Wileyrat

I left the house this morning and went on a 30ish miler thinking "dang, I don't remember the last time I had a flat", and as you can guess, as I was turning off the main drag onto my neighborhood street at the end of my ride, my rear tire went flat. That's what I get for poking fun at the flat demons.

I guess if you're going to get a flat, less than a block from the house is where to get it.

seedsbelize 

And on the way back. I get far too many flats to even think about poking fun.

GeneO 

Just don't start thinking about not having accidents! LOL

DnvrFox

I'm sorry I read this thread!! I just fixed my wife's flat yesterday. So far this year maybe 10 flats??

NOS88

I'm feeling better about a habit I've developed, and understand it won't work for everyone. My daily schedule is pretty tight. So, when I carve out time for a ride, I typically can't afford to take much more time than allotted. Because of this I always pump up the tires to two bikes before a ride - just in case something happens like the OP's situation. In the past year, I've made three trips back to the house after only a block or two away because something was amiss. I simply pull the other bike off the rack and go. It takes a lot of stress out of the tight situation.

berner

About once a week or so I let the air out of the tires and check them for bits of glass and other flat producing debris. Always, there is something in the tire that is likely to produce that flat sooner or later. I feel certain this helps keep the flats down to a minimum.

Steve Sawyer

I do the same, and am always amazed at the junk I pull out of the tire. However, I've never deflated the tire for the inspection - is this a better way to do it? The bits of glass and metal and such that I find seem to show up pretty well visually.

mprelaw

The best way to do it is to take the tire off the rim, and check inside, as well as the exterior. I don't do it, because it takes me just as long to change a tube on the road, as it does to pull, check, and re-seat a tire at home, and I always have two tubes with me on a ride. But I guess it's better to check visually from the outside, than not at all. Before the crap in there works its way through the belt into the tube.

Three flats this year. One bad tube (split lengthwise), and two punctures. The bad tube went overnight, and one puncture happened late in the ride, and I discovered it when taking the bike to the basement, so I've only had to do one road change this year. It's been a good year.

BTW, one puncture was a small sliver of wire that you never would have seen from an exterior inspection.

genejockey 

While this is generally true, I experienced the exception - put on a brand new, $50 tire. Headed out for a ride. Within 1 block, I ran into a bunch of glass I could only have avoided by getting run over by a car. *Fssssshhhhwssshhhhwssshhhhssshhhh*

Crap.

Looked at the tire - 1/4" long cut all the way through the tread, through the 'puncture resistant layer, and through the casing, still 1/4" wide on the inside.

CRAP!!!

Brand new $50 tire, and I got about 100 yards out of it. That's $880/mile!

Wileyrat

That one sucks. I've only killed one tire, a folding slick back when I was in the light is right mode. I ran over a stick and pinched the sidewall against the rim, splitting it through the casing.

John E

What bothers me is the increase in failures at the base of the valve stem. Quality control or quality of design must be deteriorating.

Wogster

I don't think tube design has changed much since Dunlop's day... What could have something to do with it, is that basic tube design wasn't intended for a small tube to be able to handle extremely high tire pressures. Even 30 years ago, 80PSI was considered dangerously high, and now people are putting 120PSI+ into standard bicycle tires. One interesting point, MTB tubes with much lower pressures are not having problems with splits and valve stem failures. Generally a bicycle tube starts off as a flat chunk of rubber, this is rolled into a tube and ultrasonic welded, the valve stem is put through from the inside and glued in place and the two ends are joined using the same welding method. Of course this may all be moot if we convert to mostly tubeless in the next dozen years or so.

TromboneAl

Sometimes I wonder whether one subconsciously notices that low pressure feeling, which prompts your conscious mind to think "Wow, I haven't had any flats for a while, knock on wood." Then, the reduction in pressure becomes noticeable to your conscious mind.

Daspydyr 

I am goingto consciously pretend I have not read this thread, no flats , no flats, no flats. Especially with VivaBikeVegas this Saturday. No flats...:||

Biker395 

Oy ... that does indeed suck.

The worst place to get a flat? About 1/4 mile from your car after a 200+ mile ride.

• Too far to walk.
• Too flat to pump and go.
• In the dark.
• When you've already used your spare tube and it's patch time.

berner

I had the same problem with valve stems until I found the cure. It turned out the valve hole had rough metal edges after being drilled at the factory. I chamfered these edges slightly with a piece of sand paper. For extra insurance I cut out a small square, 25 x 25 mm, from an old tube, then cut a very small hole in the square which is then fitted over the valve stem. The small square provides an extra layer of rubber "cushion" at the hole. I've not had flats from the same cause.

Sculptor7

Have not had a flat in four years (8000 miles). Check my tires before and after every ride. Avoid riding over glass. Keep pressure adequate. Don't push your luck by bragging about it.