Pinch Flat Question
 

I don't have a ton of experience here. But I was riding the other day (pretty much new clincher tires and tubes). I encountered a known area with some badly repaired asphalt on one side of the road. It has an ugly 'rim' with some loose gravel and stone laying about - but if you avoided the actual repaired area it didn't seem like much.

I steered left of the 'hole' in the road and don't recall hitting a darn thing. But I instantly flatted and when I got home I saw the telltale signs of a pinch flat (snakebite pattern). I have to admit that I have not been paying a ton of attention to tire pressure (typically ride at 90 psi - 700 x 23) but I don't think that it was way off.

Given proper tire inflation, decent tires/tubes, just how small a 'thing' in the road risks a pinch flat? In this case I was paying attention and still don't recall hitting anything.

Just curious what more experienced riders can share here - thanks.

dave

Advice? Air up your tires every single time you ride whether you think it's necessary or not.

Given adequate pressures, 23 mm tires are more likely to pinch flat from road surface imperfections than fatter tires - my bikes roll on 32 to 40 mm tires. Can't remember a pinch flat for a long, long time.
Advantages and disadvantages to fatter or slimmer tires, of course.

This is the best way. I ride every couple of days and always have to add 5 to 10 PSI to keep them properly inflated.

Thx for the comments. It sounds like more diligence to tire pressure is in order here.

dave

Add 5 to 10 psi? I think I lose 40 psi just attaching the tire pump. Whether it's been a week or 2 since I ride, or a day, when I get the tire pump locked on, it's reading 30-40 psi. I run around 80 in a 32 mm.

You might want to consider a better pump. There is no reason for it to be that difficult to attach/remove the head to the valve stem. My bontrager turbo pump will do schrader and presta and loses very little air when removing and none when attaching.

There's a lot of wisdom here. :)