Help! Never ending flats
 

I live in an area that is covered in vines that produce very big and very sharp thorns (called goatheads or puncture vine). Since this plant is found ALL over the city (and since I live in the county, it's even worse) I keep getting my tires flattened and my boyfriend's tires are getting flattened too. We have tried Slim, tire liners, thicker tires, and NOTHING at all, whatever is helping :twitchy:. I really want to start riding my bike to work and school but I can't until I find something that works. Solid inner tubes are really my only option. Any advice on brands? Are there semi-solid inner tubes? I'm so tired of the frustrations of the flats. No part of the city is safe from these suckers (roads, side walks, both get them) :cry: . Thanks so much in advance!

That... looks evil. Um, I'm sorry.

rhinodillo tire liners + thorn resistant tubes+ Gator skin hardshell ultras = really crappy ride, but no flats ever.

Did you try Schwalbe Marathon Plus?

That looks like New Mexico! When I lived there I had a flat almost every day. Slime worked for me though. Part of my routine was to wake up, spin the wheel around for a while then inflate. I don't miss those days looking back, but my tradeoff is 10" of snow...

Years ago, someone sold a little wire doo-dad that sat just above (on) the tire. As the wheel turned round, anything it picked up was plucked off by the wire (thread?). I have no idea what they're called so I can't even Google it. But it might be an acceptable solution for the OP.

(Theory: almost never get flats the first time. Tire picks up debris, it sticks to the tire, but doesn't puncture. Then, as it goes round on the wheel, it's the 3rd, 4th, etc... time of hitting the ground & being pushed in to the tube that causes the puncture.)

Used them back in the 70's when touring. Have not seen them advertised for decades.

Tire savers

I'd move.

+1 for Rhinodillo liners

They work.

You can double dip on the urethane liners. We have plenty of goatheads around here in late summer/fall and there is no way they will get through that.

My Lotus had these when I bought it. Didn't know what they were, tossed em in a drawer. Thanks for the education. :thumb:

What is a Hard-Case tire? Is it something you put over the tire itself?

I am not a fan of those Mr Tuffy tire liners, but in your case they may be necessary. Ride may be harsh but beats flats.

You may also wish to investigate road tubeless...major hassle but if you use the sealant the punctures will generally seal themselves.

It's basically a regular tire that has an internal lining made of Kevlar or a similar material to make it more puncture resistant. Because of the liner, they won't ride as soft as a typical road tire, but many like them for training and regular riding because you don't have to worry about flats nearly as much.

Nope, never hear of it lol. I'll look into it. Thanks :)

Ah, thank you for explaining that for me.

Ok, I'm kinda confused on this too :( I'm sorry. So this is a tire NOT an inner tube?

I just noticed in looking at the pictures u posted that ur not riding a road bike. So all of our tire suggestions are not that specific to your application. What size tire is that? Everyone here is recommending road bike tires. If it is a road bike slap some gatorskin hard shells on there and call it a day I run over everything with mine

Dude, you know in Chinese medicine goatheads are used in a tea to boost testosterone. Collect those buggers off the tire!

; )

I saw the title of this thread and thought "at last....a discussion of how to stop riding in Florida"....

I don't think she would want more testosterone.

Five-six years ago when I was living in the Southwest a bunch of us started using Specialized Armadillo tires to good effect against goat head thorns. I still have them on one of my backup bikes. They're heavy and ride like bricks but they helped a lot with the thorns. Previously we tried tire sealant but as often as not it didn't work and created a mess.

lol sorry, that was just some pic I found on google