tessellahedron

Ok, I'm pump shopping and it looks like none of the pumps you guys recommended have gauges. Do you carry a gauge, or know how many pump strokes equals X psi or what?

terrymorse 

I use the finger squeeze method of pressure measurement.

But if the finger squeeze method is not to your liking, Lezyne makes the Digital Road Drive, with an integrated "highly accurate Digital Strip Gauge".

GhostRider62

This is the road mini pump I recommended, it has an inline digital gage. Mine is older and the pressure gage is analog.

https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/...-mfdr-v204hpdg

cyccommute 

The Lezyne has a gauge and most of the Topeak Morphs (there are several version) have gauges. Some in-line and a few that are gauges.

urbanknight

There's a flaw in even that logic because there are no guarantees that your next flat will be at least as many miles as you had leading to the first. As a matter of fact, it's not uncommon to get two flats at about the same time because both tires rolled through the same debris that caused it in the first place. If you turn around at mile 10 and get a flat a mile later, that's still a long way to walk.

CO2 is for speed, but a quality pump doesn't run out of air. A new tube is also quick, but you can carry more patches than tubes. When I ran tubes, I kept a CO2 cartridge and a spare tube to get me back on the road quickly and not hold my friends up, and a patch kit and hand pump to at least be able to get home after telling them to go on and avoid my bad luck for the day.

A gauge isn't really necessary out on the road as the thumb can usually tell a pressure that's adequate enough to ride safely, even if it isn't the optimum pressure for speed and comfort.

tessellahedron

Just ordered a topeak road morph g. I suspect it will work much better than its bizarre name. Got a good deal on a new one in damaged packaging. If it does suck I'll return it but I'm hopeful. It looks super easy to use, which more than compensates for the low capacity vs other pumps I considered (83cc vs 100+).

now I just need some vials for cement (I bought the can).

cyccommute 

The name comes from it’s ability to “morph” from a frame pump to a foot pump.

wheelreason

2 tubes and a patch kit, 1 tube and a patch kit if I'm feeling lucky, and a RaceRocket on the upright WB mount.

Eds0123

A Co-worker afraid of flats, he had tough heavy thick puncture resistant tires AND thick tire Liners AND slime in the tubes, all 3 prevention methods, resulting in a very rough ride,

Some other peole, on the other hand, thought themselves and know how to replace a tube or fix a flat very quickly in 5-7 minutes on the side of the road and enjoy the fun ride feel of folding supple
soft thin tires instead.

rsbob 

When you have a hard time finding a leak in a tube, after you remove it from the tire pump it up like a big sausage. Often you can hear the leak, or just turn the tube slowly with the outer portion pointed to your face or other hand to feel the air leak. Still having a hard time? Use spit to locate the bubbles coming out of the sausage. Dry and patch.

Always carry one tube, patch kit and tire irons and tire boot (like a folded dollar bill)

LarrySellerz

i use my tongue (its the most sensitive along with the eyeball) when trying to feel air. Without actually licking the tube if that wasnt obvious. Or some water on your hand and look for bubbles. You dont need a tub or snoop (soap water) alcohol or even just water with a bit of spit works fine.

Yan 

Topeak Road Morph pump. Good old traditional glue patches. Never failed me on the side of the road.

tessellahedron

Why don't you lick it? When I'm patching indoors and find the hole with my ear or cheek, I touch the very tip of my tongue to the hole. It makes an oval of saliva that will dry from center out if you were accurate. I mark the spot before it dries and continue with the patch.

this morning I tried to find a slow leak in a tube but I was outside and all I could hear was roaring and howling. I had three spare tubes for that reason. F wind

79pmooney

I haven't folded the bills. I just use more than one. (I needed 5 once for a big gash.) Now I'm going for a ride where booting will be impractical. Just peel and replace. Sewups. Different world.

tessellahedron

State Line Ditch road, technically in Nebraska. Gatorskins at lower pressure worked great and zero flats (that i know of) .

Unmaintained farm road, looks like a paved public road on Google but it is not. It was an excellent ride and fortunately i didn't get shot for trespassing, nor did i get any flats (that i know of).

Another road on Google maps that is clearly not a public street. This road was awesome. The water in the ditch was singing, the vegetation was thriving and full of insects, butterflies and birds. It felt cooler too. But then i got 7 flats! And the road is only a mile or two long.

It looks dead in the picture but back in there just a little everything is lush and green. It was great, then the front went flat. I couldn't find the hole (howling wind) and hadn't had the idea of sticking the over inflated tube down my pants yet, so I just got out a spare tube. But when I went to check the tire for sharp stuff on the inside, I found many thorns. In roughly 1/3 of the tire I picked out 38 thorns. Then I got frustrated and decided any thorn of small diameter that didn't penetrate the inside of the tire would just be left alone. I still ended up picking out 53 total.

I'm not sure of the best balance between not picking the tire to death and being sure I don't leave a thorn that will cause a flat later. (I once got a flat because of a thorn, while riding on my stationary trainer. The thorn had been there a long time but I had just topped up my tire pressure and it popped like 20 minutes into a workout I think. )

There were no problems for the rest of the ride, though my back tire seemed slightly soft at the end. About 90 minutes after getting home I noticed my back tire was completely flat.

I pulled it apart and the tire had thorns pretty bad but nothing like the front tire had been. I picked out most of the threatening looking ones, trying not to damage the tire. But the tubes are what blew my mind.

The back tube has 3 punctures and the one I removed from the front mid-ride has 4. Those are what I can find using a pump and my tongue. I usually get them all but the water dunk comes after the patches and then I'll know for sure. With 7 punctures I needed to stop and figure out how to improve things so this doesn't happen again

Today was my first dirt ride and of the 39 miles I'm fairly certain most of the thorns and punctures occurred in the vicinity of the third picture above, but I can't be sure.

So my questions for mountain bikers and people who bike on dirt roads are:
-Do you pick thorns out of your tires or leave them?
-Is there a way i can ride that road without flats or do I just have to avoid the area?
-Is there a better way than trial and error to know what areas to avoid?
-I hate slime sealant because when it doesn't work I can't even patch the tube; it's so messy it goes right in the trash. Am I using it wrong or something? I tried it multiple times about 15 years ago.
-Would these thorns be a problem for tubeless tires? (Not that I'll put them on that $75 ten speed, but I'm bike shopping)

I have those protective strips that go in the tire and if they had been installed and properly centered on this ride, they would have blocked 5 of the 7 thorns that punctured the tubes. So I'm installing them for the first time in years. I think for the riding I do it will be worth the extra spinning mass to have them.

I now carry three tubes if my pannier if empty. Did you know carrying a rain poncho while hiking actually prevents rain? I wish it worked with spare tubes.

as always your advice is appreciated

tessellahedron

After patching the 7 flats I noticed the front was flat again too. I only found one hole, but when I went back and tested the patched tubes I found another one. The back tube that had three punctures also had one more, but that front tube where I initially found 4 punctures, had 5 more when I pumped it up really big (not counting one failed patch). So that's 9 punctures.

A sane person would throw that tube away, and probably the one with 4 holes too. Meaning this one ride completely destroyed two tubes and put over 50 thorns in a new tire.

there's gotta be a better way to ride on dirt roads.

Eds0123

Tire liners?

tessellahedron

I installed liners last night and am about to ride. Hopefully they're centered, I can never tell.

Unfortunately the tires I inflated to 70psi shortly before midnight read 50psi and 23psi just now (about 7 hours later). I either missed a couple holes or what they say about tubes with more than 5 patches always slow leaking is true.

cyccommute 

You missed some holes. I’ve got tubes with 20 to 30 patches that hold air just fine.

63rickert

Just measured a Rema patch kit. 7cm by 3.5cm by 2cm. For the metrically challenged that is 2.8" by 1.4" by 0.8". A bit over 3 cubic inches.

Use tires you can get off the rim. Preferably without needing tools. If more than one tire lever is required you are punishing yourself. If removing the tire requires force, sweating, cursing, you won't have the mental clarity to find the hole. Wider rim and wider tire works better in most cases.

If you just can't carry a frame pump (some bikes do make that improbable) try the Barbieri Nana or Nuda pumps. The Nana is the size of a large pen. Yes, you won't likely get over 50psi. If that doesn't get you home you should be riding wider tires.

So far calendar 2022 I've covered 4000 miles and had one flat. Last year had two flats. Perhaps if continuous flats are plaguing you there is a reason. Riding unpaved on skinny tires, riding in thorn country, yeah, you could have problems. Redundant layers of armor are not the solution.

Energy bar wrappers or any similar packaging material make excellent boot patches. Use the whole thing bead to bead.

Eds0123

+1
Folding tires are much easier to get off and put back on the rims, can be done without tire irons, make it easy, make it not such a big deal getting a flat fixed and enjoy your ride.

I live and ride daily in Goat Head country. Folding Tires, light liners help tremendously. Occasionally I still get flats maybe once a year. putting a new tube take me only 5 - 7 minutes and back on the road rolling no problem,

Milton Keynes

Just carry a patch kit. I personally prefer the glue-on patches rather than the skabs, because it seems like the stick-on skabs don't seem to hold up on high pressure tires tubes as well as glued patches.

But yeah, if I have a flat I'll swap out the tubes (and of course making sure to find anything poking through the tire) and then go on. If I have a second flat then I'll patch the tube and maybe patch the tube I pulled out previously in case I need to swap it. No need to carry multiple tubes as long as you have a patch kit.

Milton Keynes

I haven't found them to be very effective on high pressure tires, like the 700x25's on my road bike which I keep inflated to about 85 PSI. I'm old school in that I prefer glue-on patches. Unfortunately the local Walmart no longer seems to carry the actual patch kits and instead only offer the Skabs which I detest, but a local hardware store still has bicycle patch kits so I'll run in there and get one or two every so often.

prj71

Buy some of these and you won't have to turn around. In addition to one tube, I carry a pack of these on every bike. And they work just as good as a glue on patch without the mess.

https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-Pre...s%2C143&sr=8-2

prj71

There is a better way. Looking at your pictures above you have the wrong bike and tires for where you are riding. At minimum you should be riding a gravel bike that has better puncture resistant tires with a tubeless setup. The sealant will seal the holes while you are riding.