There’s no tire that can resist nails; as base2 said, you can go tubeless if you expect to ride over nails a lot. Maxxis tires are not extra puncture resistant, but they’re light and supple, meaning squishy, and squishy tires (theoretically) deform around things rather than impaling themselves.

You’ll have to decide whether to keep the bike. Is there a reason you’re having so much difficulty? If you like the bike, keep it. I agree with pretty much everything base2 said.

FYI, fat bikes are heavy, meant for riding in sand and snow.

[QUOTE=steph746;23328829]

If there's a problem with shifting the Hardrock it would probably succumb to some troubleshooting without having to buy anything.

Mountain bike tires certainly look aggro but there's nothing special about their casings. They are available in tough or light, just like any bike tires. Ironically for this subforum, the toughest are downhill bike tires, which have enormous very soft treads, wildly inappropriate for the street.

Tubeless - I like it and use it. But I'd have a hard time recommending it to anyone who isn't fully committed. To do it right you need the specific tires AND rims. There used to be conversion kits for 26" non-tubeless MTB rims before tubeless became the default, but there are no longer. It's possible to do with enough tape or a sacrificial tube (this was called "ghetto tubeless" if you want a search term) but it's never going to be like the engineered fit you buy on a new bike today. And it's not a panacea, either. I've mostly found it moves maintenance home rather than preventing it. I've had one bad experience where I tried to patch a hole that probably didn't need it and driving in the plug just made the hole much larger.

Thank you for your reply. I do agree with you and I would definitely like to learn basic (perhaps intermediate) bike maintenance so I can be more self-sufficient. It seems to come down to time. I don't know if I have the time to invest and learn how to do it. I use YouTube to try to learn specific things, but I can't see myself using YouTube to learn how to change a rear flat or change the shifters.

I suppose that's why I go to the bike shop. It pains me every time and I feel guilty (like I should know how to do it), but I still go. I suppose it's the same as taking your car to a mechanic. I'm sure learning to do it yourself is much cheaper, but you have to invest the time.

Funny that you say that. I worked in bike shops for a few years, so I can do pretty much everything. I even have a lot of pro-grade tools. I feel guilty for NOT using my local shops much. The owner of one of them likes me so much (for some reason) that he won't even charge for small jobs. I try to pay, but he refuses to accept. So I buy inner tubes and cables from him. I get my parts at swap meets and such, so I barely need to buy anything retail.

base2's advice is excellent.

Shifter tweaks often involve the cabling. And cabling re-do requires the correct tools. It's not hard, but yes it does take time. The fiddling with the tuning of derailleur function often involves the cabling (adjusting tension, re-do of the cable and housing), sometimes the screws on the derailleurs. It can be frustrating, the first few hours of the first couple of times you do these. But if you go slowly, think about what each adjustment's accomplishing, and note the difference, fairly quickly it becomes second-nature.

Replacing a rear tube and/or tire is fairly simple. Yes, it can be quickly learned through watching a handful of how-to vids on Youtube or the Park Tool website. Again, once done a couple of times, it's easily understood.

Eventually, the teeth on the drivetrain wear to the point of needing refreshing. In my experience, more often a chain, but somewhat less often the chainrings and the cassette. It's easy enough to bring in the rear wheel to a shop in order to have them swap a cassette, but the chainrings and chain are easily accomplished. Again, there are how-to vids on these.

The suggestion to go at one job at a time is a good one, if you're leaning toward learning how to do these tasks yourself. The beauty is, going through them it's certain your knowledge of your own bike is enhanced, as is your ability to know what's wrong if a mishap occurs while on a ride. Something as basic as a tube change, while on a ride, is easily done if you have a couple of standard tools and spare tube with you. It's good to get to the point of knowing which basic tools to carry, which spares, and which simple tasks you're able to perform to get you home.

Did my first bike build at age ten. Wasn't much, but I handled the frame restoration, painting, hub maintenance, head maintenance, chain swap. (Didn't bother with the bottom bracket, but I'd have had a shop do the BB and crank if needed.) Wasn't a derailleur bike, so that was simpler. Only the chain tool was a specialty tool; the rest were basic garage/shop tools. A contemporary derailleur bike's got a few more adjustments to it, plus the cabling. Doing the cassette requires a couple of specialty tools for the task. As does the cabling/housing. But, again, with a bit of time and eventually acquiring the tools, it's neither costly nor difficult to pick up the know-how for each job.

Isn't for everyone, but many tasks are fairly easily done. If shop maintenance is your preference, that'll work too.

as a side note, yes you can use youtube to learn how to change a tube... I remember there was one where lance armstrong was showing the procedure. which is even more interesting is that during the leadville 100 toward the end of the race, he had a flat and decided it would take too much time to fix so he continued on it.

So, I got three flats in the past month or so. All on the rear tire. I don’t see any construction so I don’t think changing my route will do much. Just bad luck?

so, I am still looking for a new bike. I’m going thinking of Surly because they are built well. But I’m open to other brands.

i think basically I need thicker tires or something like that. Maybe mountain bike tires? Would that be practical for just using the bike to commute to work mainly? About 12 miles a day. My coworker has a pretty large mountain bike and he seems to go pretty quick on it. However, just wondering in general if larger mountain bike tires are the answer? Would they just get flats as easily as other thinner tires?

Flats on a commuter really suck. Where are the holes? Same place, sidewall or towards the rim?

mostly same place in the middle of the tire.

If you mean knobby tires, I recommend against that. They will make pedaling more of an effort, and they don't offer puncture protection. There are tires designed to prevent punctures, and they succeed to varying degrees but no tire that guarantees a puncture-free ride is worth riding, so you have to balance those criteria.

Most flats occur on the rear, so you may not need to get a puncture-resistant tire in the front. And when you get a flat in the front, it's easier to fix than one in the rear.

Surly bikes are well built. There are lots of brands to consider. Surly is a good one, though dollar for dollar, they are heavier than most. That's not a terrible thing, but it is one small drawback.

Three in a month! Yuck. Is it possible the tire is getting worn? That's a lot of screws and nails; if you keep riding that route, maybe you'll eventually pick them all up, and problem solved! :p Two options; tire liners, like these Rhinodillos I put in my rear wheel when I started to get flats (they come in different widths, so pick the right one for you), or Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, specifically made to be puncture resistant; you really only need one. And yes, tubeless is a good option if you insist on picking up hardware every time you ride, but it might require different wheels; it's certainly worth looking into.

Surlys are good bikes, but a different bike won't solve your flat problem. If you really just want a new bike, then go for it! The Bridge Club and the Ogre look pretty great, though I wish they still offered 26" wheels for the small sizes. You might also look at Priority Bicycles, and the Trek FX series. Anything you can take a test ride on, do it, for as long a ride as they'll let you. If you don't need it to be new, just new to you, give us your city and state, and we'll be happy to bike shop for you; sort through all the pretty junk and find the real gems.

EDIT: Your next post will be #10 and you can post pics! A lot of us would love to see your bike.

May have a small wire or thorn poking through. Mark your tire at the air valve when you get a flat and pair up your tube/puncture. I use a good pair of magnifying glasses to look for buried crud.

It actually was a small wire. I had the bike shop check it and I got a new tube. I do have Schwalbe tires on currently. The shop said they were more durable than the other tires I had, but still got a flat. They recommended Continental (forgot the model) if it continues.

Thank you Karina for your reply and offer. I'm open to brands, but have been looking at the Surly Straggler and Cross Check (used). I'd like something a bit more upright.

I commute about 12 miles/day mainly and could possibly get into some more weekend riding, but currently it's just the commuting.

I'm sorry about your flats, but realize that's nothing to do with the age of your bike. Might be the tire... There are two kinds of tire that are flat resistant and you could categorize them as "thick armor" and "hard armor".

Not only are there just road hazards, but we all can tell you stories of mistakes, like pinch flats from riding pressure too low, not finding the thorn or wire and popping it again, putting in a tube too skinny for the tire that has to herniate to fit and then is a time bomb for any disturbance, rim strip going wrinkled and having the spoke ends puncture it from the back side, just to name a few!

But if you want to get a new bike to keep up your enthusiasm you will find few here to dissuade you!

I do understand that flats would happen regardless of the bike. So, I do realize that I probably will get a flat on a new/newer bike. If I do get a new/newer bike, I'd go with whatever tires it comes with and then look to upgrade to a more puncture-resistant tire after that flat happens.

So, I would say the bike upgrade is not related to the flats. I am currently riding an early 90s Specialized Hard Rock.

The funny thing about Hardrocks and Antelopes and equivalent is that the early 90s were a peak for that style and price point of bike. If your bike says "Chromoly" on the tubing sticker, it's pretty good, and if it says "butted" on the tubing sticker and/or all the components are Shimano of the same trim level, then it's a great one to keep running. The big problem is, they're old now.

By Y2K they all came with suspension forks, which at that price level are just a coil spring. The components got lower trim level and sometimes unbranded to keep the price point down. The frames went to worse steel for the same reason. A few years later in the early-mid 2000's, the frames from most brands would all go aluminum, which was an improvement, but the components got even worse.

Your commute has Marathon Plus written all over it. Keep them pressured up to what is appropriate for the tire section (i.e. 60psi x 2") and you get rolling resistance comparable to other tires you have used. Surly bikes are nice but they are not made 'better' than anything else. Even department store BSO (bicycle shaped object) things hold up surprisingly well. Salsa makes some nice models that are cheaper than Surly. Trek's FX series as mentioned by Korina has something for everyone. FX2/3 are not beneath contempt. FX5/6 are very nice. Maybe even too nice for just a 12mi round trip commute. FX4? UK has some brands we don't see here in the U.S. so if you want the most complete information you need to visit a local bike store yourself.

Punctures are fairly random occurrences. I've had three flats in a week and then none for a year. If they happen in a rash like that, there might be a common cause, and there might not be.

Do you check the inside of the tires after a flat? I often find thorns, staples, wires, etc. I use the most sensitive thorn detector.. My fingertips. lol

Also check the spoke protector. Sometimes they get off center. Or maybe a spoke is protruding too far?

As noglider says, they are random. I can go weeks without a flat, then have one a week or more for a while. In the Phoenix area there's often leftover trimmings from Palo Verde and Mesquite in the bike lane.

Thanks again for all of the replies. So, it looks like it's just bad luck. There was some very thin wire inside of the tire that caused the flat this time. I've been looking at some used Surly bikes and came across this one that looks interesting. It is the Surly Pack Rat. Is anyone familiar with this model. It is built for front loading...

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4657218bf4.jpg

It's a bit of an oddball but not in a bad way. It was the last Surly that had rim brakes and it has the in-between 650B tire size. That makes it resemble the style of mid-20th-century French bikes promoted by Compass / Rene Herse, but the fine details are all Surly. So it won't be as fine, but instead of just a lunch, poncho, and Instamatic, it can carry All Your Stuff. Here's their blog post when they launched it. Surly Pack Rat Launch Blog | What is a Surly Pack Rat? | Surly Bikes

The one you show is an XL

Thanks for your reply. The owner says it is a 58cm size. That would correspond to XL? I'm just under 6 feet tall. Do you think this size would be ok for me? Do you know if larger tires can be installed on this bike or is 650B the max?

Most bike brands will have a chart like this.

Well, maybe not exactly like this. It's less so now, but for a while their marketing department was baked

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2b0a8f0129.png

The owner said it is a large (58cm) so I think it might be a good fit. I plan to check it out this weekend. Do you think $800 is a fair price if it is in good condition?

Also, I'm ideally looking for a more upright bike and it looks like if I use the top of this handlebar that it should be ok, but do you know if I can swap out he handlebars in the future. Some had a nice looking upright style of handlebar that I saw online. I think it was called the Jones Bar? Is anyone familiar with this?

It will be an ok fit, not a good or great one. If you want a more upright bike, keep your powder dry, and wait for one. But if you decide to get this bike, get a 50mm stem and SMP TRK saddle. It will be a lot of work to convert that bike over to flat-bar style. If you can do the work yourself it's worth it. Otherwise prolly not. I'd use an FSA Metropolis Bar or the Origin 8 lookalike. Jones bars are a little bit redneck for what you are after. City bar, maybe Moustache bar, is the style I think you are going for. I would take advantage of the fact that you will be using flat bar brake levers to 'upgrade' the calipers to V-Brakes. Those are old style cantilevers on there now. An acquired taste. 650B isn't so much a size of tire as it's a size of wheel diameter. You won't be able to change from 650B tires as long as you keep those wheels (which I recommend you do). I'm eyeballing those tires at 35mm to 40mm wide (and tall), and it looks like wider tires were on there before. There is no good reason to run the fenders so far from the tire. You've got room under there to go to 50mm possibly. The bike shop could tell you for certain.