Flats from wires?
 

I've had 6 in the last two weeks. The only thing I can think that these tiny pieces of wire came from is a destroyed truck tire. Which I've seen many of.
You can't see these little bits in the tire until its too late. Running a glove hand over the tire does nothing to dislodge them or even tell you that your tire is doomed.
Anyone have any ideas how to prevent this?
My Roubaix is sitting on the stand right now with two flats. I have to fix tires again before I can ride tonight.

Continental Gatorskin tires might work. Ride different roads.

I agree, they're probably wire from steel-belted radial tires.

Maybe somebody's come up with a lightweight, carbon-fiber sweeper that you can mount on the fork to sweep a path in front of your tire while you ride. Raise and lower it like a plow when you approach a debris field.

When I see a fresh blowout, I just change routes for three or four weeks until car traffic sweeps the blowout shrapnel to the edges of the road. Then, I stay away from the edges when I return to that route.

Nothing prevents wires from entering your tires. They'll go right through the Conti Gatorskins, Bontrager Hardcases, Specialized Armadillos, and other flat resistant tires, though they provide much more resistance to wires than racing tires.

Wires often break off when they enter your tire, so make sure you get all of them out -- this can be tricky since you might not be able to feel the tiny bits stuck in your tire with your fingers, but they'll work their way back into the tube after awhile and puncture it again. I find a sharp blade to be indispensable for digging embedded wires out.

The Schwalbe Marathon Plus are much more resistant to wire flatting due to the blue layer, but those tires are so slow and heavy it's like riding in sand.

Maybe your on to something. I pulled out what wire was left hanging on the outside. But I never checked to see if there was anymore inside. These wires are so small it may be difficult to even see a bit left inside.
But since I am pulling out new pieces of wire maybe I have more than one puncture at a time? Hmmm.
So far the tires have gone flat overnight and I haven't had to swap a tube on the road.

Most of my flats are from wires, nails, staples, and a screw once (that actually went through the inside of the rim!). Glass is a distant second. Almost never thorns. Puncture resistant tires help but not immune, as was said above. Most of the time I never saw any debris, just enough accumulation of crap that they get by sometimes. I always avoid any car/truck tire fragments though.

Sometimes, you won't be able to see/feel anything.

When dealing with wires, first pull out everything you can. Then turn the tire inside out and try to feel again. Be sure to pay special attention to where the tires came through (you are of course orienting the stem to a particular place on the tire so you can match the hole in the tube to wherever the entry point was on the tire).

Especially if you have to dig with a blade from the inside, be careful or you could create something that will cause problems again after a couple hundred miles. I keep glueless patches to attach to the inside of the tire if the hole is not perfectly smooth.

Given how many flats you've had, it's very possible that you're not getting all the wire out every time. Bad luck is also possible. My record worst streak was 8 flats in 7 days, only one of which is known to result from incompetent flat repair.

True. I use Gatorskins with StopFlats2 liners on my commuter, and even they will get a puncture with something bad enough. With wires specifically, I have caught several, but none have gotten all the way through to the tube (yet).

Also run a cotton ball inside the tire and it will snag on any tiny wire that your finger will miss. Balled up tissue will work also. Be sure to run both directions.
I had a series of flats and it was due to not getting all the tiny wire out I didn't feel with my hand/fingers.

I took the rear off and ran my fingers on the inside. I didn't need tissue or a cotton ball as the trail of blood lead me to the wire.
Next time I'm using what has been suggested. Don't use fingers.
Anyway, the rear was going flat from a previous puncture and had two additional pieces of wire that didn't yet penetrate the tube.
The front had a bent piece of wire that made two holes very close together. I ran out of tubes last week so I am patching all of these.
Thanks for these great tips! I am sure that the piece in the rear would have yet caused another puncture. I was going to buy a liner for the rear but I think a close inspection post ride should do the trick.
There is no way to avoid these tiny pieces on the road so I have no idea how many are still laying there or how long they will remain on the road.

Tiny pieces of thin wire suck. They can be pretty much flush with the tire and virtually non detectible, but protrude enough when the tire is inflated, and a load put on it, to the protrude enough to puncture the new tube.

Taking the tire completey off and turning it inside out can help in detecting it.

Keep a small pair of tweezers with you to pull the wire out of the tire. There's not much you can do to stop the wires other than getting luckly, they go right through gatorskins

Yes, when steel-belted radials first became popular the most common brand was Michelin, so we called these little wires "Michelin thorns." Kevlar belts do seem to slow them down a little but they can still get through if they enter the tire just right. Good to carefully wipe your hand around the inside of the tire to be sure there aren't any little wire pieces left inside. Worst rate of punctures from them have come when riding on interstate highway shoulders. On I-5 we averaged about one flat every 40 miles - all from those little wire pieces.

I've been flatted by a similar wire. The best tho, was a piece of animal bone that still showed the red-tinged marrow hollow.

^^^^^^THIS ^^^^^^^

I got myself a cheap pair at WalMart and keep it in my saddle bag. It's been very useful for taking those wires out.