10 Wheels

Luck.....

SwampDude

Having a flat with an Armadillo tire is an unforgettable experience. Those puppies are stiffer and harder to get on/off the wheel than anything I've ever used. Bummer.

banerjek

Rough roads aren't what causes most flats, it's sharp objects.

I imagine that rough roads might actually prevent some kinds of flats as tiny shards of glass and wire could fall in cracks or the texture where they'd be less of a threat. In any case, if your rough roads are less traveled and have less debris on them, that's a huge factor. Of course luck is always part of the equation.

Pulling tiny bits of wire from steel belted radials is harder than with other tires. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus is significantly harder to remove/mount than 'dillos.

Dan The Man

piece of wire from a truck tire

Drakonchik

But you're not using TR tubes. Admit it.

Drakonchik

I've been riding your dare for years, in junkyards and heavy industrial areas. Also rode for years in the Tri-Cities, Washington State, capitol of goat-weed where you'll take hundreds of hits per ride -- never flatted once except when goat weed hits way high on the sidewall.

RT

You have not ridden here.

The End.

banerjek

Correct. But if something's gone through hard rubber, kevlar, blue layers, etc, the tubes don't add much to the equation. Wire, glass, and metal shards will go through anything. This is particularly true in the wet where the water both hides sharp things from view and lubes them as they penetrate your tires.

The Marathon Plus has outstanding resistance to small glass shards and wires as those get sucked up in the blue layer and never make it in to the tube. It is quite vulnerable to sidecuts, and sufficiently sharp metal can and will cut all the way through the blue layer. Likewise, sufficiently large pieces of glass will too. Roofing nails and screws can also penetrate all the way in (and even damage rims). I've had flats from all these causes on the MP. That said, it's as flat resistant as it gets. It is also the slowest tire I've ever ridden.

The Armadillo is the worst riding tire with the worst traction I've ever tried. It has decent resistance to sidecuts as well as sharps. It can absolutely be destroyed (i.e. tire is not repairable) by glass even it isn't particularly vulnerable. I find it virtually worthless against wires from tires as they seem to penetrate right in and are hard to get out.

The GS is like a better version of the 'dillo. It's not quite as flat resistant, but it rolls better. It has unimpressive resistance to sharp chips even if it is not especially vulnerable. Of the popular flat resistant ones, it is one of the better choices.

I ride flat resistant tires during the winter simply because ODOT throws down sharp chips everywhere for traction and I can't see other debris in the dark and the wet. Any tire I ride gets absolutely wrecked and is full of cuts and holes within a month. When it's dry and light and they get rid of some of the crap that's all over the roads, I switch to the much more fun 4000s which yields me fewer flats than any of the tires above. But it isn't because the 4000s is so resistant. It's all about conditions.

plasticmotif

I'm cursing myself, this I know.

I've only had one flat this year. I was pumping up a low rear tire mid ride and the presta valve shot out when I removed my pump. I've never had that happen before.

banerjek

Are you using the stem nuts? If yes, then don't.

Also, you have screwed yourself by saying you only got one flat this year. Angering the flat tire gods always costs you.

TRUMPHENT

Best tool on the market is the Koolstop Tire Jack. Koolstop is better known for their brake pads. It's tire jack is awesome. I have even chopped off the first segment of the handle and am considering shortening yet again.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AYML7K/...hvptwo=&hvqmt=

Igo

Gatorskins are a nice riding tire.

BradOlz

a lot of talk about flats caused by thorns, glass, metal shards, etc, and i've had a few of those but most of my flats have been on the underside of the tube. so i've tried filling up my tubes before every ride, different psi's and whatnot, but i've been having the same problems. also, i continually have to adjust the rim strip so that no part of the spoke holes are showing. finally yesterday i scrapped the "velox" rim tape and used some basic athletic tape that i could make a wider width with that covers a greater area of the rim. went for 20 miles flat free yesterday, hopefully today will be the same. before the adjustment i was flatting every other ride.

also... i use those q-tubes with replaceable valve stems, so i keep an extra one stolen off an old tube in my little patch kit, in case i get a little aggressive pumping up my tires.

ThermionicScott 

+1. An extra layer of tube won't do the job if the tire carcass is slashed. I've had good luck using a large square of duct tape as a boot.

banerjek

Actual tire boots work really well. And unlike many of the things that you need to improvise, they stick where you need 'em so they're really easy to get them to stay in place.

I'm not really a fan of using an extra layer of tube. In addition to only working on the smallest types of cuts, you need a knife to cut your old tube. May as well just unwrap a few rounds of electrical tape from your bars.

RT

pallen

SwampDude

Wow! Where did this come from? And Why?