delbiker1 

I have a Schwinn SS DBX that has Continental Contact Plus tires mounted on it. For a road tire, these have a fairly aggressive tread on them. Two weeks ago I did a 35 mile ride; combination road, gravel and trail, and over the course of the next few days both tires went flat. My thinking was that the tires had picked up small splinters/thorns of some kind. This morning, I decided to use this bike for my ride today. I pulled the tires from the wheels, found the holes in the tubes with a basin of water, and patched them. Before I remounted, I did the running my fingers on the inside to find any snags, they both had what appeared to be thin shards of wire that had poked through. I got those pulled out and decided to inspect the outside of the tires for anything that may be stuck there. I wound up finding and pulling at least 18 small shards of glass that were imbedded in the tires, most of them somewhere in the depression of the tread. I do not know if any of them would have worked their way through the casing to cause flats, but I sure am glad I took that extra step. Actually, I inspected the tires again before re-installing the tubes and remounting the tires.

I have noticed that of late, there has been an inordinate amount of broken glass and other junk in the both the travel lanes and emergency/pull off lanes. One day last week I picked up about 2 dozen screws/nails out of a bike lane in less than 1 mile. I am a bit surprised by the amount of junk in relation to the relatively small amount of traffic. I normally have very few flats, probably average 2 a year in 4 to 6 thousand miles per year. These are the first flats I have had with these tires. I guess I am going to have to start doing a post ride inspection after every ride. I am not complaining, and I have no desire, or curiosity, to try tubeless. It is a risk I accept.

By the way, I use both Rema patch kits and Scab type glueless patches. I have seen many negative comments on the glueless patches. I have had no more problem with them than I do with the vulcanizing patch kits. The only issue I have had with them is with older ones that have been in my bike bag for a fairly long time, as the patch does not easily separate from the paper backing. With care and patience, that can be overcome. Like with any patch, one must keep away from skin contacting the sticky side of the patch to avoid contamination with skin oils. Proper prep of the area to be patched is definitely necessary.

I have gotten into the habit of stopping and picking up hazards such as the nails/screws, etc, off of the road. I either pack the stuff in a jersey pocket or bag and dispose of properly, or at least, get it off of the roadway. I also stop and ask people on the side of the road if they need any assistance. I certainly appreciate anyone doing that for me, whether it is needed or not.

Enough of this, both tires are good to go. It is time for my ride.

JustinOldPhart

About once a year I take one of my old tubes and a 1/2" arch punch and reduce the tube to a bunch of 1/2" circles. That makes about three lifetimes worth of patches, but as long as I'm whacking the thing I might as well do the whole tube. I rinse the circles in a bit of acetone to remove the talc and let them dry, then throw them in a bag.

I carry a dozen or so in my kit and, when I have to patch a tube, I take one out, lick it, wipe it on my jersey, put some glue on the back and on the tube, and then put the patch on the tube and wring it in. It's a ****load less fiddlin' around than a commercial patch and works just fine. I have been doing this since dirt was new.

Wileyrat

I like the phrase, I may have to borrow it. My way of saying the same thing is "since rocks were soft"

JustinOldPhart

I could say "since my head was soft", as that, geologically, falls into the same time period. Roughly.

That's pretty obvious, though, isn't it? Stevie Wonder could see that...

Troul 

been fiddling with it before it was a faddle.

i hate picking out glass.

ramzilla

I've got a couple stretches of A1A down here in Florida that make me cringe everytime I have to ride on them. Broken glass, metal shards, gravel, sand, & rough hard surfaces. Rednecks in trucks drifting over into the bike lane. Bike gangs. Dump trucks. Concrete trucks. Oh my God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously. Bad roads are a tough place to operate a bicycle.

joel1952

1/2" arch punch, $15 on Ebay
Or buy 50 chinese patches on Ebay for $1.75, No acetone required and they are pre-glued,
They are 25mm diameter which is good for mountain and cruiser tubes. I cut them down to 20mm for skinny tubes
No licking required