First Flat
 

I started bicycling this past summer. Dragged out my old bike, started riding, and really enjoyed it. One of my goals has been to ride to work. I've got a 17.5 or so mile ride. Over a route I've never been on.

Today, I was off work- didn't have a lot of plans, so I decided to ride to work to see how long it would take me, and check out the route. It would also probably be equal to the longest ride I'd done.

I made the ride in about an hour and a half. About what I expected. Turned around and came home. About 6 miles from home I felt an odd bump. Looking down, I could see the tire bulging out- and I knew I'd gotten a flat.

Stopped and looked at it- and without pulling it out- it looks like a tack with a large head. But not like a tack. I'll take pix. A tack. On the bike path. Man, that's got me torqued.

On the up side, I made the ride without it completely kicking my tail.

I suppose the optimistic way of looking at this is that I get to learn to change a tube.

Learn to patch the tube. Replacing tubes will get really expensive if you ride a lot.

But don't waste time patching on the road. Just chang the tube and patch at home.

Flat tires are an integral part of bicycling. Anybody who thinks otherwise is in denial.

I like your attitude: Where others might see a problem, you see an opportunity to learn a new skill.

Three bits of advice:
1. Pack enough stuff to fix at least 1 flat tire on every ride.
2. Never replace the inner tube without checking the inside of your tire for the cause of the puncture.
3. Save tire patching for home on a rainy day. Use the "wet" patch kits with the separate little tube of glue. Buy 2 or 3 spare tubes so you can ave up and patch several at one time.

Patching on the road can sometimes be faster and easier than replacing a tube, if you can locate the debris that punctured your tube.

Instead of taking the wheel off, removing the tube, etc, just unseat the tire where the hole is, pull out the section of tube (about 6 inches or so), rough up the area to patch, spread glue, check tire for remaining debris while glue dries, put patch on, put tube back in, reseat tire, inflate, roll.

I find that to be easier than removing the wheel and replacing a tube. YMMV.

My first today too. Pulled out a one inch wood screw. Walked the rest of the way (1 mile, not bad, better than dealing with it in the wet) to work. Ugh.

Very good advice! Number 2, especially important.

I always carry 2 spare tubes, a quick patch kit and a wet patch kit.

The problem with this plan is that you need to know where the hole is. It makes it difficult to inspect the tire properly.


If it is obvious then it is easy. But if it is obvious then you probably need a tire boot too.

I can replace a tube in under 10 minutes. I don't consider that a lot of time.

Nah...the last several flats I've had were very obvious, and didn't require a new tire. Either the object was still in the tire (small piece of glass, piece of wire, something that looked like a piece of seashell), or the punture was obvious from the air leaking from it (heard it as soon as it happened and jumped off the bike quickly to locate it). Even a wet patch, if you don't take the wheel off, is faster than 10 minutes. But it's not just about speed either. If I replace tube I have to be much more careful to reseat the tire properly than if i just unseat a 10" section of tire and patch.

Bottom line - do whatever you're comfortable with that will get you rolling again fairly quickly. I like to patch, even if I have a spare tube -- so I can save the tube if I really need it.

+1 on this. Flats are an absolutely unavoidable part of cycling. I've had as many as nine on a century and five or six (I forget which) on my 25-mile round trip commute (I live in the land of big thorns). One summer I kept track and averaged a flat every 30.6 miles, despite Mr. Tuffy in the tires. I don't count miles or flats anymore, but it's a very rare week when I don't have at least one on my three or so commutes and longer weekend ride. FWIW, I can dismount the tire, insert a new tube and inflate with a frame-fit pump in between three and four minutes.
Carry a patch kit, spare tube and a pump on every ride. When you have a flat, use the spare tube, but save the old one to patch when you get home. Carry the patch kit when you ride because inevitably you're going to have two flats someday, and there you'll be.

Wow.

I don't know what else to say. One flat every 30.6 miles? One flat every 11.1 miles? One flat every 5 (or 4.1) miles?

I'd get solid rubber tires.

23 flats so far this year.

One flat to 869 miles- that's acceptable.

(assuming your title gloss is somewhere near accurate)

He's a little behind.

Now I get to get laughed at.

I got a little patching kit.

I didn't know what side went on the tube and what side was "up."

There were a total of 3 holes from the same nail- used two patches, so I put one face down and one face up.

I figured I'd be wrong 50% anyway...

Just saw this picture:


http://circlecitybicycles.com/tool/jpg/pt-vp1.jpg

I'm at one flat per 2000 miles (one flat in the last year, biked 2000 miles in the last year), so I guess the schwalbe marathons are decent.

If I had a flat averaging almost every day I'd switch to one of these:

http://tinyurl.com/yhc3v8w

No way that's getting punctured.

Most of my flats are from staples, nails, and other pieces of metal such as this last weekend:

http://www.photoscene.com/kimandsteve/images/7995.jpg