I have had two flats this year. One was caused by a finishing nail going into my tire and the was by a roofing staple going into the tire. My question is how do they make their way through the tire by the pointed end when they are laying flat on the road?

These were both on the rear tire.

Another question about is would the sealant in tubeless tires seal up these type of holes after the nail/staple was pulled out?

I have asked Santa for a couple of tubeless to tryout.

Thanks

Depending on the kind if head, and how you hit it, the rolling tire can tip a nail up causing a puncture to itself. Ot the nail may not be laying flat, or it gets stuck to the tire, goes once around and enters the next time around. (or your ex-girlfriend has it in for you).

The how doesn't matter, except as a matter of intellectual curiosity. What matters is that you got flats, plain and simple. They could be flukes, or a reflection of where you ride, like past a construction area.

The sealant will probably help slow the leak while the nil is still there, but often pulling it makes things worse. With sealant, it'll depend on how big a nail, with the sealant plugging a thumbtack hole, but not a larger nail's.

Before you get tubeless tires, be sure your wheels are tubeless-ready. Not all rims are safe to use with tubeless. There are numerous articles on the Internet describing the difference between tubeless and standard rims.

Thanks, I'm all set there.

Another reason for seemingly innocent items laying flat on the road that I read recently: you ride over the hal with the front tire. Nail tumbles and can be sticking up a short time later when the rear wheel rolls over it. (This would help explain the much higher number of rear flats most of us experience.

Ben

OK, so all you need now is a bamboo pole, some line, and a powerful Alnico (ceramic) magnet. If you have a genorator hub, you can use an electromagnet instead.

There is a magnetic force created by spinning bicycle tires that causes glass and debris to jump towards the tires.

Ok, you didn't mention front or rear. Even if a nail or screw is lying flat and you hit it with the front wheel, it can kick it up to damage the rear. It is rare that I'll get a nail or screw embedded in my tire. Glass. Radial tire wires, etc. But not nails.

Research your sealants. The green goo will last forever, but is more to clog holes than to patch them.

The latex will essentially form a permanent plug (which is used with the tubeless tires). But, it is probably best for smaller types of damage, not huge nails and screws. And it periodically needs refreshing.

Zero flats on rural roads. All on urban streets. 1-cause unknown, 2-glass, 2-tire wire, 1-drywall screw. Also four cut damaged tires. 1-the drywall screw, 1-acorn cut sidewall, 2-unknown. All Continental 4000 II s

Pic of dry wall screw, 1st of the day....second flat from tire wire an hour later. Yes I do ride out next to traffic far away from the road edge or gutter as I can, (and carry two tubes+patch kit).

Maybe. I have ridden tubeless for years and have experienced two punctures that would not stay sealed at an acceptable pressure. Anything over 60 psi would cause the hole to reopen. You would be wise to carry a spare tube with you.

And never ride on the road which leads to the local dump.

This ^ and this is what happens, fisherman on the bridge that throw their trash in the road.

Another drywall screw:

Tubeless sealing:
Nail? Maybe, maybe not. Staple, highly likely.

One thing that isn't clear from your post is what size tires. Wide mountain bike tires running at 30psi and below will seal better than road tubeless at 60+ psi. For example, a nail hole might seal in a mountain bike tire, but not a narrower road tubeless tire. This is basically a function of the higher pressure for road tires. The advantage of tubeless is that you can run very low pressure with good ride quality.

bailing wire through the sidewall got me twice.
both times on tubulars, and both times Stans got me home. In fact, the Stans repair lasted as long as the remaining tire tread.

All my bikes carry a valve core tool and 2 oz bottle of Stans for Alt Flat Kit.

It's the well documented "jelly side down principal".

Make sure the cords aren't cut. A finishing screw might make it through without cutting them but the drywall screw meant throwing out the tire.

Two memorable "hits".

Not CF..?

It may have been flat when it first got to the road, but after getting ran over a few times, I'm sure it will get distorted enough to get a point facing up.

A nail hole might be a little big for tubeless. Tubeless is good for mountain bikes when they get pinch flats (when you compress the tire and it pinches the tube against the rim, cutting it). I found on my bike that tubeless leaks a lot of air so that you have to pump your tires every ride instead of every few rides (at least that was how it was before for me).

you can run sealant in tubes too..... right?

i got my first puncture of 2016 a couple of weeks back. i saw the nail, and i heard so much air escaping i thought i'd be pushing the bike all the way home but i realised that the tire wasn't going flat. made it home on 40 PSI (out of about 70). my answer to that question i guess is 'well, possibly'

it obviously wasn't my first puncture, but sealant is sooooo useful that it made me forget about all that business.

I went tubeless for road and gravel two years ago and won't go back. I actually took a nail in the tread of my tire, the nail bent 90 degrees and poked out through the sidewall. Because the nail was still working around in the tire it eventually went flat. I removed the nail turned the puncture to face the ground, added air, let the sealant do its thing and finished the last 32 miles of the ride.

The only tubeless flat I've gotten that the sealant can't repair is sidewall cuts from sharp rocks on gravel, which also ruin the tire. I've had two of those in two years of gravel (approximately 7,000 miles).

Also, I am firm believer in Orange Seal.