No time, in fact I don't even allow anytime to get to work early. I have a 14 minute leeway where I can clock in without needing approval. Only takes me 5 minutes to change a flat tire, but I don't carry a flat kit on my commuter bike since my route is so short. Strangest thing is that in 8 years of commuting to work I have never gotten a flat on my to work, it was always on the way home.

I have gotten one flat on the way to work, and after calling in and explaining I might be a little late due to a flat, they were cool about it.

I had hit the side of a rock or hole just right and tore a small hole in the sidewall of a Panaracer Pasela, and nearly blew out the spare tube before I noticed the hole. I was able to boot the tire with a piece of duct tape and ride it for another 150 miles before electing to "retire" it.

Like others here, I get many more flats on the way home vs on the way to work. Only one flat, a serious "end of the tire" glass slash about 1/4 mile from work. I think I have a theory, which related to the distribution of glass along my route and my fat 2" tires.

Mount Vernon, where I work has much more glass on the streets than the area near my home. So I get more punctures near work. But the fat tires give me enough to make it the rest of the way. OTOH, if I puncture leaving work, I'll be low to flat about halfway home.

BTW- the largest number of flats are discovered before the ride, where the tire will have bled out while sitting there, and I'll come to find a flat when getting ready to go. This pattern is so well established, that if I have an important AM appointment, I'll check the tires when I first get up, rather than find a nasty surprise when I need to be going.

I don't leave time, but I've had a few bad experiences already. For one flat it was lightly drizzling, except that when I sat down to fix it the skies opened up on me. Then there's the helicopter incident. I'm changing a flat, also on a wet day, near the east side heliport at 34th St in NYC when a copter comes down and sprays water everywhere. At that point I decide to just walk the rest. At least my hours are pretty flexible.

Where I ride (lower income side of San Antonio TX) appears to be very rough on tires. Cuts and gouges appear quickly and I even had a double flat (same object, apparently round) punch through the Kevlar belts of a new Serfas Drifter AND the Kevlar tire liner.

I'm thinking now that, all else being equal, flats are more common in drier climates where there isn't as much regular heavy rainfall to wash little sharp pointy objects away.

I will say that I have about 500 urban miles on a set of Conti Gator Hardshells now with no actual flats which is good around here. I do check the treads every day and have pulled out two tiny glass fragments even from these. As others have reported, the most fragile tires I have tried were Panracer Paselas; tore a sidewall on the first long ride.

Mike

I'm usually on time but if if I catch a flat in route or after work it takes anywhere bt 10-15 minutes

always a treat when that heliport sprays water everywhere

I love my panaracer pasela tourguard in 700 x 35. 2 flats in 5 years.

Iget in 45 minutes early. Where I report at 7 am is not where we work, so if I'm late , I'm holding
up others. That gives me time to cool down, change, and eat breakfast.

I leave no time for flats. My commute takes me about 20 minutes, and since we aren't allowed to work more than 40 hours a week and I often stay late, being 5-10 minutes late is not a problem as long as I make it up on the tail end of the day.

1-2 minutes. (spare ultra-light tube and micro-inflator). have only had to boot once on a commute.

You could carry a can of Vittoria Pitstop or similar - it is a sealer and inflator, will fix many flats at least temporarily, and only takes a minute to apply. Or you could practice changing a tube, normally it should take 5 min if you're fast, 10 if you're slow. That, plus flat-resistant tires, should be good enough. If your job is such that being 10 minutes late is a disaster, then seems you'd want to leave extra time for reasons other than flats. You could get hit by a car, wipe out on gravel, whatever.

i try to give myself 15 minutes. winter I give myself 20.
I carry a spare tube, a parks boot, co2 and a mountain morph g pump

I get to work 30 minutes early but I also shower,download data and eat before I start work so if I flat than I just start work late. All that being said, I leave early enough in that I can take nice sections of road without being bothered by cars. Translation being that I only flat on the way home.

I leave 30 minutes for emergencies. I had a flat in the Summer of 2012. Got to work on time. Normally, I use the extra time to sit at the 7-11 and drink a cup of coffee. The store is four blocks from my work.

I am another 30 minute guy. 30 minutes leaves enough time for contingencies.

I don't have a clock to punch so I just get to work when I get here and go home 9 hours later. If I had to, I'd add in 30 minutes (10 to change the tire, and 20 cursing the commuting gods for the flat in the first place). Every flat I've ever had has been on my way to work though.

It takes me less than 5 minutes to deal with a flat... I usually like to arrive earlier than this to my destination.

My work hours are flexible so I don't think of it for the ride in. The ride after work is to a commuter rail station, and I get to the closest one twenty minutes early, and the next one down the line on days I feel like a longer ride with about five minutes to spare. I used to practice changing flats, and can do it on five minutes. If I miss the train it is fifty minutes to the next one, so I usually ride one or two stations further down.

0 minutes on a typical day, 30 minutes early if I have anything important like a morning meeting that day. As others have said, you should be able to fix a flat in minutes. Those minutes can be made up when getting ready at work if being late is a big deal.

I've been late due to a snapped chain and a sheared bottom bracket spindle, those things are rare enough and forgivable with a call. Other things like broken pedal, frozen hub pawls, and tire blow outs have happened, but only on the ride home.

This is an interesting product! I like the idea of packing can of this stuff instead of spare tube, ect. It gets good marks from what I have read. Have you used it yourself?

This and products like it are good for nail punctures and small glass cuts, and are a great time saver in a pinch. OTOH, you should still carry the tube, tire levers and pump because this won't seal with on a bigger glass cut.

Never heard of this type of product before coming to Bike Forums. Took the not so big plunge and ordered a can from a favorite online retailer- nothing beats an extra measure of peace of mind while riding, commuting or otherwise.