jpescatore

It was time to put new tires on my 2017 Trek Domane SL6 Disc, so I sprung for Continental GP5000s (tubeful) and while I had the wheels off to put the tires on I cleaned the bike, lubed the chain, etc. To do so, I took off the small saddlebag I use to carry tools and my mobile phone, etc.

Yesterday, I had a meeting in Washington DC and the weather was perfect (near 80f), so I threw the bike in the car, put my biking clothes on under my grownup meeting clothes and was able to get out on the Capital Crescent trail down in to DC, ride a few loops around Haines Point at the tail end of Cherry Blossom season. Got in about 26 miles as a sneaky extended lunch.

When I took the bike out of the car to get going I realized I had forgotten to put the saddle bag back on, so had no tools and since I hadn't put on a jersey with pockets, so safe way to carry the phone, either. In my experience, the chance of getting a flat on brand new tires (and tubes) should be lower but actually seems higher, because of inadvertently pinching a tube or yanking on a valve stem, etc. I could almost feel the cycling gods rubbing their hands together as I approached the furthest away point, where I would have worn my SPD-SL plastic cleats down to little nubs walking 12 miles back.

Maybe because the GP5000s were actually very easy to get on the wheels of the Domane (first time in many different tire types that I wasn't hating life or resorting to using my Kool Stop Bead Jack tool) or maybe the cycling gods were taking a nap, but made it back without a flat. Maybe it was cycling on the carpet of cherry blossom petals that really saved me...


The "naked" Domane

seedsbelize 

It's always a treat to manage to get away with that. Kudos

MattTheHat 

Since going to tubeless road tires about 3,000 miles ago, all I ever leave home with is one of those little Topeak multitools. I do have a mini pump on one of my bikes which I've never used. Those first few ride without CO2 or a spare tube or patches, etc felt a little naughty.

Interestingly I've never used the multitool myself during a ride. I did run across a kid one morning whose handle bars had come completely loose. He acted like I was a rock star when I had his bike fixed in about 2 minutes.

-Matt

Seattle Forrest

You rolled the dice and you won.

joelcool

I did that recently too. Whew!

indyfabz

Maybe three years ago I went on a club ride with a small group. There were two route options: One moderate one and one longer, harder with a lot of hard hills later on. The routes diverged after the first water stop. I wasn't feeling up to the harder route so I decided to go it alone on the easier route. Not long after I and the rest of the group parted ways I realized I had forgotten my saddle bag and thus had nothing to fix a flat with. I felt somewhat O.K. because I was riding tubleless. At the same time, I knew that not all tubeless punctures will seal at an acceptable pressure. I figured in a worst case scenario, I could simply call someone doing the longer route and eventually get picked up. My anxiety level (and blood pressure) suddenly spiked when I realized I had left my phone in the car. Not my most organized performance. Fortunately, I made it back to the parking lot without incident.

69chevy

In my last several thousand miles I've had one flat.

jpescatore

I've actually had zero flats on my road bike in the last 5 years, but hated to tempt the gods... I now check my tires after each ride, remove any slivers that get in, squirt Shoe Goo in any bigger slits that get in the tire, and I err on the side of replacing a tire and tubes too early vs. too late. And I think the tires I'm buying are way better these days.

In fact, the only flat I've gotten in 5 years has been on my Trek 520 indoors! I put a trainer tire on my 520 and put it on an indoor trainer to do Zwift over the winter. I didn't change the tubes and the rubber around the valve stem had worn through and went flat on the rear. The Schwalbe tires on that bike last a long time, the tubes were pretty old and I think the indoor trainer environment is heats things up more than outside - I should have put a fresh tube on with the trainer tire.

Dean V

Nice bike. I have exactly the same model, except I have changed the wheels.

jpescatore

I love those vision 40 wheels! That was the major reason I went with that version of the Domane. This is my first carbon bike, first disc brakes, first deeper wheels, etc. - I don't have anything but old steel rims to compare..

What didn't you like about the Vision 40s?

Dean V

I like the Vision 40's and am going to put them on another bike.
I only took them off because I got an Enve 4.5 AR wheel set for a good price so put them on.