What kind of tires do you use?

Rando's, Thickslicks, and Gator Hardshells.

I recently ran a 23c Zaffiro in the back because my new frame couldn't fit a 25c. That was the blowout flat I was referring to above. The Rando's and Thickslicks give me the most trouble while the Hardshells have done fine.

I want to try Conti Supersports for the road because my frequency of flats is too. damn. high.

I probably get a flat on something huge about once every 3 weeks, the little stuff doesnt give me any problems its always something like this:

http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws...0a9f1408_6.jpg

A blunt tipped screw about 2.5" long

armadillo above and durano plus on my good bike

Where the hell do you ride? Open combat zones?

Im from the STREETS son.

The roads just arent cleaned or maintained well at all around here. That thing stabbed my tire after a streetsweeper passed by about 2 blocks ahead of me

That sucks. I guess this makes it more frustrating for me that I keep flatting out on little ***** particles compared to your debris.

Don't know if this makes any difference for susceptibility to flats, but I'm a bigger guy (6'-5", 210 lbs), and generally keep the tire pressure at 100psi.

OT: I need to borrow you on a couple of rides and help me clean up my bike trail. Damn kids always laying on the bike trails frosts my a**. Even worse when they fake jump in front of me. One day I am going to grab my mountain bike and plow right through that crowd....

It's funny how "tough" they are in a crowd of ten, but I caught one walking by himself one day, not only did he move out of my way (he moved to the marked walking side of the trail) but also waved and said "Hi sir". I digress.....

Haha, I'm not that intimidating, despite my size. I'll tell you what works, though: I dog sat for a friend's pit bull last year, and people would see the dog and walk to the other side of the street. The dog was sweet as hell, but terrifying looking. You need a scary dog to run the trails with you!

why would a flat cause you to walk? i have commuted for years and gotten hundreds of gnarly objects lodged in my tires. only once or twice did they require booting and never once required walking.

+100 for the advise above that says if it bulges and you can see the tire separating at the cut with the tube sticking through chuck it, but if not ride on. put a boot in if it makes you feel better or if there is danger of the tube coming out of the hole (i make my own out of old tire sidewalls). i don't bother to glue them in and just use the pressure of the tube to keep them in place.

a boot will fix a small bulging tear but a big one (maybe 1/2" or bigger) is no match for a boot in the long run. i have left a boot in a tire for hundreds of miles covering a small hole with no ill effect.

GMJ, another good tip for flats is check your tires periodically for debris a home. i try to do it monthly but honestly just do it whenever i think about it. take the tires off the bike, deflate em, and just go around the whole perimeter pinching the casing and looking for imbeded glass and whatnot. usually i end up pulling at least a dozen little pieces per tire whenever i look. since i started doing this flats have decreased substantially. i am of the opinion most flats are caused by little **** that eventually works it's way through the tire after being in there for weeks. although in the case of the nail pictured above that probably was not the case...

I'm the same and I hardly ever flat. Roads are rough here too but it seems I get more tire sidewall cut than anything.

I cut squares out of old jeans and keep those as tire boots along with my patches and spare tube.

The occasions when I don't have a flat kit/pump on me.

That's it! Man, my wife asked me a few months back why in the world I was keeping my punctured tire tube. I told her I can't remember, but I will one day.......thanks! Dang it! All this time wondering why I kept it.

The only flat I've gotten riding around Philly was from the "rumble strips" our campus put in without telling anyone. Those ****** strips give you about 4 inches next to a curb to clear them, and I hit the first one with my rear wheel the day they put them in, before all the signs went up.

+1

(again)

Tyvec (like from old race numbers or some packaging envelopes) makes great tire boots, stronger than a Dollar bill. Like Nagrom suggested, just put a patch on the inside of the tire and if the tread on the outside shows any hole, you can always put a bit of Shoe Goo on it to keep grit from making its way in the hole. The tire should be fine unless it has a gaping hole that will cause the tube to "herniate" out.

Why would you ever ride without them? Especially commuting to work?

You keep your punctured tubes in order to patch them.

Patch "with" them. :) I have a tube with multiple holes. The neighbor hood kids thought it would be funny to throw crap on the bike trail. Nails, pins, needles, tacks, glass, etc. It was a rainy day so there were not a lot of riders and yup....psssssssssssssssss........ damn kids.

Even looking around I couldn't believe how hard it was to see the junk out there. The water and dirt did a good job of hiding it. I tried to sweep as much off with a palm leaf as I could, but I talked to another rider later and he too said it was horrible earlier in the day. Trail rangers came out and cleaned it up.

I lol'd at my desk at work.

+1