What is/are your flat prevention secrets?
 

Based on the latest Ms I thread and her flat prone ride I thought it may be a good idea to share what you do to prepare, prevent, resolve flats when you are on the road.

Here's mine: a patch kit, a Hurricane MiniMax Mini Pump, a spare tube(duh), and most importantly thorn resistant tubes. Oh, and making sure my tires are inflated properly every 2 days.

I have to say though that because of the thorn resistant tubes other people have had more use of my patch kit, pump and spare tube. That's 7500+ miles of flat free group rides, rain or shine commuting and weekend solo rides. :thumb:

Whats yours?

Mr. Tuffy's in all tires. I take a patch kit, spare tube and mini pump on most rides. Add spare tire for longer rides.

I find the tires makes the biggest difference in amount of flats. Had some tires made of soft rubber that flatted every ride. Other tires with a dual compound with no flats for a very long while.

I carry 2-CO2 carts, spare tube, boot material (a PWR bar wrapper in emergency :p), patch kit and small pump. I use the pump to inflate the flatted tube so I can find the hole and use the CO2 for quick full pressure. If there's time, I just take a few extra minutes to repair the tube vs. using the new tube.

I've also had bad valve stems on new tubes where they attach to the tire, so check them out beforehand. ;)

I just get flats. And torn up tires. Lost another just the other day. Gashed to pieces.
I just can't do thorn tubes. I'm too slow already.

But I carry a spare tube, a patch kit, a park boot, and a Topeak road morph pump.
I'm pretty good at patching and changing tires!

I hate flats a little less than cockroaches or ants so I sacrifice a little performance for puncture resistance.

These are my current tires and are superb
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...jsp?spid=42100
About 1k on them without any problems, and they hold their psi the longest of any tire I've ever used.

I have these on my Langster and they have about 5k on them still look new. Only 1 flat and it was a piece of wire that would have put down a car tire. They do drop psi a little so check em' regularly. That, and they're really hard to find outside of ebay.
http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/Traini...s/Re-fuse.aspx

I rode continental gp4000's last summer and they were great performance tires but I got limited miles out of them (1200 or so) and 3 flats, the last flat was after they self-destructed with splittting.

Almost all my flat tires are on the rear tire. I started using Gatorskin rear tires a couple of years ago and have not had a flat in almost 15,000 miles. I do carry a pump with me, but only use it to help other people fix their flats.

Yep, Gatorskins are awesome at flat resistance. They're supposedly not the best "feeling" tires, though I can't say I've noticed that myself.

Vittoria Randonneurs were great (one flat in about four thousand miles) and lasted for freaking ever, but it appears that there's only a more tready Randonneur Cross model available now.

After using those two tires, I feel like I'm tempting death with these Open Corsas, but I've only had one flat so far in, I don't know, 1000-1500 miles? Which is good, because they might as well be glued on.

As for supplies, I keep at least a tube, levers, and a pump with me, though I've added a patch kit recently, and scampered back to the holy Road Morph from the small, convenient, and disappointing Crank Brothers high-volume/high-pressure pump.

So true... Reminds me to check the pump to see if the rubber innards haven't rotted. :roflmao2:

+1 on the Gatorskins. I pick all kinds of glass shards out of the tires, but they rarely seem to work their way all the way through. I'm also having good luck so far with Conti Grand Prix 4-Seasons. They are a little lighter, but so far (about 750 miles) seem flat resistant. (I'm sure just posting on this thread will doom me to 2 or 3 flats this week! :(

Invest $140 in a set of tires (Continental 4 Seasons) and keep the pressure up. When I hit glass I rub the tires with my glove to wipe away all glass. Sometimes you get cut so I don't encourage such actions.

2000+ miles, zero flats.

When I hear that "something stuck in the tire" sound, I unclip one foot and drag it across the tire.

You all realise that simply posting in this thread is guaranteeing imminent flattage, right?

Arghh, what have I done?

;)

On the Rans, an Armadillo on the back and a Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the front.
On the Cycle Genius, Maxxis Hookworms front and back.
I carry a pump, two spare tubes for each size tire, and a couple of patch kits.

I stopped riding so much. My number of flats went down dramatically!:D

I've had reasonably good luck with the Conti GP4000 tires. The Michelin Carbons were more flat resistant, but could be downright scary on damp, cold days. The Contis definitely grip better. Once I get 2 or more flats in a week, I'll check the tire carefully. If it's worn down past the wear indicators, or has any particularly nasty cuts, then it gets binned. I still get some flat tires, but I'll get about 2,000 miles out of the rear tire, and twice that out of the front, as long as a tire doesn't get cut up too badly.

I carry 2 spare tubes, 2 CO2 cartridges, a flat kit and a small pump that I hope I'll never have to use.

JB

Ok all. I have purchased Gatorskins. I'll put them on when my current tires go.

If history predicts, my current brand new tires will be chopped to pieces from glass by this afternoon and I'll be able to test the Gators.

Watching where I ride and inflating my tires for every ride seems to work pretty well. The number of flats I get went down when I started following Michelins' tire pressure guidelines for my weight, running 100psi instead of 110 or 120. Rolling resistance is at least as good as far as I can tell, and it's a little more comfortable. By watching where I ride I mean looking at the road for rocks etc that are a danger to tires, not avoiding unpaved or rough roads.

I carry a pump, tube, Park glueless patches, and a couple "boots" made from old Tyvek race numbers. I've only needed a boot once but I have given them out to other riders.

Gatorskin 700x23 folding = 230g, $27 each at PBK
4-Seasons 700x23 folding = 224g, $37 each at PBK

Supposedly, the 4-Seasons tires use a slightly different rubber for better grip in wet/cold conditions. I've used both and didn't notice much difference. I do usually use these only on the back, and use a more supple tire (like a ProRace or GP4000) on the front.

My commuter runs on Forte Gothams (made by Hutchinson) 1200 miles as of yesterday, one slow leak due to a faulty tube. My "roadie" runs Vittorios, never a flat in about 800 miles on those.

Basic tubes, kept inflated, watch for glass.