Stupid flat tires!!!
 

I've gone months without having a flat then the other day on my training ride i must have been day dreaming and rolled over something, jolted me out of my dreamstate and there you go, flat tire. That i'm ok with, i felt something that was the cause.
So i fix it, hobble home.
Next day, different route, no flat, great ride.

Next day, different route again, out in the sticks and for some unknown reason, bam another flat (always the rear).
So i fix it and limp home again. So that afternoon i'm getting my bike and gear for the next early morning ride and i notice my tyre is flat? WTF??

So i change it out again with a brand new continental tube. This time though i gave the tire a really good inspection, sure it has a few cuts and slits over it but for the life of me i couldn't find any signs of glass or wire or any other foreign object in it. I did notice that my rim tape was sort of heavily "moulded" into the spoke nipple holes. ie the tape wasn't especially smooth, you could easily feel the indentations where the spokes are. could this be a possible cause? is the inner rim meant to be completely smooth?

so i ponder this again this morning on the way to work and you guessed it, another flat. at this stage i'm hot and sweaty on the side of a wet muddy road trying to change my tire again just having a really bad morning (bear in mind this is my first day back to work after 12 days off). I do recall being forced to ride through some glass this morning though as i had a car in my lane and no where to go so that "could" account for it.
As i sat at my desk this morning repairing the tube it was only a simple pin hole puncture on the outside of the tube, consistant with a typical debris type flat.

Am i just being shat on my the flat gods and this is all just bad luck? what else can i do to check if i have any debris in my tyre or is the rim tape a possible cause? I'm running pretty new Rubinos, they are 60tpi.

In any case i'm taking my new Rubino pros (120tpi) off my Colnago race bike and putting them on and will also get some new rim tape from LBS today just to be sure.

Any other advice suggestions?

Flats often seem to come in groups, even when the cause is unrelated. Don't get upset, it's just part of cycling.

Sometimes there is a very small flake of stone or tiny piece of wire embedded in the tire. Just running your thumb around the inside won't find them. They only touch the tube when the tire is inflated and flexes as it rolls.

The best way I have found so far to find them is to remove the tire from the wheel and inspect the tread. Any cut or mark may be hiding an object. I pinch the tire to bend the casing and open up the cut or hole so I can look inside.

Also, cuts in the tread can allow the tube to get worn. As the tire rolls with your weight on it it flattens out. That spreads any cuts and lets the tube bulge through.

A rim strip which is bulging into the spoke holes a bit is ok as long as there are no sharp edges to wear on the tube.

It's always useful to note the orientation of the tube when you remove it, so you can inspect that area of the tire or rim. That's why I mount the tire so the label is aligned with the valve hole, and the colred side of the label is on the left side of the bike. That makes it easier to find the area on the tire where the flat happened.

Good advice, i will take both tires off after work and give them a good pinching ;)

You interrupted a Kookaburra (which brings bad luck and flats).
Leave them a food offering tomorrow morning.

Funny you mention that i have two of them that i feed on my back deck, moving house tomorrow, gonna miss those little guys :(

If you leave a trail of Kookaberries to your new location they will follow.

How do you "move house",is your house on wheels?

it's ok, i'll explain it for you, moving contents of house to another house ;)

Don't use those clear patches mate or you'll be on permanent walkabout.

Enjoy your summer,it's 0F.now here and the snow will be around for awhile:(.

i'd like a bit of that, been consistantly 30C here, 85+ humidity and storms every day. wet roads + glass = many flats

What about those Slime tubes?
I know their a weight issue but only for the rainy season.

The Park glueless patches work really well for me. I think the secret is to make sure they are firmly stuck on before putting the tube back in. I use a rounded edge of a tool (multi-tool or tire iron) to squeege from the center out. Make sure that there's no air bubbles between the patch and tube. You can tell by the color- the patch goes from opaque to clear where its firmly stuck on the tube. You have to pay extra attention to where the patch goes over seams on the tube.

Glueless patches also work as tire boots, if you haven't packed a section of Tyvek race number or cut the beads off a chunk of old tire and put that in your pack.