chico1st

I have been bike commuting for 1 year now and I get a flat at least once a week. I have a road bike with 700x25c tires. I dont think I could ever bike commute again after this because I can never trust that I can be somewhere on time after work, due to the copious amount of flats I get. I've looked at it, different LBS have looked at it, new tires, wheels, tape, different tire pressure, nothing works and the flats are always from different sources, puncture here, pinch there, front wheel sometimes, back wheel the other.

I just graduated from school and planned on avoiding having a car for as long as possible but I dont think I have a choice now, I have to get a car. I love biking and hate cars, but if I cant figure this out within the month I am going to stop biking ;(
Please help, I'm so frustrated.

10 Wheels

How many miles do you ride in one Week?

chico1st

(30miles) x (5 days a week) = 150 miles / week

10 Wheels

I average 750 miles per flat and ride on some crappy roads.
You must be riding through junk yards.

chico1st

Junkyard no, but there is definitely glass around fairly often, and many sizable potholes.

chipcom 

Yes, biking sucks. If more people would get that, I would have a much easier job policing this joint.

10 Wheels

Twice I been over 3000 miles without a flat.
So you get lots and lots of cuts on your tires.
I came back on from one ride with 9 cuts on my rear tire.

Guess you need to try better flat resistant tires?

chico1st

The shop I bought it from said that the ones I have, have kevlar worked into the part of the tire which touches the road.

I figure I cant do much better than kevlar but would having a larger tire, 28c or 33c, or knobby tires help matters?

MAK

Try a set of Armadillos. If they don't help sell your bike and get the car.

alicestrong

Probably.

Also, keep them properly inflated and don't ride in the gutter.

10 Wheels

I went to 28's with a strong side wall and still had a flat on the brand new one?
(hole in the side of the tube) cause unkown as I did not use levers to install the tire.

The 28's give a better ride on potholes and other road defects.

Just don't give up.

Keep pedaling.

chico1st

I am very anal about keeping my tires properly inflated, regardless if i keep them at high pressure i get punctures, a bit lower pressure and i get pinches.

I dont really care about how the ride feels as long as I dont get flats. So by better ride do you mean less flats, or just cushy-er?

fordfasterr

tuffy liners FTMFW.

chico1st

I dont know what FTMFW means but are tuffy liners basically the same as armadillo tires?

chipcom 

I know what FTMFW means, and I'm gonna have to warn fordfister to watch his potty mouth.

caloso

MF+1 to Tuffys. Cheap, easy, reliable.

GP

When you are riding, you should be looking far enough ahead to see debris and be able to steer around it.

alpacalypse

As others have mentioned, riding way off to the right side of the road can make you encounter a lot of debris.

Aside from that, make sure your tires are always inflated so that pinches aren't an issue. Pinches should never be an issue. I find that cheaper, heavier tubes seem to have thicker rubber and lose pressure more slowly.

Finally, if you're still having trouble, consider using a tire sealant like stan's or slime.

Unknown Cyclist

The most important thing is to check your tyres regularly and remove flints and glass before they have a chance to work their way through the carcass.

If you aren't doing this then maybe +90% of your punctures could be avoided.

If you don't have guards fitted and your tyres aren't knobbly you could try fitting flint catchers if anyone still makes them.

Benjamin11

I had a very similar problem. I was very close to simply giving up on cycling.


I got the tuffy liners, but the sharp edge punctured the tube. Then I took advice from here and rounded the end of the liners with some scissors AND got a kenda puncture resistant tube for the rear (as I never flat in the front).

Haven't had a flat in probably close to 500 miles and a lot of glass.

Given, the renda tube is mad heavy, but, like you, I just wanted to F%&cking RIDE.

Try it out and don't let this get the best of you.

J B Bell

I had great luck with the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. It's really not any huge secret, just a thick-as-hell built-in liner. No flats on those for over a thousand miles. I actually ended up selling the bike for fit reasons to my step-brother, and he's not had any since, commuting daily in San Francisco.

daven1986

I use armadillo tyres 700 x 23 and they are very nice. Also have "flak jackets" on my specialized globe and they seem to do the trick (700 x 35).

chico1st

ok so try tire liners, I will do that...but do people prefer tire liners or heavier tires? Or is it the same thing?

Also, nobody said anything regarding whether or not knobbies or a wider tire would be better for flats.

Unknown Cyclist

I'm going to have to confess. I've done very few miles this winter due to punctures

It's the first time I've ever ridden on fat road tyres and I've had puncture after puncture after puncture.

I had 4 tubes hung up next to me with patches on

I've actually been using the car a couple of times a week just because it's less hassle.

Other than recently punctures have been thankfully rare.

I blame the 26 x 2.1 touring tyres the bike came with.

daven1986

I'd go for thinner tyres. 35mm maximum width. I like my 23mm ones

Unknown cyclist where abouts do you ride? I ride in London and don't see that much rubbish on the road to cause flats.