jimmuller 

I'm with @rhm. That doesn't sound (literally) like a faulty tube. Also if the Vittoria Corsa is anything like the pair of Vittorias I went through I'd be surprised it could blow off the rim easily. So I'd suspect a poorly seated bead, or perhaps the tube pinched between bead and rim such that it acted as a wedge between them when pumped up with air.

Or maybe you had defective air. I saw this viral video about defective air in tires, pretty scary stuff.

madpogue 

Worst thing is, people release that defective air from their tires into the atmosphere, so you could wind up pumping it into your tire sometime. People really need to release that defective air into a sealed chamber.

(I might have known the guy who's responsible for this. First initial B, last name Adair, so his Email was badair@....)

squirtdad

just the front tire

I was pretty sure i had a good tire seating, rims are mavic open pro..... I check pretty carefully.
Certainly possible that i had a bit of tube pinched between the rim, but in that case I would have expected an immediate issue not after 75 miles. at the point of failure there was nothing like a bump, or hard corner or speed that would have stressed the tire.
not discounting operator error, getting the latex tubes in was a bit of a pain so I could have pinched or nicked them such that a down the road failure like this was in the works.
It was interesting to me that the tire it self once uninflated reverted back to it's flat in the box folded profile, not retaining it's inflated shape at all. could just be a function of time.

defective air is always a possibility.....I have a more focused observation on that

thanks

rhm

Or at least light a match before it dissipates.

squirtdad

I had forgotten about this. Reminds me that there was a little old lady who brought her T-Bird into the service station where my brother worked twice a a year to change the air in her tires. Spring time she got rid of the winter air and fall she got rid of the summer air. She insisted on watching to make sure the tires were totally un-inflated and then re-inflated (she was no dummy abvout mechanics being lazy)

possible I got defective air or mixed morning commute air with evening commute air

tiger1964 

I think the biggest hole I've seen in a tire was part of Monday's crash - a hole about one inch square in the sidewall. Not a puncture nor blown off the rim. I had the slide under control even on wet muddy grass at speed, until the front wheel caught the edge of the asphalt path, whose rough edge ripped the hole with a loud, deep-pitch report. I knew I was going to need a new tire but a fraction of a second later I was flying inverted, so it didn't seem important.

And these Continental 4000S tires are supposed to be flat-resistant - sheesh!

rhm

Hey, we almost went two months without bumping this thread!

But this morning I got on my folding bike and found the rear tire had gone flat overnight. I had to turn the 20" Kenda tire all the way inside out before I found the 3 mm fragment of wire that caused the puncture. Fixing the bike took about 25 minutes, but I missed two trains, so ended up about 70 minutes behind schedule.

jimmuller 

Yeah, many months with no flat, but that's because I haven't ridden much. I commuted once last week, again today. Today I got a flat in the front tire on the way to work, got another in the rear on the way home. I'm riding sewups. Fortunately Stan's Tire Seal fixed them both! The front this morning took 5 minutes or so, the rear less than a minute, didn't even require more air to finish the ride home.

RobbieTunes

I think flats are mojo-induced. I once mentioned to a riding mate that I'd not had a flat in a year or so. Immediately, the front tire flatted, and I think she's still laughing. I was setting a PR in a triathlon, and amazed at how fast I was going on really rough chipseal. The next R turn had me straight into the ditch: no rough road, a flat tire.

Been playing cat/mouse with a slow-leak tubular, and reminded a BF member that I'd never had a Tufo flatten on me. He still said "2 oz of Stan's, just for good measure." Not me. F/R up to 100psi, out I go. 2.5 miles in, flat front, no visible damage. Ride it very slowly, across a construction zone, to the house. Connection at the base of the valve....tip it one way, no leak. Tip it another, hiss. Riding home with a flat on carbon wheels does make one think....

rhm

Mojo?

I hesitate to bring the supernatural into it, but I'm also cautious not to talk about flat tires flippantly lest The Powers That Be being detect a hint of hubris. But to give credit where it is due, The Powers have been kind to me lately, regarding flat tires, and I am grateful

noglider 

I'm starting to think that we acquire skill at riding between the shards of glass, which could account for our improving luck.

ThermionicScott 

Windy rainstorms have knocked a bunch of twigs and branches down onto our trails lately, and one short sharp little twig stuck in my rear tire about 50 miles into what became my first metric of the year. I heard the "ding-ding-ding" sound first and wondered if I had broken a spoke. While coming to a stop, the "hssss..." announced what had really happened. Thankfully, the tube replacement was successful and I was on my way. I'm down to my last virgin 650B tube before needing to patch a couple, though.

jimmuller 

I have found that by riding less frequently I get flats less frequently. Three flats in my sewup over the last two weeks. Fortunately Stan's work well.

nlerner

About 15 miles in to my 100k ride yesterday, the rear tire went soft. I replaced the tube but couldn’t find the cause. Then, about 2 miles before the end of the ride, the rear tire started going soft again. It was losing air slowly enough for me to ride home, fortunately. When I inspected later at home, I found holes in both tubes in the same place. It then took a while, but I eventually discovered something very small and sharp poking into the tire tread. Kinda weird that it took roughly 3 hours for it to penetrate that second tube. I hope this isn’t a harbinger for a very flattish riding season.

squirtdad

Front tire, Corsa G graphene with about 225 miles, I hits something that went through the thickest part of the tread.... Orange seal gushing out like fountain..... made a big mess of the frame. So sealant does not work for all. clearly.... but I am pretty sure i had slower leak on the rear tire that sealant fixed

I run them a 115psi and am a clyde

Quick put in a new tube and continue to work

here is what the hole looked like and there was nothing left looked like it was in and out.

rumrunn6

kinda see a circle around the hole so maybe a thumbtack?

jimmuller 

Had a rear tire flat on the way to work yesterday. I had chosen to ride a bike with clinchers instead of sewups. So instead of Stan fixing it for me in 30 sec (plus my pumping time) it took me 15 minutes (plus pumping time) to patch the tube. A tiny tear with no visible cause in the tire. Later in the afternoon I noticed the tire flat again. So I swapped in a new tube. Haven't had time to examine the offending tube yet, but it has several patches already so it's probably headed for the trash anyway.

noglider 

A couple of weeks ago, riding home late at night from the bike coop, I noticed my front tire was soft. This is my new set of 650b x 38mm tires. I learned yet another nice couple of things about wider tires. One is that they lose air more slowly because of their lower pressure and higher volume. Two is that with the larger volume, it's still fairly safe to ride. By morning the tube was out of air, and I patched it, no problem.

88Tempo

I went for a ride the other day on a freshly graded gravel road on my Ogre and noticed the rear Kenda Small Block 8 was a getting soft.

Stopped to check it out and had 3 goatheads stuck in it. All three managed to poke holes in the tube.

I did have a driver stop to ask if I was okay while patching the tube so that was cool.

SurferRosa

I hate keyed lock washers on hub axles. What's the point? To **** up axle threads so you have a hard time in disassembly? To lock to the axle without a locknut so you can't remove the cone by hand? To make me lose my mind? To force me buy a dremel tool? To make me curse every living being on earth?

jimmuller 

Well, like it or not it is for "consumer protection". If your QR skewer is loose your wheel still won't come off. Of course one could argue that if you are riding around with a loose skewer you should suffer the accident to teach you a lesson. Alas, as we are all fractions of this world, we must all play to the lowest common denominator.

Ged117 

I've started commuting on my Voyageur with newish standard pasela wire-bead tires. I really, really like the ride these give. I accept that they will flat me more often than say a Schwalbe Marathon in 27" might. I have those tires in 700c (previously they were on my hybrid commuter, and will be going on my Peugeot with new wheels for commuting duty). While they are solid and dependable, they don't have the feel that the pasela does.

I had a flat last week. The street cleaners were about, and I think they spit some glass into the bike lanes. I have the sticky patches, but need the glue ones. The non-glue sticker patches don't seem to hold very long.

jimmuller 

@Ged117, you should find the Paselas quite good for commuting. I've ridden on them with good results.

My speed bikes tend to have Veloflex Master (a clincher) or Veloflex Criteriums (a sewup). I had another flat today. Stan took care of it in a minute or less. Less time than I spent pumping, and it didn't lose all that much air.

Addendum: I need to get some more patches. I have half a dozen little tubes of patch glue, some unopened, but I run out of patches when commuting on clinchers.

jimmuller 

Speaking of flats, the puncture on the front wheel of my PFN10 is the proverbial bad penny that won't go away. Stan's Tire Seal fixed it when it happened but if I pumped it up too much it would blow again. Last night I tried again, let Stan seal it then pump it. As I held it in my hand it blew out again. A small bump had actually appear at the puncture site. I'm guessing the seal was just unable to hold up with insufficient tire providing the backing. Well, it will hold maybe 100psi, maybe less, would be a good spare to carry in a pinch but not a primary road tire. So I glued up and mounted another tire.

rhm

I rode 195 miles on my Squarebuilt bike with 26 x 2.3 Rat Trap Pass tires yesterday. This was a 300km brevet with NJ Randonneurs, plus a few bonus miles since I started at home.

Other riders were plagued by flats, and I did not gloat, but even so I appear to have angered the gods: rear is flat this morning.