A bit off topic but related - I wonder what is the proper course of action to avoid an accident in case of a front tire flat during a fast descent? No amount of maintenance can really prevent it but judging by the responses in this thread such event is either extremely rare, or there are no survivors to tell about their experience, or, hopefully, people manage to handle the situation gracefully and avoid an accident. Suppose there are a few seconds until the tire loses all the air but how to stop the bike fast enough? My understanding is that braking with a front wheel (the one with flat tire) is a very bad idea and braking hard at speed with rear wheel pretty much guarantees skid and crash on a side.