4 puncture in 2 weeks

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

I'm no expert, but it depends, I suppose. I started cycling in August
and have had no punctures, but I've only done 300 miles with big knobbly
MTB tyres.

--
Hywel http://kibo.org.uk/
I do not eat quiche.

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

You are incredibly unlucky or using [censored] tyres. Are you on the road ?
Don't ride in the gutter or in the [censored] at the side of the road. Get
some new tyres and keep then inflated properly.

MSeries said:

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all
in very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

You are incredibly unlucky or using [censored] tyres. Are you on the road ?
Don't ride in the gutter or in the [censored] at the side of the road. Get
some new tyres and keep then inflated properly.

3 on my mountain bike and 1 on my road bike. The mountain bike has quite
chunky tires (Tioga XC I think) which I run at about 40psi. The road bike
has Michelin Pro Race tires on and I run them at 100psi.

Getting a puncture on the road bike I can handle because fixing it by the
side of the road in daylight is not a problem, but the 3 on my mountain
bike have all occured in the dark when everything has been covered in mud.

--
Brian Wakem

Brian Wakem said:

started cycling 2 weeks ago...

[censored]! For the first time ever, or as an adult?

Quoted message said:

and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

If you're riding on the road, I'd say it's not the norm,
nor are you unlucky, merely unskilled.

Don't take this as an insult - you say yourself that you've
only been riding a couple of weeks, so you'll still be finding
your feet for a while.

The best puncture deterrent is the Mk. I Eyball. You need
to keep your eyes peeled for sparkles (glass) on the road,
as well as all the usual road detritus and shrapnel. Positioning
yourself outside the gutter (where such stuff seems to breed)
is also a big help.

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time -
all in very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

Mine are invariably in the tyres. If yours are elsewhere, I'd go for
incredibly unlucky.

Actually, I went about 10 years with one puncture and one blow-out,
then got a new bike and had three punctures in a couple of months.
Hopwever, in teh two years since, I've had none (pesumably until
tomorrow...)

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

It's not the norm, especially if you're riding on the roads. Best
guess is that you have old or poor quality tyres. If they're all
occuring in the same place it could be that you have a bit of glass or
thorn stuck in the rubber that's doing it, or something in the rim
itself. The other thing is that you may be damaging the tubes when you
fit them.

"Brian Wakem" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all

in

Quoted message said:

very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

--
Brian Wakem

It may be that there is a common cause of the punctures ie a bit of
glass or grit between the tube and tire.
Make sure the inside of the tyre is clean before you replace it.
If it is being punnctured from the out side you will have to
be careful where you cycle.
Maybe as a 'new cyclist' you are a little timid and cycling
to close to the gutter where sharp pointy objects are not
crushed by car tyres.
Often at junctions etc, there will be areas of the road covered
in debris from .previous accidents. Aviod these these area by cycling
in the tracks swept and crushed clean by car tyres.
It means being a little more assertive in your riding, the outsides of
roundabouts are also covered in '[censored]' andto be avoided.
(its also safer to ride more in the center of your lane at a roundabout
anyway, as you are more visable).
Chunky mountain bike tyres are great for staying puncture free. I
have only had one (at most) punctures in 5 years.

Quoted message said:

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

1 mile on my new bike - puncture - thats unlucky.
Hadn't got around to fit slime inner
Old bike this prevented most punctures on off-road mtb trips

Steve

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

I got 5 in a single MTB ride, followed by none for 10 years.

Steve Walton said:

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

1 mile on my new bike - puncture - thats unlucky.

I know of one worse than that.

When Rob bought his Greenspeed GTS to save on shipping it was delivered
to the office of a customer in London who was buying one at the same
time.

Rob traveled down to build both trikes and bring his home. The other
chap got a puncture before ever getting the trike on the road - from a
drawing pin on the office floor....

--
Carol
"I was just being a little teapot. It's a bad habit of mine"
- Wyvern, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

Carol Hague said:

Rob traveled down to build both trikes and bring his home. The other
chap got a puncture before ever getting the trike on the road - from a
drawing pin on the office floor....

Someone my father works with bought two new bikes. Went to pick them
up, strapped them carefully onto teh roofrack (one of those that
holds them upright), drove out of teh car-park, under the height
restriction bar. At least, teh car went under the bar, the bikes....

And (drifting off topic) I work in bridge repair / strengthening /
replacement. One of my sites was a new footbridge over a railway.
The bridge was built near Bath, tehn driven up teh M4 to be lifted
into place in a single piece during a short possession. It was
graffiti'd as it sat on teh low-loader in teh service station when teh
driver stopped for a break.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ian Smith said:

Someone my father works with bought two new bikes. Went to pick them
up, strapped them carefully onto teh roofrack (one of those that
holds them upright), drove out of teh car-park, under the height
restriction bar. At least, teh car went under the bar, the bikes....

*Ow* ! I bet a few choice words were uttered at this point...

Quoted message said:

And (drifting off topic) I work in bridge repair / strengthening /
replacement. One of my sites was a new footbridge over a railway.
The bridge was built near Bath, tehn driven up teh M4 to be lifted
into place in a single piece during a short possession.

By a 3ft demon? :-)

It was

Quoted message said:

graffiti'd as it sat on teh low-loader in teh service station when teh
driver stopped for a break.

Oh good *grief* Penfold....

--
Carol
"I was just being a little teapot. It's a bad habit of mine"
- Wyvern, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

Carol Hague said:

Steve Walton said:

Brian Wakem said:

I started cycling 2 weeks ago and I've had 4 punctures in that time - all in
very inconvenient places.

Am I incredibly unlucky or is this the norm?

1 mile on my new bike - puncture - thats unlucky.

I know of one worse than that.

When Rob bought his Greenspeed GTS to save on shipping it was delivered
to the office of a customer in London who was buying one at the same
time.

Rob traveled down to build both trikes and bring his home. The other
chap got a puncture before ever getting the trike on the road - from a
drawing pin on the office floor....

I ride a Brompton, and at first was dogged with punctures, so i tried
two separate approachesL
1: A kevlar reinforced tyre.
2: A "Slime" anti puncture gunge in the other tyre, the original thin
walled Brompton unit.

To my pleasant surprise neither tyre has puncture in over 1500 miles!