I can't remember my last flat.

I'm not saying I didn't have my last flat. Of course, I did. I just can't remember when or where I had it.

I don't use any special tires to speak of, other than my Continentals (I'm not promoting them, in fact, my point is that I didn't think they were anything special as far as flat-prevention goes.) Am I just cheating probability? Am I overdue for another flat soon? If I get one, will I get several over the course of a week?

I'm not being overly superstitious, because I think the thinner tires wear, the easier they flat. But I'm wondering if anyone else out there seems to be "lucky" about flats. If you're out there, what do you think keeps you rolling?

(Maybe starting this thread was exactly what I needed to end my flat-free streak.)

I went a year without a flat. I then had three in a week. Feast or famine.

I have only had one flat over the last 5000 miles of (road) riding. It was a front tire blow off while I was crossing the street during a local century, and when I looked at the tube there was a long tear along one side of the tube. I suspect that it was because the bike shop I had put the tire on pinched the tube between the tire and the rim (exactly the reason I had them do it instead of doing it myself).

I think the things you can do to avoid a flat are,
1.make sure that your tires are inflated to the max PSI,
2. Make sure that the tube is seated well inside the tire, and not between the tire and the rim.

Of course road debris (etc.) changes the equation a bit, and I think offroad is a different story. Offroad I run the lowest reccomended tire pressure, because the ground around here tends to be wet. I have only pinch flatted with off road tires once, and that was because I hit a curb pretty hard on part of commute to work (the majority of which is offroad).

Sorry about the long winded response.

I do the same myself. I went 10,000km or so without any flats last year, then had seven in a month (including three in one day). I'm currently around 4,500km flat free.

Haven't had one yet. It's a source of constant worry. When will it happen? Sort of like when I tell people that I've never broken a bone; half the time their kind response is "Oh, well you just wait!".

I have changed out a couple of tires, when I bought the Lotus and had to replace the ones already on it, and so I know I can do it. Flats don't conveniently happen at home, however.

It's the 'where' and 'when' that give me pause.

I've had remarkably few, especially considering all the glistening stuff along the roads I ride. For me the common factor is always that the mosquitoes have just come out for the evening.

Last one we had was two years ago while riding CANDISC in North Dakota with the tandem. Don't know what caused it. We woke up in the morning and there it was, flat on the bottom side. We changed out the tube and have ridden on it ever since.

I've gone about 15 years without a flat now. Partly I attribute it to using either kevlar belted tires or tuffy tire liners, but not all of my bikes have these. Another reason might be the lack of spiny vegetation in Portland (unlike the goat's heads in New Mexico), because the city certainly doesn't do that good a job of keeping the streets and bike lanes clean...

I would think that puts you way outside of the probability curve! Dang!

Due to the recent snow days and our little wind storm last week the bike lanes on SE 17th near Waverley Country Club were practically impassable. Apart from the flat hazards, on roads such as this one the bike lanes are truly needed due to the volume and speed of traffic. After a couple of days, just when the missus and I decided we would clear the debris ourselves (it's true!) we discovered that someone else had apparently done it. City? Or perhaps a group such as Shift took it upon themselves. A pleasant surprise regardless, since the bike lanes around town tend to collect all manner of objects, from dead-fall to bagged garbage and even toys (When some home-owners say "my street", they obviously mean it in the strictest proprietary sense. ).

How often the city regularly cleans the streets has a lot to do with the neighborhood you live in. Nevertheless, I know of at least three organized efforts by Shift members to clean bike lanes after the recent storm; I participated in one of them (cleaning the ZooBomb runs - the other two efforts I know about were on the Hawthorne viaduct and on NE Broadway), and loaned supplies (brooms and safety gear) for two of the cleanups. It took the city WAY to long to clean the most heavily used bike lanes and bike routes after the storm - they very quickly spread the gravel for the safety of motorists during the storm, but took their sweet time to clean it up later for the safety of bicyclists - another example of our society's motorist-first mentality. I spent over a week badgering the city to clean the bike lanes on the bridges, and ended up writing a letter to the mayor's office about it, after I had a close call with a bus due to the gravel in the bike lane. (See this thread for a description of my incident w/ the bus: https://64.191.20.129/showthread.php?t=44474 )

Cripes! Keep after this. You may never identify the assailant, but that bus driver is in big trouble.

Tinkering on my bike this evening, I discovered (to my dismay) my rear tire was flat.



(Here it is Sat. night and I haven't ridden since Wed. I'll fix it tomorrow... Wonder what caused it?)

I too have witnessed the phenomenon of the mystery flat. On two occasions my wife's rear tire has gone flat while sitting idle on the balcony of our apartment. Both times I pumped it up and it held the air just fine. The flats occurred about two months apart, the last one something like six months ago.

Might this have something to do with rise and/or fall of barometric pressure?

Nothing so mysterious. I found a small piece of glass debris embedded in my tire which worked its way in far enough to reach my tube. Got to stay out of that debris.