Have to start my own flat tire thread...
 

This is a spinoff from the "fewest flats" thread, but I have to start a new thread because YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK!
I'm a nice guy. I donate to charity. I love my wife and I'm faithful to her. I treat my children well. Despite that, two years ago I averaged a flat about every 50 miles, including nine in a single century (my fault; I ran over a thorny vine and missed several hidden stickers) and six in one day on my 24-mile round-trip commute.
I'm a long-time rider (30+ years as an adult), and I buy good equipment (most recently Armadillos and Panaracer Pasela TGs). I inflate the tires to the correct pressure. I ride around potholes and obvious glass and sharp stuff. But we live in the land of billions of big thorns (they'll go through a Mr. Tuffy like it's not even there), and the local high school kids drive around on Friday nights drinking beer and throwing the bottles into the street so the cops won't find evidence. Riding in some areas on Saturday mornings in summer is like cycling down a diamond path, with millions of glass shards glittering as you go. I didn't keep close track in 2006, but I noted flats in my training log in '04 and '05, and I think only twice in two years did I go 100 miles without a flat. On another site a few weeks ago, I read a post from a guy in Louisiana who said he'd been riding for FOUR YEARS, more than 12,000 miles, and just got his FIRST flat. He wanted to know if he should re-use the tire or throw it away. Why me, Lord?

Thats it Dog, you got a move!

Schwalbe Marathon Plus, could be what you need.

http://www.schwalbetires.com/

happy riding

george

If it makes you feel better I'll admit my beer was flat last night. :eek:

Best hopes for a good Flatless 2007 !

Your post makes me feel much better about my 5 flats in 25 miles:)

Mine was due to a burr on the rim and a break in the tape. I've had no flats since that's been fixed.

Hope 2007 brings less flats for you.

Sounds like solid tires might just do the trick! Seriously that would take all the fun out of riding for me. Congrats on hanging in there. We're fortunate and do not have thorn issues in this neck of the woods.

I lived in Phoenix, AZ for 6 horrible years of flats (1981 - 1987). Thorns and road debris everywhere.

My solution? I took up running. Until my knees, my lower back started giving me problems. Fortunately, my wife finished her degree at ASU around the same time, and we moved back to Wisconsin. I have been biking ever since. Running was nice, but it takes a toll on your body.

No road flats in 6500 miles for 2006. Two stem flats though, but not while riding. Switched to Michelin inner tubes and we'll see how that goes.

So, with all of your experience, you'd be a good person to advise all of the people who want to know what kind of frame pump to buy.

I've got to know because I'm thinking that we have it good in Missouri, Is your experience typical of other bike riders in your area?

While they add weight, if I had that many flats, I would definitely be using the No Mor Flats product.

http://www.nomorflats.com/

Of course, if you have a thin-tire road bike, it does not work for them. Minimum sized tire is 27x1.25" at 85-95 psi.

Stem flats! I hate 'em. Mostly I cause 'em. Now, I love my HPX full size frame pump and won't part with it. I've used it to threaten dogs, made people laugh by using it to simulate farts (the boyish side of middle aged guys riding together), have "almost" stuck it in the spokes of OCP's or anyone faster than me, etc.

But, I have also used it so vigorously, carelessly, and without securing the wheel against something because I'm lazy and in a hurry.......that not infrequently my 5)#@+ pumping causes partial separation of stem from tube----pppssssstttt! Try patching that one.

Betcha nobody else here does that.

DDog,
If your ride is taking you through downtown Bagdad I have some suggestions.Try using Serfac tires with flat protection and as extra insurance.fill the tube with 4-6 ounces of Slime.I run 700x28 on my roadie without a problem all year.
You do carry a frame pump and tube or patch right?

sorry(Serfas)notSerfac

In 2005 I drove the high road from Santa Fe to Taos, NM. I swear that the birms of the road were covered in broken glass for about 2/3rds of the trip. I've never seen anything like it. It was almost like the road crews had laid it down like gravel.

A couple of months ago, I watched guys fixing a flat destroy a tube that way, and about the same time read something about how easy that is to do with a frame pump, and that made me decide to upgrade my frame pumps to Topeak Morphs, which have a hose and operate like a floor pump. I already had one frame pump with a hose, now I just need two more, and one is one the way.

Nope, that's too easy. I'm one of those people who insist on pushing when the sign on the door says pull.

I used to have about one flat every other year. My mileage varied from 800 to 1200 a year. Then I said enough and put in Tuffies tire liners. After I put those in no flats. Mind you I live in Wisconsin and we don't have many sharp thorns.
This year on my trike, I had Marathon slicks. My first flat came at about 1700 miles. It was during the Sunday ride of the bent rally in Stevens Point. I had a couple of people help me, which in retrospect was probably a mistake, but they meant well. Anyway, I decided just to swap out the tube with a new spare that I carry and started pumping away with my hand pump(it wasn't a very good one, but it worked). One of the other fellows offered to help pump so I said sure. He really pumped away. Then he torn my valve stem off. Okay, so I had to fix the original tube. I carry two patch kits with me just in case. Well, the patches in the first kit wouldn't stick. Damn, I thought, can this get any worse? I hadn't looked at the second patch kit until then. It was then I noticed that they were very thin self sticking patches. About this time I was wondering how soon a sag would be by to just give me a ride back. Well, I tried a patch and it worked! I got the tire pumped up and away I went. About 10 miles later I had another flat! Oh man I thought, am I ever gonna see a sag? I refused an offer of help by another rider and fixed my tube and about the time I was pumping away with my woefully inadequate pump another guy stopped and offered to pump up my tire. He used his Topeak Road Morph, and boy what a great job in did(I now have one of those)! Away I pedaled, the humidity was starting to bother me. About five miles from the finish I finally saw a sag and they asked how I was doing. Terrible I felt. But I told them I was fine. I made to the finish and ate lunch. I came out and saw the two tires that were repaired, flat.
Then I didn't have another flat for about 900 miles. Go figure.

Have only had a few stem flats in recent years. Pleased to say that there is much less glass on the roads of central/southern Indiana than there used to be. And, have never experienced the heartbreak of thorn-strewn roads here or in the Atlanta area, where I was a 4-season commuter.

Topeak Road Morph. I won't ride without one.

I've used the same Zefal hpX for about 15 years, and it still works like new, but the longest model is too short for my Atlantis or Rambouillet. I just bought a Topeak (can't remember the model) frame pump that's a little longer and seems to be really sold and well-made, but I haven't ridden much since I got it, so I dunno.
I have a few more flats than the typical Reno-area rider, I think, for a couple of reasons. I weigh 230 when I'm in pretty good shape, more than that now, and that really does seem to make a difference--the tires push down harder. I do most of my riding on 700x35 or 37 tires, which are almost twice as wide as the 23s most people use, so I hit things they'd miss, and I live in a fairly rural areas, so on the Atlantis, at least, I go off pavement occasionally, across the desert or onto dirt roads.

I have used full-size frame-fit pumps for years and have begun to experience stem flats only very recently, and primarily on the mountain bike. I was beginning to wonder whether my the (Presta) valve holes in my rims had developed sharp edges or had eroded to a larger diameter. Although I carry frame pumps, I use them only in emergencies, relying primarily on my trusty floor pump. My current theory is that innertube quality has plummeted in recent years, and that the reinforcement where the stem attaches to the rest of the tube is less robust than in years past. I liked the good old days with large-flanged metal valve stems, which could actually be replaced. I don't think I ever had a stem base puncture back then.

I don't talk about 'em. It's bad luck.