DaveLeeNC

Nice day today and I went out for a routine 30'ish mile ride in the countryside here in south-central NC. A bit more traffic than normal (but normal is almost no traffic), so still a very pleasant ride. Ride was over, bike computer off, and I was 2 blocks from home when I had a flat tire. Like I said - rarely are the biking Gods so considerate.

dave

ps. I am going to ride this particular front tire until I have a flat just to prove to myself that it is possible to flat on a front tire - I don't EVER recall having done that.

GlennR

I once got a flat a 100 yards from my house, so i walked it and saved the CO2 canister.

BTW, i've had a flat int eh front.. it does happen.

downhillmaster

I remember when I used to turn off my bike computer prior to the end of the ride to pad my stats

big john

I guess you've never double-flatted?

DaveLeeNC

I did once and it was twice on the rear. But there is a backstory here as the rim tape on this (rear) wheel had been installed improperly and that was the culprit. Had it been in that same manner on the front it would have been a double front flat.

But consistent with my experience to date - no front flats.

dave

DaveLeeNC

I am curious - how does that padding work? Is the last half mile to your house uphill or something?

In this case about a half mile from the end of the ride (pretty much at my home) my very expensive knee brace slipped down to the point that I had to stop and adjust it (or just let it fall to my ankles). So I stopped to fix that and just ended the ride (on the bike computer anyway) at that point. Not sure that it was a padding thing but it was a much better ride than expected and I was interested in honest (no stops) data. I tend to focus on power more than speed (particularly on a windy day such as that day).

dave

big john

What I meant was flat both tires at the same time. I didn't have a double flat for years and then last year it happened twice, (2020'd). First time I rode through a bunch of debris and both tires went flat quickly.
Second time I was descending in the mountains and I hit a sharp rock in the shadows and cut the rear tire for an instant blow out. By the time I got the bike stopped the front was flat, too.

woodcraft

Complementing the gods for giving you a flat tire, hmmm....

Litespud

I pinch-flatted the front on a piece of gravel a couple weeks ago. Wasn't even a big pebble, and the tire was at its normal 90 PSI, but I must have hit it at just the right angle. Front flats are rarer than rears, but not uncommon. Last one, I ran over a piece of thin wire, which signaled its presence by clicking off the fork as the wheel rotated. The tire looked and felt fine otherwise, but when I pulled the wire out, I was rewarded with a transient puff of air, so I swapped in a spare tube

Leinster

Flats will happen, the only question to the cycling Gods is "when?"

Walking-in-cleats distance from home is pretty benevolent of them in that regard.

It also gives the added bonus of "Honey! I'm going to be in the garage fixing my flat tire for the next 3 hours*!"


*No it doesn't take me 3 hours to fix a flat.

DaveLeeNC

big john What I meant was flat both tires at the same time.

Now I understand and I have never encountered that. I haven't even heard of it, but in the right conditions I see how it can happen. dave

big john

Avoid it if you can, it is the suck.

bahula03

The only front flat I've gotten (lucky stars/knock on wood) the tire started losing pressure as I was braking for and going around a 90º corner, felt like the damn wheel was going to fall off...do not recommend. Relevant to this thread, it happened at the end of the ride and I got the bike stopped maybe 50' from a LBS, so got to have a chat and use their pump instead of a cartridge

DaveLeeNC

SUCCESS!!! I finally had a flat on the front. I was topping up the air pressure (floor pump) in my front tire before a ride and somehow in the process of removing the pump nozzle (presta valve) I sheared off the core piece. OK - not exactly what I meant but close enough :-)

dave

DaveLeeNC

I did this by personal request from the Bike Gods

dave