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Preventing/slowing down flats

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Old 09-11-10 | 09:47 AM
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Joined: Sep 2010
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From: SoCal T.O.

Bikes: CAAD9-6, 13' Dawes Haymaker 1500

Preventing/slowing down flats

Hi everybody!

Me and two of my friends got road bikes last week(I got a CAAD9 they got Trek 1.2s) and we are planning to go on a 60 mile bike ride next week.
I used to own mountain bike and I always got a few flats whenever I was biking.
I want to know if flats are common on road bikes and how I can prevent or have a lesser chance of getting flats.
I have seen those bottles of slime at our local bike shop, but I have seen lots of mixed reviews about them.

If you have any other tips for a beginner cyclist please post them! Thanks!
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Old 09-11-10 | 09:55 AM
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From: Superior, CO

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As long as you dodge the big pieces of debris, you should be fine with any sort of decent tires. I get a flat about every 1000 miles or so on my Michelin Krylion Carbons, but it usually involves something major like a pinch flat on railroad tracks. I can run over just about anything and be fine (Usually about once a ride I go, "*****, that was stupid. That one's gonna be a flat." And it ends up just fine.) Just make sure if your tube has this to not tighten the little nut on the valve because that will tear the tube around the valve.
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Old 09-11-10 | 10:43 AM
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Joined: Feb 2006
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From: Roanoke

Bikes: BH carbon, Ritchey steel, Kona aluminum

New riders tend to ride in the chaff on the side of the road. Seasoned riders know that is where the thorns, bits of glass, shards of metal, and other flat-causing things live and they naturally ride just left of that chaff. Be mindful of this and you'll have far fewer flats.

Also, if you ever do find yourself riding through a bit of broken glass or something, you can probably pre-empt a flat by carefully sweeping your tire with a gloved palm of your hand (both front and rear) and this will clear the debris before it can make its way through your tire to your tube.

Keep your tires up to correct pressure to eliminate pinch-flats by inflating every day you ride. Tires that need this high pressure and that are so thin will normally lose pressure enough in a day or two to be a big difference. Just always pump before you ride.

I would avoid slime or any of that gooey crap as it makes a huge mess when the tube inevitably does fail and it is heavy and can gather in one section of tube, causing a balance problem.

When you buy new tires, make sure you get the ones that have some kind of flat protection lining (almost all high end tires do these days) and when you buy tubes, don't get lightweight race tubes, get the slightly thicker ones that will hold air longer and resist flats better.

Enjoy your new bikes!
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