Hahahah. So true.

You can also use nylons (stockings or panty hose); no need to take the whole leg, a section will do. Also doesn't need to be new, just ask your wife/girl friend (though I'd probably draw the line there - in our PC office if I asked a co-worker for a pair of her panty hose I'd probably find myself in the HR office before I could explain why I wanted it) for a pair with a run in it.

great to see an expert at work, isn't it?

Had my first flat luckily about 3-4 miles from my home and did not have any tools on me to fix it. I rode the rim back to my house - tell me if I've probably damaged it in doing so, I'm sure I did somehow although I don't notice any physical damage - and then kitted myself out with the tools necessary to replace the next one that goes down. I should carry an extra tube on me as I feel patching will probably not work out as well as just throwing an entirely new tube in.

the sad truth: the walk of shame is traditionally preferred over ruining your wheel

my flats seem to come in pairs...I'll go a year or so with none, then in the span of a few weeks, will get a couple of punctures. riding right after rains seems to increase the rate too...washes crap closer to the curbs.

and when you're checking for things stuck in the tire casing, run your finger (or cotton ball or whatever) in BOTH directions before putting the tube in. I recently had a sliver of very fine copper wire embedded at a really flat angle that was only detectable in one direction...was completely unnoticeable in the other.

Indeed. I wasn't commenting on the difficulty, but just the inconvenience of stopping to fix a flat. I've done it dozens of times over the past 40+ years, but am still glad that it occurs less frequently now.

Definitely a good point, and I forgot what you had run over by the time I commented. I still carry the means to fix a flat, so I only expect the puncture resistant tires to reduce the rate of having to fix flats.

Well, if you do it with your tongue you'll soon decide there has to be a better way, and then it's just a matter of trial and error experimentation.

Sorry I missed that.

I found it to be too many grams for the incremental value offered.

I've never had a need for the cotton ball/nylon treatment. In a couple cases maybe it was a bit of work to get the shard of glass out of the tire. I've also ridden (slowly and careful to avoid even the least crack or stone) clincher alloy wheels with flats and never had a problem, though certainly not ideal by any means. The other day I saw something on my front and stopped and realized there was an embedded thorn. I left it alone and made it home (maybe 15-20 miles?) without problem (avoided any sort of hard cornering). At home I removed it and immediately (well 2-3 minutes) the tire was flat. Then inspected the rear and also had a thorn, so I got to repair 2 tubes at once. I would say it's not unusual to have a "flat" which if you don't check your wheels after a ride you find out the next day when the tube has lost pressure over night. It does help to have a spare tube (not just kit) on the road as on these slow leaks it can be very hard to find the location if you remove the tube and don't keep track of where exactly on the tire the cause is/was. I've also had snake bites from time to time (not allways the most diligent about keeping proper pressure and not always the best maintained rim tape).

scott s.
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My last flat was about 13 months ago . Picked up a small nail on way home from work- got thru the Kevlar layer
Flats are annoying but part of cycling
I always carry what I need to fix them. Rare events for me

Thankfully (and knocking on wood) I have only had one flat in over 7+ years of riding. I was pretty fortunate even then as I was on he final leg of my ride headed towards the house and the tire didn't even go completely flat until I was off and the bike was in the garage. I need to find some more wood to knock on now.

You guys do know you're inviting bad karma talking about not getting flats, don't you?

I've already had two on the road bike this year, and I won't even talk about the mtn bike riding in the land of cactus.

Mrodgers, cotton balls are even better. Might add a couple of alcohol swabs, too. They do a great job of cleaning a tube after buffing the area and take up almost as much space as a cotton ball