llieske

I've probably had the worst luck out of anyone in this entire forum when it comes to flat tires. I've got a decent road bike that weighs fairly light, me weighing in at about 2 bills. I've probably went through at least $80 in tires and C02 over the past couple weeks. It's like I get a flat every other day. I've tried slime, thin tubes, thorn resistant tubes and kevlar tires. All have a tendency to go flat if not sooner than later. Almost always pinch flats, but I've even had the people in bike shops put them in there for me perfectly. I'm careful how I ride, but there's so much damn debry on my route that it doesn't take more than a couple days till they go flat again and I'm trhowing down yet another 20-30 bucks on tubes.

What does it take to get a good, light-weight, reliable flatless tire? One that you could drill holes through and still ride on without even sacrificing a significant amount of performance compared to tubes.

If you know of any good flatless tire brands out there, I'd like to know since I'm simply fed up with tubes. I don't even care if I go 5mph less than I would with tubes. In my case going slower and a bumpier ride is way better than getting stranded.

I use my bike to commute to and from work (16 miles round trip everyday). It already sucks up over an hour out of my day just riding my bike, I simply don't have the time to deal with flats. Which for me seems to be inevitable with tubes.

MichaelW

Once you get a reliable system, punctures are quite rare.
For a commuter road bike, get the widest tyres that will fit into your frame/brakes. This will reduce the risk of pinch punctures and provide more cushioning if you hit a bump. A generous 25mm or a slim 28mm should work. Kevlar banded tyres tend to be quite robust and unforgiving and work better in wider sizes. Specialized Aramdillo and Schwalbe Marathon are regarded as two of the toughest brands.

Check the rim to make sure that spoke heads are not protruding into the inner tube. Some careless wheelbuilders use spokes that are too long. Check the valve hole and smoothe any sharp edges with emery cloth. Use reliable cloth rim tape, Velox is widely regarded as effective in reduicing punctures.

chicbicyclist

I've read of airless tires but I'm not sure if they are even available at reasonable costs anymore.

Cyclaholic

His tires are already airless, that's the problem.

Seriously tho, before you do anything else get a pair of Mr Tuffy liners into your tires. I commute upto 60 miles a day and was having a horrendous time with flats, my worst commute was 5 flats (yes, five ) on my way to work one morning. I was averaging 2 or 3 a week, then I got the liners and have only had one flat in the last 2 months since installing them.

I run Continental UltraGatorskins with kevlar in 700cX28. I was using the Schwalbe Marathon in 37 but without the liners there was no difference in the frequency of punctures. The fat marathons were significantly heavier, didn't grip or corner anywhere near as well, but were quite comfortable. I much prefer the Contis.

gcl8a

And be sure to check the tire for the offending stone, glass, thorn or whatever when you change the innertube!

tuolumne

Before you spend $80 on fixes again, spend it on prevention. That much will get you a pair of Specialized Armadillos shipped and no more problems.

nowheels

I'm not sure that yolu have had the worse luck......I have had about 10 flats this year and one blowout. All of these have been with anythng from a Conti Gatorskins to a Bontrager Hard case and a few in between. For the money Armadillos are gret, thought I never liked the ride. I am switching over to Panaracer Crosstowns on both my bikes. Have not had a flat yet.........thought they do run heavy.

RonH

I think "quality" tires are the answer. $80 sounds like you're riding on cheap tires. They NEVER work on crappy roads.

I average a flat about every 1500 miles on my road bike. The tires are 700x23 Continental GP 3000. ~$50 per tire.

On my commuter bike I had no flats on my first set of tires. The tires are 700x32 Panaracer Pasela TourGuard. ~$35 per tire.

Look for good deals on www.biketiresdirect.com or www.qbike.com or www.bestbikebuys.com.

DogBoy

This tells my you are likely riding on underinflated tires. Are you checking the psi prior to each ride (or at least every morning?) Since this is a road-bike, I'll assume you are riding 700-23 or 700-25. My experience is that every day the bike sits, it loses 10-20 psi until it gets down to 80 or 90 psi and then hovers. The tire still "feels" firm, but it isn't sufficient to hold me (220 lbs) up. If you are checking the inflation and still getting the flats, I'm stumped.

As to flat-resistant tires, I think the armadillos are tougher than the contis, but for a road-bike I much prefer the contis since they are lighter and seem to have better grip in corners. Downside of the contis is that I don't think the sidewall is reinforced with kevlar like the specialized. For a commuter though I recommend the armadillos.

CBBaron

Pinch flats are prevented by running the widest tire you can fit at the correct tire pressure. Make sure you check you pressure every couple days.
Punctures from the rim are prevented by cleaning burrs off the inside of the rim and using a good cloth rim tape.
Punctures from road debris are best prevented by using a good puncture resistant tire. On lightweight or inexpensive tires I get several flats a month, on good kevlar belted tires I get less than on a year. The Marathon Plus tire is probably the beefiest tire available and come in a variety of sizes. The Marathon Slick, Armadillo, and Gatorskin are faster tire that are still tough on punctures. I perfer a good tire over a tire liner but others perfer the opposite.
Make sure you take care of the first two items then get yourself a good tire.
Craig

kennyd

I've used both the conti Ultra Gatorskins and the Specialized Armadillos on my commuting roadbike and would recommend either of them. The only flat in the last 2 years has come from a pinch flat. I would recommend both. Armadillos are bit heavier...otherwise, 2 great tires.

per the post from DogBoy, check your inflation. If you're running too soft, you're asking for a pinch flat.

random97402guy

No flats since I got my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. They're the ultimate commuting tire for me.

dalmore

+++

If it's pinch flats - my bet is on underinflated tires. Check 'em every day. I routinely switch bikes so it's habit for me. I bought a gauge but I find that I almost always have to pump them up so I just use the gauge on the pump.

krazygluon

Pinch flats are not caused by debris. They're the result of a mixture of low inflation pressure and obstacles (particularly deep potholes and anything at least 1" tall standing up in the road, railroad tracks, etc)

Debris won't give you a pinch flat as far as I know.

The key is being anal about your tire pressure and avoiding big bumps (or anticipating them by standing out of the seat so you isolate some of your weight from the impact)

banerjek

A pact with the devil -- no such thing exists.

However, if you're willing to go with a heavier tire, it's another matter entirely. I've tried a number of tires, but nothing even comes close to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus. Heavy as heck, but a good ride, and I've never had a flat since I switched about a year ago.

A lot of people mention the Armadillos and since I rode them for 4 years, here's my opinion of them -- much more reliable than regular tires, reasonably cheap and a decent value. However, the ride is brutal and the wet weather traction is terrible. When I rode them, I typically got about a flat a month during the dry months and much more during the wet months (worst week ever, 8 flats).

The Armadillos is a heavy tire, but the Marathon Plus is significantly heavier than the Armadillo. For wet weather riding in the dark, it is definitely worth it. People complain about the Armadillos being hard to change, but they're not that bad (but harder than normal tires). The Marathon Plus is a total PITA to change, but you never have to do it because they're so reliable.

ducati

^^^ I side with the "improper inflation" crowd.

As a prior poster mentioned, I check my pressure every morning before leaving the house. 700x23 tires can lose a lot of air just in my daily 28 mile commute. Since I hammer across broken pavement, brick streets, and like to hop off curbs, I religiously watch my pressures.

So Cal commuter

+1 on the specialized armadillos. Also check your rim tape. If it's that crappy clear plastic, replace with velox cloth rim tape. The only two flats Ive had over the last 950 miles were from crappy rim tape/rim tape not being put on right at the factory.

Cyclepath

I run only non-belted, cheap kevlar-bead slicks, whatever's available at the time not made in China, 700x25, under $30 (some higher retail but on sale). Conti tubes. I make sure they are inflated to about 5 lbs over, the front a little more. Get about one flat a year. I'm always watching ahead to avoid debris.

LóFarkas

These against puctures, plus proper inflation and avoiding smashing into curbs and potholes against snakebites.

Dahon.Steve

Agreed.

The fear of pinch flat is overrated and doesn't happen often. I'm constantly picking out glass from my Schwalbe Marathon Slick tires and each one of those offenders would have cause a flat! I have the tire liner on my rear alone and it's been months since I had a flat. Only an industrial staple that was on the street managed to flat my tire by actually breaking the liner! You can save money by only using the liner on the rear wheel. The front wheel rarely flats.

SaabFan

But when it does, watch out! It's a lot easier to get brought down by a front flat than a rear.

Dahon.Steve

Agreed.

My bike came with cheap Ritchey Tom slicks that wore out fast. After about six months, the rear wheel would get a flat each time I went out on a ride. While waiting for my Marathon Slicks to arrive, I purchased those tire liners (Mr. Tuffy) from the LBS and to my surprise, no flats for four more months! The tire was BALDING and I still didn't get a flat! My Marathon Slicks finally arrived but there was no need to change because the liners were doing just fine. Then one Sunday, it happened, I got one more flat and decided to discard those cheap Tom Slicks once and for all and put on Marathons. I kid you not, those Tom Slicks were so thin, the rear tire felt thinner than the Tuffy tire liner!

By the way, I now have the Tire liners on along with the Marathon Slicks for extra protection. The liners never wear out and you can use them forever.

I think my rear Marathon with tire liner will last 4K miles and then I'll simply rotate the tires for an additional 1K or more!

Scorer75

Lots of advise for preventing flats from objects, but I gotta go with improper inflation and/or poor tires with weak sidealls.

In both cases, I'd spen the money on Specialized Armadillos. They make one now that has a reflective material on the sideall that's nice for commuters. Heavy? Yes. Not slower than stopping to change flats though. I honestly doubt many in here (if any at all) have a commute with worse streets and more glass than I do. I literally pop 3-4 curbs on my commute on 25mm tires, no pinch flats. I run my Armadillos at 120+ psi to avoid pinch flats and because of my weight, 235lb.

Cyclaholic

Do you mean swap front and rear tires? I've been warned that it could lead to the front end losing traction before the rear, but I can't speak from experience.

When my rear wears out I replace it with the front tire and put a new tire on the front wheel.

gcl8a

This is Sheldon Brown's advice. As mentioned above, the front is much less prone to flat, but if it does, it's more dangerous. I don't think traction, per se, is the issue, more durability.