ride the same roads (same conditions).

EDIT: "have ridden", to be more precise. I see you now live down-under.

DannoXYZ 

My experience too. My hybrid & MTB downhiller with road-slicks have gotten much, much fewer flats per mile than my racing bike.

FBinNY 

Over 45 years and many tens of thousands of miles on a variety of tires from 25mm tubulars, to 2" slicks, I've found absolutely no correlation between flats and tire width. About the only variable I've seen consistently change flat frequency is rain, and I can understand why that would be so.

I've also found that I seem to get more flats at night and in the winter, or when I'm in a rush, but that might my imagination, since those are the instances I tend to remember the longest.