I'm in the countryside and have to use roads that are frequented by tractors.

I have to change down to climb out of some of the craters they make.

It's mostly been flints the fat tyres seem to attract them and pick them up every time, they also seem to work through the tyre much faster than on hp tyres.

Despite the tyres claiming to be puncture proof.

As for avoiding the side of the road, thankfully I have a small bikelane where I ride but the downside to that is that the cars wheels dont clean the road.

Having a bike lane I cant justify riding on the road.

I just bought a bike not long ago. The bike I bought is and OCR3 and the tires are Kenda's. The Kenda's are about as cheap as you can get and have no special puncture resistant properties. I have about 760 miles on the bike now. I have 4 flats in the 760 miles. One of the flats actually ruined the tire. I still managed to get home by changing the tube and just going for it. It took a little while for the cut to get bigger but it did. I have another road bike that I had put Continental Contatcts on which have been very good so far. I have around 4,000 miles on them and only 3 flats. I put the Conti's on the new bike at about 700 miles. I'll see how they do. The rear one is close to being worn out but still has some tread on it.

The Conti's have treated me good so far. Don't know if they'll work for you but they have for me and they don't cost much.

I am glad I don't have that many flats on my rides. I usually have flats in the morning when I go out rather than on the road during a ride. The flat the ruined the tire was the exception. I don't know if the Conti's would have lived through that or not. I don't know what caused it but the tire sure went flat fast.

I try to keep at least two of the three bikes I have ready to ride so if one has a flat or some other problem I can just grab the other one and go.

I am curious to know if there are lots of people that have flats on the road or if it's a morning when you leave your tire is flat thing like I have.

ah that explains that then! Which tyres have you tried?

Sure you can. You've got the same right to the road as any other vehicle; the fact that there's a bike lane doesn't change that.

I'm not advising you to be a jerk, or to hold up other traffic unnecessarily. Pull right whenever you reasonably can to let faster vehicles pass. If a bike lane is free of debris, and isn't in a door zone or anything, you might decide to ride in it for a long stretch.

But remember that you're doing these things out of courtesy, not out of obligation, and not for safety. (Nine times out of ten, the safest place to ride is in the right tire track.) If the bike lane is a mini-junkyard of metal slivers and glass, don't ride there.

Before you give up the bike and buy a car, try an experiment for a couple of weeks. Make a practice of riding in the lane "by default", and only duck right for specific reasons (like someone wanting to pass.) If the punctures stop happening, you know that your problem is the condition of the bike lanes, and you're under no obligation to go back to them.

If the punctures continue, then I hope someone smarter than me will be able to identify the cause...the occasional puncture is a part of cycling, but there's no way you should be fixing them as often as you describe.

Good luck!
- Paul

First I'd say to try to keep track of if the flats are on the outside of the tire or the inside. If they're on the inside of the wheel or rim the best tire in the world isn't going to help.

But let's just assume that they are all on the outside of the tire. There are two tires that have a reputation here for being as flat resistant as you can possibly get -
Specialized Armadillos
Schwalbe Marathon

I know you can visit the Schwalbe site and there are different marathon tires - pick one with the most "protection":
https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires

The tradeoff with the super puncture resistant tires is that a lot of people say they have a rougher ride.

I've also heard of "thorn resistant tires", but I don't know much about them.

I would highly recommend trying the Armadillos or Marathons.

I'd like to answer your question, but I just don't really have an opinion on whether wider tires or knobby tires would be better. The tires I mentioned above are the best I know of.

What kind of brand/type of tires are you currently using?

I am averaging 500 miles per flat on my 700X28s and 450 miles per flat on my 700X23s and I ride in the gutter and over glass constantly. Try some Continental Ultra Gatorskin tires.

Panaracer Pasela Tourguard.

Rolling resistance seems to be roughly the same as my car.

knobbies should help with flats caused by road trash, sounds like a lot of your problems are from that. As the season warms and more people get out the road way will get cleaner, hang in there.
I would be upset if I had a flat once a week also, 150 miles or 750 miles...

BTW: Is the problem more back tire or front tire?

Have you tried a slim tube?

Aren't you the one who deliberately flattens his tires (lets the air out of his tires) every night?

what do you guys think of the specialized armadillo vs continental gator skin
https://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqP...=42102&eid=355
https://www.conti-online.com/generato...orskin_en.html

it happens to both the front and back tires equally.
by slim tires do you mean 23s? if yes than i have tried them

I know so many people who re-pump thier tires everyday, thats why i purposefully repump them everyday

Yep, I was right ... that was you ...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=521396&page=2

Stop it!! You don't need to empty the air out of your tires every night. What you're doing is causing pinch flats. Fill your tires and leave them alone. I have been cycling for 36 years, and have associated with cycletourists, recreational cyclists, commuters, racers, and randonneurs ... and no one I know deliberately flattens their tires every night.


You're also the one who puts a hole in tire, and doesn't replace tire.
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/482768-glass-tires.html

Repumping to make sure they are at the proper pressure is quite different than letting the air out and repumping them. Machka is correct, stop it, you are probably causing more problems than you are preventing.

If you REALLY want to get rid of flats USE THE THATSDAX METHOD.

Look man I am going to give you a tip on eliminating flats. I got it from Dax from https://thatsdax.com/ .

Ride your bike and when you get a flat take out the old toube.
check the tire for whatever punctured it.
take the old tube and cut out the stem, then cut it "lenghtwise" along the whole inner ring.
you should have the tube looking like a sleeve.
put the new tube inside the old tube, so the old onge fits like a sleeve.
put it inside the tire and install the tire
Inflate a bit. deflate, and arrange tire. inflate to full psi

Now you have a tube that is twice as thick as the first time.

If you still get another flat. REPEAT THE PROCESS. now yo will have a tube three times as thick.

Eventually it will thick enough to not get any flats.usually two will solve all your problems.

Yes it makes the tire heavier. yes bigger tires are recommended like 700x32c. Yes it WILL solve your problems. Only repump when needed.

GOOD LUCK!

Commuted by bike for 16 years. Very seldom flatted (mayber twice a year).
Watch where you ride; don't ride close to the curb or gutter (that's where most debris ends up).
Personally we use 25mm Maxxis Re-Fuse folding road tires. Light, very puncture resistant.
When mounting tires try to avoid using tire tools; if you puncture, check for stuff stuck in tire. Check for tire cuts and debris on tire before/after your commute. Prevention is the key.

This also makes the sidewall of the tube thicker, wont flatten if you get a "cut" (you'll make it home no problem-O), and since the tube is encased in old tubes it makes pinch flats unlikely. Also its cheap, no new tires, liners, slime, rim tape, ect. You can use electrical tape over the rim tape if you really want to eliminate that possibility.

The armadillo is a tougher tire that's less likely to flat than the gatorskin, at the expense of ride quality. It's a rougher ride, caused by some of the additional stuff they do to give it flat protection.

The gatorskin is a decent anti-flat tire which rides like a regular tire. Same ride quality, pretty much the same rolling resistance, etc. This is the tire most people are happy with.

I'd only suggest the Armadillo to people who are already having serious problems with multiple flats, like the original poster, because of it's reduced ride quality.

Wouldn't it be better to just reinforce the tread area, and not the sidewalls ?

He's having serious problems with multiple flats because ....... when he gets home at night, he empties all the air out of his tires. Then, first thing in the morning, he pumps his tires up from completely flat. He's most likely getting pinch flats because somehow I doubt he takes the time each morning to make sure the tube is not pinching when he pumps them up. Days when he doesn't get a flat happen out of pure luck.

He needs to fill his tires and then leave them alone for the next couple weeks. After a couple weeks, he should check the pressure in his tires and if it is a little bit low, he should top up his tires ... not from empty, but from whatever pressure they are at.

Decisions, decisions......Can't decide between this technique or the re-pump your tires every day technique. They are both great! ideas!

...that is some crazy ****. I thought I had seen it all on the forum.

Don't let the air out of your tires at night. It's not good for your tires to get completely flat.

When I just started out with bike commuting (learning) I was getting flats every other ride.
Now its almost never.

The tires did not change, if anything its that I became more confident about riding away from the curb and out near the cars. So I'd say roadside debris can be a major factor here.




you could always get armadillos, and a tuffy liner, and a slime tube, all at the same time

or if you really need to have a consistently flat free (but possibly uncomfortable commute), look into those airless tires?

damnit machka stop spreading these crazy rumors! I never said i flatten them at night and pump them in the morning! I 'top up' my tires every other day (or every day when its really cold) but I have to let some air out of them before i can pump them. At my LBS I was taught that you cant start pumping a tube over 80psi, which is true I cant. You have to depressurize it to ~80psi and pump it back up to 120.

You say that you dont have to top up your 110psi tires for months, but my tubes bleed some air and depressurize down to ~90psi which is too low pressure for me. If you only have to run at 90psi then I am quite jealous of you maybe thats where the tire pressure starts to plateau but I cant do that.

I am sorry Chico, my fault.

Not "slim" but "slime".

https://www.slime.com/