Flats, flats, flats!
 

Hello all. My husband recently got a new ficed gear bike. It is a Specialized Langster, I think a 2006 model, bought new from a reputable shop. He just loves it! :)

However, he has had several flat tires since he got it. He rides it everywhere, commuting, recreation, fixie rides with the other fixie kids, and avoids any gravel paths. But he has had so many flats I just can't believe it! The first within 2 hours of buying and riding home from the shop, a few more within the last few weeks, then he had 3 flats within 36 hours this weekend! Is this normal? Is there a special kind of tire or tube we can consider?

Thanks for helping this fixie widow who knows nothing about them, and wouldn't give up her 21 speeds for the world. :)

Awww...
Conti Ultra Gatorskin
'nuff said!

When you change the tube, make sure their is nothing still in the tire. Feel around in the rim to make sure they have no sharp edges. I have had good luck using Mr.Tuffy tire liners.

FOR REAL**********



Ummm ................ perhaps the tires have tears/punctures/cuts etc. in them?

Perhaps he got glass or a nail or some other foreign object lodged in the tire on his first flat and never bothered to remove said object before replacing the tube, thus setting in motion a series of events whereby each new tube he installs is punctured by the same object

This is nothing "fixie" related. A tire is a tire is a tire.

(unless he has tubulars--a topic of which I have no knowledge)

well, if he's huggin the side of the road the whole time he rides that might pose a problem...much more trash and **** on the sides of the road than where the car tires run...

Rim tape, new tubes and Specialized Armadillos. Heavy but nearly punchure proof.

This happened to me once, albeit not on a fixed gear. It turned out that there was a very, very small piece of glass in my tire that poked a new hole in my tube right after I patched it. I got 3 flats in one ride.

Another factor leading to pucntures are underinflated tires. I have yet to have a puncture on my '07 Langster. I check my tire pressure on a regular basis, once a week, and make sure they're pumped up to 120 psi. To ride them at a lower psi, say, less than 90psi, would put the tubes at the risk of a pinch flat, or "snakebite".

You can check out new tires and tubes, but have the bike shop give a serious look at the wheels. There might be something out of the ordinary that is also causing the flats, like a spoke nipple head poking through the rimstrip (there should be a rimstrip), debris from and earlier flat still in the tire, an exposed wire bead sticking out of the tire, or simply riding around on underinflated tires.

Be sure to purchase a quality floorpump with a gauge so that you can always check the tire pressure as well. Topeak, Specialized, Silca, and Pedros all make quality floor pumps.

Thanks for the tip about the Gators, stevesurf. They are even available at my local MEC.

Hubby assured me and others that he had done this each time. But maybe he should have a very good, slow look at both his tires.

^yep, turn the tire inside out to expose hidden pieces.

Flats that often aren't the fault of the tires. There is something in his tire, a burr on the rim, his rimtape is bad, or he is underinflating.

The last tube I blew was after i inflated it to 110 psi from the 80 or 90 it had dropped down to.

Which reminds me, i need to buy a new spare tube.

it could also be that hubby himself is the culprit

does he use metal tire levers
?

is the rim tape seated properly? i just blew two tubes cuz i had pushed the tape around too much.

gatorskins over armadillos, any day.

Where are the flats happening on the tubes? Outside of the wheel, sidewall, or near the rim?

Any 'snakebite' flats with two identical small holes near each other on the tubes?

That information will lead you to the culprit.

in the decade plus I've had metal tire levers I've only messed up a tube once because of them (more of an issue of the tube being a bit too small than anything else). ymmv and all that.

make sure he's getting the entire tube inside the tire and that there are no parts of it trapped under the tire beads.

He'll love 'em. The other evening I ran over broken glass - no prob! The compound's a little hard, so be careful in the rain. Contis rule for both road and mtbr avg riding.

Hey Charlene, some more nice flat resistant tires that are easy to find around here are Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase (Bicycle Sports Pacific, Cap's) and Schwalbe Marathon Plus (Bikes on the Drive, Dream). The racelites are a little sportier with no tread, and the marathons have a bit of knob to em, but i haven't flatted yet with either tire.

That said, other posters are correct that lots of flats are due to mechanicing without knowing quite what you're doing. Every cyclist has to go through that, and eventually it subsides a bit. :)

I managed to get a tiny rip where the valve meets the tube, resulting in faster and faster flats, then the valve ripping out of the stem.

Slim tire liners have kept me down to 2 flats in 2000 miles using $9 Performance tires.

+1

I've put a good 1,000 miles on my Langster (2007), not one flat. Check the weld on the rim. Sometimes those open up and pinch the tube. New rim tape would help too. Other than that, make sure the PSI is over 95 at minimum.

Just to note, I go through tires like a mad man... and so far the Continental Gatorskin is the best. Armadillo's are overrated. Heavy and the rubber isn't really that thick.

My friend who has an 06 Langster had the same problem. There is a design flaw where the valve meets the tube, which results in a sharp piece of metal being totally exposed which cuts through the tube eventually not long after you put weight on it. He taped it up and the tube hasn't popped since.

How'd the tubes fail? Where there the snakebite marks from a pinch flat or was it just a puncture wound?