Awells32

Have I just been incredibly unlucky recently, or is there something I'm doing wrong? I've had 2 punctures in my rear tyre and 1 in my front tyre in the last 2 week alone! I checked the tyre walls and took out the offending items, so its not like its the same thing causing the tyre in the rear wheel either.
I'm predominately out in the country, but on fairly clean and well used roads, its not like I'm riding through thorn bushes and gravel pits!

znomit

What were the offending items?

Awells32

Front wheel looked like a sharp stone, about 5mm across, the rear two were both little bits of twig or vegetation.
Front tyre had a noticeable hole in it afterwards, so I filled it with some superglue. Did a 40km ride on it yesterday and seems to have held.

Racing Dan

"Why do I get so many punctures?"

From my experience, because the tyres are too fragile and unprotected. I Used to get a lot of flats but that is history. I now ride tyres with Kevlar protection and it has taken care of 95% of the issues. Where I live the main offender is little sharp flints.

shelbyfv

Maybe you just need better or newer tires. They tend to flat easier when they are worn. Or just bad luck, plenty of that going around....

Awells32

I live in Norfolk in the UK and there's a hell of a lot of flint around here too, so maybe I should think about some better tyres too then. I'm currently using continental ultra sports.

Awells32

I've only had the bike and the tyres for three weeks, so tyres are near enough brand new. Might have to look at upgrading them to something a bit more robust though.

znomit

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance...-sport-ii-2015
"If you want cheap tires and don't care about puncture resistance, the Ultra Sports are perfect."

Racing Dan

I rode all winter on lifeline prime amour and since late spring on Lifeline prime Race. Both from wiggle. I've had one flat on the prime race last summer. I believe they are re branded "chaoyang flyfish" tyres. Of course there are many others to pick from, but i dont think the Ultra sport have any protection other than a thick thread. It wouldn't be my pick. At that price point Id go with the lifeline tyres. If you like namebrand tyres I suggest Michelin pro4 endurance, but thats is 2x the price.

May I ask what tyres you have on now?

Racing Dan

yeah, it got a "10" score for puncture resistance. No other tested tyre scored worse. Many scored much higher.

Awells32

I'm still on the conti ultra sports.

Money isn't a huge issue, most of the better ones seem to be about £40-60, which for something that will hopefully halt so many roadside stops and last a season or two, doesnt seem to exorbitant. I'll have a look on wiggle see what I can find.

znomit

What pressure are you running?

Awells32

I'm a bit on the heavy side, so I tend to ride some where around 105psi.

Fox Farm

Sometimes, it is just your karma, so to speak. One day I had 5 in the same day. This must have been about 1982. I finally said, "ok, I get it" and started to hitch hike home with the bike. Some guy with a pick up truck stopped, I put the bike in the bed and hopped in the cab. He handed me a lit joint and all was good ))) I at home trouble shot a crappy rim strip and a metal burr where the spoke nipple holes were located.

But to the OP, be sure that your rim on the inside has no metal burrs and that the rim strip is fully covering the spoke nipples, etc. Use some liquid tire sealant that you will install in the tube before the flat. Unless you really kill the tire, you are usually in good shape. I use Tufo tire sealant, but also Vittoria makes something called pit stop that works well. If you are dealing with crappy roads, perhaps go to a heavier tube and not some thin latex one. I also wanted to ask what size of tire are you using? 700 x 25 or larger?

I honestly go a very long time between flats and when I do get one, I am surprised. With my tubular wheels, it has been 3.5 years since a flat. No, not the same tires as I replace then as needed.

Racing Dan

Imo it doesnt matter much, if at all, if you have a light or normal tube in there, as long as its not pinched. I made the switch to light tubes last year and haven't noticed any ill effects. My perspective is the tube is there to hold the air and the tyre is there to protect the tube from punctures and to keep the shape. Heavy gauge tubes does, imo, not prevent punctures from thorns or sharp flints, but may help prevent snake bites (pinch flats) from hitting a pothole.

Awells32

Nah, no metal burs and the rims seem fine, spokes are all in place properly too. Like I said, the bike is only a few weeks old and I've only put a few hundred kilometers on it so far.
As for the tubes, the ones that got punctured were both Conti. I've patched one of them up and left it place, but the other one was so butchered I've switched it out for a schwalbe tube. No issues there yet. Tyre size is 700x25.

There's a ****load of potholes and pretty nasty speed bumps along some of my regular routes, but pretty sure none of the pictures have come from those so far, but living in a rural area, always need to watch out for them.

CliffordK

I've chosen to get tires with moderate puncture protection. Not perfect, but much better than the tires I rode 20 years ago.

My current tires are Continental Gator Hardshell tires, 700x25. Over the last few years I've had one sidewall failure, but otherwise have generally been happy with them.

On one bike I tried Michelin Protek Cross Max tires. They are heavy tires. The smallest size is 700x32. However, I found them to have very good traction for my use including some riding in snow/slush, and I had ZERO FLATS.

Personally I'm not a fan of tire liners, but one to look at would be the Panaracer Flat Away tire liners. They are lighter than others with their fabric design.

Awells32

I've just gone and ordered a pair of these. Hopefully they'll be a bit better at resisting the punctures.

https://www.wiggle.com/vittoria-rubi...g20-road-tire/

My decision had absolutely nothing to do with the fact they're red and will match my bike. Honest...

mpath

This.

While there's obviously many variables to what causes flats, I've gone +10k miles on tubulars without a flat (not with the same set of tires obviously) - on all sorts of road surfaces. Prior to this I got really good changing flats on clinchers.

Seattle Forrest

You would know if that was the case. The tube gets pinched between the rim and pothole and punctures with two holes that look like a snake bite. The tire goes flat immediately leaving no question as to what happened. Usually the front tire.
​​​​​​
​​​​​​Hope the new ones work out better for you.

Seattle Forrest

Condolences.

CliffordK

Since I went to the Gator Hardshells, I don't post notes on the web saying that I'm getting a flat tire every other ride.

I still like to be prepared.

I am down a bit on my miles now, but I was putting a lot of miles on my bike over the last few years, and I like the long wearing of the Gator Hardshells.

delbiker1 

As long as I use quality tires and tubes with plenty of life left, I do not usually have flat tire issues. However, this year I have had at least a dozen flats, with 6 of those in the past 6 weeks. Seems like with the reduced traffic lately, the roads would be relatively clear of debris. That has not been the case. There is broken glass, nails/screws, construction/demo waste, etc. all over the roads here in south-coastal Delaware. I do have 2 sets of tires on different bikes that have quite a few miles on them and not gone flat yet. One being Panaracer Pasela PT's, 25 mm . The other being Panaracer Gravel Kings, 26mm. I think 4 of the flats I have had recently were during my experimenting with latex tubes. They are not worth the extra expense in my opinion

My flats have been from glass, slivers of wire, sheet metal screws, nails and staples. On my routes, I have been stopping to remove whatever debris that I can easily remove. Some of that being larger items like pieces of wood and metal, larger shards of glass. Obvioulsy, one cannot stop and remove all the glass unless one is traveling with some type of broom. Also, it is pretty much impossible to see it all while riding a bike. This time of year there is a tremendous amount of construction and road work going on. Surely, that is a factor.

CliffordK

I think there is something about debris sticking to wet tires and getting hit on the second time around, causing some more flats than with dry pavement/tires. Not always true. A nail or screw may not really care if it is wet out.

tobey

I think its mostly the tires your using and being very careful when changing tubes to be sure you're not likely to get pinch flats. I went over 10k miles in 4 years using Gatorskins and Specialized Armadillos and never had a flat even when others I was riding with had their share of flats. Sure the tires I used may have not been as fast but avoiding punctures is more important to me then a slightly faster ride. I decided to switch to Tubeless since I changed wheels and have had 1 flat in 2k miles but even that flat I was able to plug and keep going. I'm 160 lbs and being lighter does have help IMO. I would try different tires and see how that goes.