Eyes Roll

In the last week of December 2023, I got flats in my rear bike tire on every single one of my last 3 rides. I had 4 flats within 60 bicycle miles, including 2 flats in one ride within a span of 5 minutes.

I have replaced the rear bike tire with a new tire on December 31, 2023, and went on a ride for about 70 miles on January 1, 2024, and I haven't had a flat since. I just wanted to share my experience. If you are getting a flat every 10 to 20 miles, it means it is high time for you to change the tire. Of course, you have to first make sure no sharp object is poking through the old tire from outside or is stuck in the old tire, the spokes are not causing the flat internally, and the rim tape is good.

The bottom tire in the picture is the old tire and the top is the new one. When I looked at the tire wear indicators, I thought I could get at least another 200 miles out of the old tire, but nah, I could not ride another 15 miles without getting a flat, and it was high time to replace the tire. I am just sharing my experience to the rookies who are new to bike-riding.

P.S. 2023 is the year during which I rode the most bike miles in any year in my life, easily more than 6000 miles.

downtube42

Bald tires flat easily, yes. But sometimes you're just unlucky.

Eyes Roll

I do not think I am unlucky, it's just high time for replacement. I rode the bike on the same road/bike path for about 4,500 miles out of the total 6,000 miles before replacement. I had never run a bike tire that long until its natural end. It was my first experience.

Those are the same make and model of bike tire, bought them new and together as a pair, in 2022. Those are Continental Gatorskins, 700 x 25c, by the way.

ScottCommutes

You don't give all the details, but it is certainly possible to have an otherwise ok tire with a piece of metal staple or something stuck in it that isn't visible from the inside or outside randomly providing you with flats whenever it decides to.

rm -rf

That 6000 miles was good.

Coincidence, or a batch of debris on the road last year? Or a micro sliver stuck in the tire like ScottCommutes posted?

Road tires have thin rubber. I'm guessing about 3mm on a new tire for my GP5000, thicker for your gatorskins. The two wear indicator pits are accurate, so that if they have just about disappeared, the remaining rubber is paper thin. (I cut a gashed tire in half to check the rubber thickness a few years ago.)
I'm guessing your worn out tire has close to 1mm tread left. That worn off 2mm or so isn't a huge barrier for sharp things puncturing -- it's the high tech casing material is what prevents some flats.

I was lazy this spring, and wore the tread down to where I could see a ghost outline of the fabric layer through the rubber. No flats.

The group I ride with rarely has flats. Pinch flats from rocks or deep potholes are more common than sharp punctures -- plastic bottles replacing glass bottles is a huge help.

(I got two flats in 3 weeks on my fast new tires some years ago. "these tires are terrible". Then no more flats for 18 months at least. Probability!)

79pmooney

I second ScottCommutes. Yes, it is probably time for a new tire. But, not finding the cause means simply changing the tire out does not guarantee the flats will stop happening. What if they are from a rim burr, slippage of the rim strip, something in the rim strip ... Plus finding the cause educates you a little more on perhaps likely causes of flats in your area. Knowledge doesn't prevent all flats. But sometimes lack of can lead to many.

Jay Turberville

I was getting an inordinate amount of flats and getting annoyed. It seemed related to a particular section of bike path. I walked that section and discovered a box of staples had been deposited there either accidentally or maliciously. Who knows. I came back with magnets and picked up a gazillion staples. No more flats.


I'm sure a thinner tire is more likely to get flats. But I don't think the tire goes from "4500 miles and no flats" to "can't go more than 20-30 miles without a flat" simply because the tire got thinner. I know too many riders that have ridden a tire until the cord showed through and they weren't flatting all the time.

sweeks

This reminds me of my first "real" bike, my Motobecane Mirage, which I bought new in 1975. In the first couple weeks, I had 4 flats, which I eventually traced to sharp edges on tiny drain holes in the steel rim. I went back to the dealer, who told me "wheels are not covered by the warranty". I de-burred the holes and never had another flat from the rim; I also never went back to that shop. And I still have the bike with that steel rear rim! Luckily, I replaced the front with an aluminum rim so I have some actual brakes.


Coming up on 49 years; still fun to ride!

79pmooney

Thanks guys for the examples to demonstrate my point.

Eyes Roll

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/6ec577a...e-6fe2b3ecca65

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/cc70bee...9-9b8f193a07eb

rumrunn6

holy cow!


I got a thumbtack in my MTB tire riding on a dirt trail. still wondering how it got there

andrewclaus

Ditto most of the above. A couple of mm of tread isn't going to stop many punctures.

I also use Gatorskins, have for many years, and replace them about once a year usually due to wear. I typically get a handful of flats a year, often a large thorn or staple, sometimes a rim strip problem. But last month suddenly I got four flats in two weeks--two were obvious large thorns, two were tube issues, probably from rim tape (since replaced.) Sometimes that just happens.

Before I started paying more money for better tires, I would average a flat a month. I remember one day commuting to work with three flats, then nothing for months.

wheelreason

Yes, worn tires, particularly worn performance tires are more prone to flats, but it's entirely possible the culprit lies somewhere else.

cyccommute 

As others have said, the new tires aren’t all that much thicker than the old tires. Frankly, you tires still show the dimples that are the wear indicators which means the tire isn’t all that worn. You don’t say where you are but, looking at the tire, it shows the telltale signs of being ridden in goat head country. All of the arrows on the picture below show the ends of goatheads that have been broken off. I’m very familiar with them. Even when broken off, the spike of the goathead can push up into the tube and cause a flat. You need to be a bit more careful where you ride. Stay away from the edges of the bike path and don’t go riding (or even pushing) you bike off any road or bike path without looking for the plant.

You tire could probably see more life but you need to remove every single one of those spikes. That’s a lot of work. Just that section looks like it has over 20. Assuming the rest of the tire is similar, you could be looking at a long day of flicking spikes.

jadmt

I have been looking for that tack every since I lost it....looks like you found it

Andrew R Stewart 

I agree and I think of the stuff that was done during the tire replacement that the OP, and likely many here, don't even know they have done. Like purposely or not pushing the rim strip about, like pulling out a tube that's "stuck" to the tire, like reinstalling the valve actually straight and more. All can have their contribution to flats that have only indirect connection to a new tire. I'll also say that I, and other co worker mechanics, have found tiny pieces of wire still embedded in the tread AFTRE other mechanics (and this includes me) haven't. In your LBS a return of a flat repairs is one of the real "egg on face" situations with the customer

But fresh tires feel really nice and "fixing" the flat problem for now is also nice. Andy

79pmooney

Nobody has mentioned the time honored troubleshooter. Patches. Now it take more than just the patches, It also requires a system but that system isn't difficult (and in many circles you will be laughed at, perhaps behind your back, if you don't use that system.

The system? Always locate the label of your tires exactly at the valve (or the rim label exactly opposite if you want to be different).

Now ride. And patch your tires at the scene. But first look at the hole. You can usually get a good feel for what caused it. Neat little puncture? Find that culprit! Now, that patch is your ally. The culprit is in an area about the size of a quarter where that patch lands on the tire when you reinstall the tube. (Or exactly the same distance on the other side of the valve if you did not track which way the tube was sitting.) It is almost always possible to find tire wire hairs when your search is narrowed down to the size of two quarters and you know the culprit is there. Flip side? Well you know know after examining Cyclocommuter's arrows that the OPs tires will require hours to find all those buried goathead tips, hours that would have you passing a high level exam if redirected.

And back to the patches - next patch overlapping the last or matching the last when you stretch the tire holding the valve. Oops! You didn't find the culprit. It's still there and will cause another.

Mankind has been searching for knowledge a long, long time. It is little known that the steeping stones to that goal are marked with those dainty little patches.

And yes, I get that on group and timed rides, tire repairs at speed are important. But - valuable information is lost. Yes, some info can be found after you get home, examine that tube, take the replacement out, old tube in and do the search for the issue. Or, the rest of that ride could have been a ****show of flats from that same issue. Or, that old tube doesn't get looked at and two days, weeks or months later, a "random" flat in the new tube.

Both tire wires and goat heads are famous for often being shorter than the distance of the thickness of the tread and working their ways patiently to the inner tube. And just because you flatted doesn't mean there is anything to see of that culprit. You may have to look for the tiny cut on the outside where it entered, then bend and force that culprit to stick its point out enough to grab. (Really good tweezers or, for me, the pliers on my 30 yo Leatherman are wonderful here. Fingernails aren't always up to the job. (I grew up on the east coast and raced before steel wire was incorporated in automobile and truck tire construction. We has glass but spent far less time looking for the near invisible. Moved to coastal west coast early '80s. Wire flats starting happening. Did organized rides east of the Cascades. My introduction to goatheads.)

The preventative approach that works well but is another game with its own set of "rules" is using sealants. With or without tubes. I run with tubes and sealant on some of my tires, just tubes on others. I'm still new to sealants so I have no advice here. I haven't tried to repair a sealed tube yet. That sealant sold me in my week in goathead country a year ago.

choddo

Tubeless, sealant, and dynaplugs.

So much time and hassle saved.

ScottCommutes

I don't patch tubes unless I'm on the road and already used the two that I carry. I commute, sometimes in the cold and dark, and not having any patches on my tubes gives me peace of mind.

Using your brain also goes a long way toward avoiding flats. Don't hit potholes. Avoid broken auto glass. Avoid the gravelly stuff on the shoulder. Avoid any place where lots of work vans stop and open the side and back doors. Check your tire pressure. Use good tires/rims/tape. Don't put 50lbs. of groceries on the back of the bike and take sketchy shortcuts.

Erzulis Boat 

Brand new $90.00 tubular. Sheet metal screw at mile 35. Good times, real good times.

ScottCommutes

At least it wasn't a brand new pickup truck tire.

Erzulis Boat 

There is an intersection at the city dump where every truck has to slow and hit the sharp turn. I have had probably 10+ flats on that section since the 1980's. It's littered with screws, nails, and staples. Needless to say, I avoid it as much as possible!

choddo

There’s a role there for some sort of magnet equipped drone.

Rick

I lived in Utah in the eighties. I tried Slime and it worked until it didn't. I used Mr Tuffy strips after that. I had my first flat from a loose valve ever today. I hand tightened and loosened the presta tip and the thing unscrewed. I didn't have a valve tool, so a wragg and a pair of pliers was the fix. I have had tubes that leaked were the valve was adhered to the tube before but never a loose valve. I ordered the tool and will check the tightness from now on.

Jay Turberville

I have a ziploc bag full of staples. Did you misplace those as well?