Most recent was not technically flat (yet), but left alone would have been. A very fine wire - Looked like something from a wire brush, maybe even finer.

Before that, it was a 1.5 inch roofing nail. The point caught just enough in a small tread slot (between the rolling face of the tire and the sidewall) to go in, puncture into the tube and out, and then back out of the tire through the sidewall before hitting the rim. For a few seconds I wondered what that "clank clank" was when I applied the rear brake. It was the head of the nail hitting the canti brake arm. The tire had only about 350 miles on it, but it was history. Two holes in the sidewall, with matching tube holes.

Just to minimize my chances of getting more flats, I'll also mention the embedded glass micro-"pyramid" in my front tire that took two tubes before I excavated it, as well as the four (count 'em, four) cactus thorn holes my daughter and I had between two tires November before last. Also, there was a furniture tack that laughed at the Slime in an old 26" tube (previous bike).

All but the first two were before April, but when it comes to flats and superstition, one can never be too careful...

Use a small piece of cloth, like a handkerchief. It will usually snag on the wire but keep your fingers safe.

I bet I know where I picked it up then. I remember passing shreds of truck tire treads coming back to Illinois on the Clark Bridge. All the crud from everywhere seems to drift right into the bicycle lanes on the Clark Bridge, including at least two pieces of lumber and a fist-sized wad of bailing wire.



Edit: Yes, I think that IS a bullet-hole in the upper right hand corner of the Bike Lane sign... Missouri is overrated. I'll stick to the IL side from now on...

+1 !

I average a flat every 6,000 miles or so.

In June I had 3 flats on the same wheel in the same morning. First getting ready for the ride I topped off the air with a floor pump and blew the valve off (but the tube was 20 years old -- so it was my fault for not replacing it sooner). Then the tube I replaced it with flatted on the road (probably because I screwed up when I mounted it). Then, as I was changing that one I blew the valve off the tube with the hand pump...

I gave up and called a cab...
... It was NOT a good day!

Hadn't had any for a long time, then 4 in a row, 3 were "broken beer bottle pieces", 1 was going thru a tunnel on a mup and it had a bit of dried dirt on it so I don't now what caused it?? Went and got new tubes and this time put "True Goo" in them, no flats so far!

None for a couple of years, but 2 so far this year.
One on the road bike - a tiny, sharp pebble poked through the front tire. That tire is getting old and I have been thinking of replacing it, so now I really have to do it.
The other was on my MTB bike during my trip up to Maine. That one was a bit annoying, seeing that the bike is about a month old. the rim tape is not tape, but a molded rubber. The spot where the two ends of the tape are joined was kind of rough, and after a couple of rides, the rough spot wore through the tube. At first I could not figure out why the puncture was on the inside of the tube, but then when I lined the tube up with the rim and the hole lined up perfectly with the rough rim tape joint, that was it. I put a piece of electrical tape over the rough spot.

Maybe you should change you name to "Sherlock"...
... Good detective work!

Tubeless in the land of real goatheads, mesquite, octillo and broken beer bottles. The only thing that seems to flat tubeless is tire cuts that require a boot and a tube to get home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8fRx6lUh_k

This thread has to die! I went right out after posting and checked all my tires on all 7 bikes in the garage!

Marc

Says he who is not a virgin. I think the flat gods require the sacrifice of an old racer. I guess the USADA has got us all covered for this year.

Dang it, I have not had a flat i 2 years, until this thread. I had a flat today. Bast**ds

And why do you think I posted this thread?

2 flats in the last 8,000 miles between our tandem and single racing bike.
Both were from a patch that had come loose.
No actual puntures.
And yes, we live/ride mostly in flat-prone desert country in Arizona.
We've been using Maxxis Re-Fuse 700x25s and currently also trying out a Panaracer Pasela Tourguard 700x25 on rear of our tandem.
All tires have a Kevlar folding bead and are Kevlar belted.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

There is a short cut for checking your tires.

Everytime that you install a tire on your rim, take the time to align the tire level with the valve stem. If you do that, after you find the puncture in the tube, all that you have to do is to align the tube with your tire and you'll know where in the tire to look. Actually, I usually have two places on the tire to look bacause I forget which way I had the tube oriented inside the tire.

At least half of the time whatever caused the puncture pulls back out of the tire so you never find it. My practice is to just make a cursery check on the roadside and only do the inside-out tire check if I have a second puncture in the same place. That's what happened to me with the second puncture that I reported in this thread.

I only carry one spare inner tube of each size on my bike but I had a patch kit with me. As long as I had the patch kit out I decided to do both inner tubes and rebuild my inventory for the ride back home.

Good suggestion, BUT, there are times, with goatheads, for example, that the puncture is so small that unless under a lot of pressure, the tube will not leak, even in soapy water.

Yeah, I think that works for me, and probably for Bierbaum, because we don't live in goat head country although we do have those pesky little steel tire wires. I only get about one or two flats per year. Since I've already had my quota for this year I can't possibly get any more so there's no need to worry.

Well, my new tube hasn't gone flat, so I'm hoping my steel wire encounter was attached to a scrap of rubber, and just did a punch-n-run. With some of the noises I heard while crossing that debris-field, mislabeled as a bike lane, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened.

Thanks to my need to change tubes, I found out my hub wasn't rotating freely, so it needed rebuilt/regreased, as well. LBS mech said it was gritty, and just needed cleaned out. I still need to get a new chain, and eventually a new crankset... I am saving gas money. I am saving gas money. repeat mantra... sigh.

After posting the other day that I hadn't flatted in over a year... on our 26 mile town loop this morning, my Garmin battery went dead on a climb, I then threw my chain shifting to the big ring as I went over the top, got it back on while coasting but ran over some gravel that flatted my rear tire. I forgot a tube but luckily Neal had one. I fixed the flat and rode back to the car without incident. At the car the zipper on my saddlebag broke as I was removing the car key. I hope I used up all the bad luck today.

All that in 26 miles.

Congratulations! The imperfections are what makes a ride memorable. I'm thinking you'll be remembering this one for quite some time.

The battery, chain and flat all happened in less than one mile. lol

So all of a sudden I feel the rear wheel jump and go flat right now. I pull over and what do you know? A dry wall type screw is smiling at me. It destroyed my rear Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons tire and also destroyed my tire liner! Okay. I install my spare tube, inflate it with my CO2 inflator and all is good. NOT. I didn't install the tube correctly and about 5 miles down the road I hear an BANG and my rear tire is instantly flat. Not problem. Install my second spare tube and make it home.

So I ordered and received a replacement Continental Grand Prix 4 seasons tire and install it. Life is good again!!! NOT. I get my bike ready for my commute after 3 rides on the new tire and I see a 1 inch tear that goes down to the Vectron breaker, tire ruined. Yes, it did get me home the night before but cannot be used anymore.

Anyway, got a new tire and I hope that this bevel of activity has 'pre-disastered' me to many months of flat free riding.

Two, or kinda the same one twice. While riding RAGBRAI I got a small cut that looked like it came from glass though I could neither see nor feel anything in the cut. So I replaced the tube with a new spare and that was that for a couple of weeks. Then the new tube got a flat in exactly the area where it touched that old cut. The new hole in the tube was pretty much the same size and shape as the cut in the tire. Again I could see and feel nothing there and I used a hand held microscope this time. So I patched the tube and then put a stick on patch on the inside of the tire over that cut for good measure. I don't know if the "sharp" lip on the cut on the tire abraded the tube, grit working through the cut abraded the tube, or if there is a wire in there that defies any attempt to see/feel it.

Ken

^^^This. Why would you even ask?!?! C'mon, everyone knows the first rule of Flat Club is: You do not talk about Flat Club.







The second rule of Flat Club is: You do not talk about Flat Club.