99miles

Yep, in one 28 mile ride today, I got 3 flats! Two thorns and one unknown -- maybe some weird pinch.
Of course not every ride ends up this way, and this is a pretty basic question, but I'm curious if certain wheels will be tougher than others, or if there's another reasonable solution. Or if after today I'll be back to not getting three flats in a day and I shouldn't worry about it

10 Wheels

Normal aspect of riding. 28 flats last year for me.

https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=...74/YVT2H-9Jgzg

tFUnK

about 10 flats in 2 years. only 4 flats after i invested in a floor pump with a gauge. i don't ride through thorns, though.

pdedes

after getting 3 flats in one ride, i discovered my rim tape had blown through. check your rim tape, and check your tires for any shards of glass/metal poking through after a flat.

cyclezealot

Love of cycling sometimes has to overcome a three flat day. When you don't carry enough tubes to keep up with the number of flats, that is a bad news day.. you think should that last flat get you stranded, might you throw your bike off a cliff. So far no...
. Don't use your tires until they are thread bare. Buy kevlar lined tires.. It gets frustrating when flats seem to come at a fast and furious rate..

ahsposo 

There are certain tires that are more resistant to punctures. Use the forum search feature in this forum to find them. There is a classic that's worth reading just for fun:https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-Racing-Tires

The advice pdedes gave is spot on. Someone also suggested using a cotton ball to wipe the inside of your tire. Thorns will snag the cotton fibers and spot them for you.

AngryScientist 

the best method for preventing a flat is to watch the road and what you run through. some things are, of course unavoidable, and tougher tires like conti gatorskins definitely help, but sometimes you just have to pay the toll for riding.

R900

Don't run over sharp things. Flats are random, IMO tires make little difference.

Quel

I think I'm in the neighborhood of 1 flat per 1000 miles. Of course, I don't live in goathead thorn country.

AeroDog

I average about one flat per 500 miles. Were you carrying three tubes?

emj2390

I have rode 5K miles last year had 2 flats cross riding(thorn for the first the second I got air on a mtb trail and pinch flatted.) and one flat on the road I ran over a set of keys...
this year so far 1500 miles 0 flats.
Its all about the tires

Daytrip

I got two on my regular ride last week. That's the first time that's happened. Both were pinholes, so I assume I ran over the same object with both tires. Prior to that, I'd gone more than 1,000 miles without one. That's just the way it goes sometimes.

Arkansan07

you need better tires

Big_Red

I installed slime lite tubes. haven't had a flat since. You can see on the tire where the sealant has done its job after a thorn or glass run in. I think things were better when I changed to ProRace 3's also. You might also ask yourself if you are sure you cleared the thorn out of the tire on the first flat.

Doohickie

I've gotten, I think, 3 flats in 2 years of riding (4, if you count a pinch flat that occurred in the garage). I almost got a 5th on Saturday. I'm usually pretty careful about not riding through glass but I was with a group ride and a moment's inattention meant riding right through a broken bottle. I immediately stopped and checked both tires; a piece of glass had stuck to the tire and probably would have poked through if I'd left it be.

Homebrew01

When you run out of tubes, find some plastic bag litter on the side of the road, wrap it around the hole as a patch, and off you go. I did it once, got home, forgot about it and was still holding air a week later.

Retro Grouch 

3 flats in 28 miles isn't typical. My guess is they are somehow related.

You said that at least 2 of them were thorn punctures. I'm wondering if the thorn is somehow hiding in your tire and puncturing your new tubes as you reinstall them. If that's the case, and you align your tire label with the valve stem, the punctures will show up in about the same place on each inner tube.

I once had a tire with something stuck in it that I never could find. I eventually solved the problem by throwing the otherwise good tire away. Not having to wonder when the next puncture was going to happen was well worth the cost of a new tire.

dmotoguy

This is horribly wrong.

dmotoguy

I used to flat roughly once a week, switched to armadillos on my clincher rims and running stan's sealant in my tubulars.. havent flatted in a few years now.

tspek

Zero flats in 18 months....


I dunno what you guys do on those bikes of yours.

99miles

Heh, it's not like I was riding through thorn bushes. I was riding on country roads which happen to have lots of thorn bushes on the sides of the roads. I didn't ride over the branches or anything, but I assume when they cut them back thorns can fly into the road, or it just otherwise naturally happens.

The first flat was a thorn, which I easily found, removed and patched. 5 minutes later, the second flat was an unknown cause -- it looked more like a pinch, a tiny tear, but I don't remember hitting an bumps hard or anything. Then about 30 minutes after I was done with my ride I looked at my bike and the front tire was flat. The first two had been in the back tire. I haven't checked it out yet to find the culprit.

zonatandem

In 25,000 miles on our tandem we've experienced 37 flats.
Yes, we live in Arizona . . . lotsa thorns/goatheads + other road detritus.
We've been using Maxxis Re-Fuse tires for about the past 5 years, which has cut down on punctures significantly.
The Re-Fuse tires have an Aramid (kevlar-type) layer that does a great job. They also have a Kevlar bead and are very easy to mount/dismount and are quite light (275 grams) for the 700x25 size.
Just our experience . . .
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Velo Vol 

(1) Check rim tape, (2) good, durable tires, (3) watch where you are riding, (4) when you do get a flat check carefully inside the tire to make sure whatever cause it has been removed.

I've gone 4,000+ mile stretches without getting a flat.

cyclezealot

Appreciate that tip, last time I had a 3 flat ride, I was getting panicky . My group had gone ahead and I had about 10 Km to go to reach civilization.. I got to the meeting point just as they were about to head back to see what had happened to me. Checked out the problem when I got home.. The rim tape needed replacement causing multiple flats.
Opinions desired, please . Since that ride, I have inserted a liner between the tube and the tire's tread. Think that a good move.?

DieselDan

File that ride under ***** happens event. I went three years without a flat, then had 3 in one ride, followed by two in consecutive rides, then none for several months now.