How Often Do You Flat?

[doctorold]

I hate to utter these words for fear of jinxing my luck but I have yet to flat in 7 years of serious cycling (between 3000-4000 miles a year). I am wondering if the CO2 cartridge I'm carrying is still any good. I really don't know what the key to my luck is but I keep my tires inflated and I try to avoid debris in the road. So I'm curious as to how other serious cyclists are faring. Some I talk to flat flat several times a year.

 

[dhk2]

That's a great winning streak you've got going. Haven't flatted on the road in probably the last 3 or 4 years, so I've been lucky too. Your CO2 cartridge should be fine.

Would like to know what tires do you use and what inflation pressures? I'm 195 lbs, run 23 or 25mm GP4000s, with Conti tubes. Pressure is usually 100 psi front, 110 rear.

 

[swampy1970]

I typically flat once a year - and sometime that once is walking upto the bike the morning of a ride and noticing a flat - so I've been lucky too.

I ALWAYS ride Conti GP4000S 23mm and my current set of tires is way past replacement. I can't remember the number of cotton threads I've pulled off the side walls, the rubber is cracking due to the heat and the crown of the tire is flat...

... but still no punctures on this set.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

After two seasons without a flat/puncture I've had two on-the-road punctures so far this year. Both were early in the Spring and both were slow leaks and in although I found the hole in the tube both times, I found nothing in the tire to indicate what caused the punctures. It was probably small, sharp road grit in both cases.

I'm using Michelin Pro 4's in 23 MM width with whatever tubes I happen to buy online or at the LBS. 165-162 Lbs. and I'm generally 100-105 PSI for training. I usually run the rears right down to the tread cords showing before replacement and get around 1200-1500 miles on a rear. Fronts last most of the season unless I manage to do something abusive to them.

 

[AyeYo]

Knock on wood, none since I started riding early last year. I'm also on 23mm Pro4's, run at 110-115psi (I'm 175lbs). My current set is cut to hell and the very pronounced crown the Pro4's have is completely gone, but no flats yet, still a few more miles in them but not many. I have a fresh set ready to go. I make sure to look them over after every ride and at least one in three rides I'll find a piece of glass that needs to be dug out. That helps prevent flats.

 

[Brian in VA]

Seems to me that I flat about once a year and for the past 3 years, it's been exclusively on the Outer Banks of NC while on vacation. I'm a freak about consistent tire inflation (I guess most of us are) and I work very hard to miss everything I can see on the road but I just seem to pick up something ridiculously small when I'm down there.

Last two years, it's been a small piece of a staple that I never saw until I fixed the tire; and it was 40 miles apart in locations. Just weird.

Brian in VA

 

[doctorold]

Originally Posted by dhk2
That's a great winning streak you've got going. Haven't flatted on the road in probably the last 3 or 4 years, so I've been lucky too. Your CO2 cartridge should be fine.

Would like to know what tires do you use and what inflation pressures? I'm 195 lbs, run 23 or 25mm GP4000s, with Conti tubes. Pressure is usually 100 psi front, 110 rear.

When I first started serious riding I was on some Bontragers on my Trek Hybrid. When I switched to a road bike I got 6000 miles out of Vittorio Rubino Slicks 23s (Crazy). I then went to Gatorskins (still 23). Then I switched to the the Conti Four Seasons in 25s. I'm now running the same in 28s on my new bike. I run 100 psi on all the Continentals. I pump my tires once a week. And I use Conti tubes. I have used Michelins.

 

[mpre53]

Two last year. One was a mystery flat---went to the basement to get the bike and found the rear flat. I couldn't find anything in the tire. The other happened on the road. I hit something metal, heard the clank, and immediately felt the rear start to wobble. There was nothing in the tire. Something small poked into the tube.

This year, so far, knock on wood. No flats to date I'm riding the cheap Schwalbe Luganos that came on the bike. I have a set of virtually new Bontrager R3s hanging in the shed for when I wear those out. They were all of two weeks old when the bike they were on got totaled by an asshole driver. I put over 4000 miles on the original R3s that came with the bike. Whatever tubes came in the Luganos are what I'm running. I usually buy the Kenda tubes that the local shop sells. He's a friend and he sells them at his cost to me. I've ridden cheap Luganos in the past and gotten decent life out of them, for a $25 tire. When I've flatted on them, it was when I hit something in the road.

If I raced, or if I lived in an area with nasty thorns and things like that, I'd ride better tires. Right now I'm running 25mm at 100 psi. The R3s hanging in the shed are 23mm. These are the first 25s that I've ever ridden. I run the 23s at 120 psi. I've pinch flatted 1-1/4" tires in the past running 80, so I like a little harder tire than some.

 

[bartsie]

I see people flatting all the time but only ever (4years/~8K) had two myself -- on the same day. Turned out my rear tire (Pro4) had a small hole, about 2mm, and wasn't protecting the tube.

I'd ridden my bike last winter - and it was bad here in Boston (and all over the NE) which is what I suspect did it. I got the Grip versions of the Pro4 for next winter, they are supposedly tougher.

 

[danfoz]

Zero flats in two years.

I have worn down three sets of Conti 4-Season 25c's over Vittoria latex inner tubes @ 80psi front, 85psi rear on 23mm HED rims over the last two seasons with zero flats. Ridden and raced on the worst roads NYC (and NY state) has to offer, ridden on/off curbs, ridden on the Prospect Park dirt horse path last year for 200M every lap when that section of roadway was being repaved (at least 100 laps). 4000's might have me 1 or 2 seconds faster each lap but who the **** cares? I get NO flats.

Don't even know why I bother with a CO2 cartridge and mini pump anymore but my Boy Scout indoctrination is not easily shed... Always Be Prepared. I'm always glad however to volunteer my equipment for the poor sod who needs help.

 

[doctorold]

Originally Posted by danfoz
Zero flats in two years.

Don't even know why I bother with a CO2 cartridge and mini pump anymore but my Boy Scout indoctrination is not easily shed... Always Be Prepared. I'm always glad however to volunteer my equipment for the poor sod who needs help.

That's the thing that's getting me. Why do I bother carrying a tube, CO2, chuck, lever, and a multitool? I have never used any of them while on the road. I know as soon as I leave them home I'll need them but doggone it, I hate carrying stuff I don't need.

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by doctorold
I know as soon as I leave them home I'll need them

That's why.

 

[swampy1970]

About 7 years ago I stopped at the side of the road to help a rider that had punctured. He'd changed his tube and was trying to figure out what to do with his CO2 cartridge and various adapters. I handed him a full sized frame fitting pump and he looked at it and wondered what the hell it was. As much as I wanted to tell him that it was a portable dog cosh or a "retard stick" (for hitting riders that were retarded enough to leave home ill prepared) I took a deep breath and with a sigh told him what to do with it. He was amazed that people would carry a pump so big and that it could pump up a tire so fast.

 

[AyeYo]

You can't NOT carry a tube and means of inflation if you're doing rides of any length, especially if riding solo. There's no need for carrying a spare when doing laps at the park, but if you're 40 miles out on an out/back ride do you really want to wait until a friend or family memeber is able to pick you up possibly hours later? Even if you aren't going far and flat 10 miles out, you sure as hell aren't walking back 10 miles in road shoes. My friend and I learned about not carrying spare tubes and inflation the hard way as we were riding an almost two hour drive from home and she got a flat about 12 miles into the ride. As we turned around to walk back to the car at about 2mph, it quickly became obvious that wasn't a solution. Thankfully she knew someone in the area that was able to pick us up about an hour and half later after we walked back about two miles to the nearest major intersection.

 

[maydog]

You guys with the long flatless streaks are lucky or maybe just overdue. Flats seem to come in spurts, but I average maybe one a month or about 800 miles. I have had flats in all different grades and brands of tires - none are immune. I find that I get more flatfree rides by trying to avoid debris and doing a pre and post ride check of the tread, removing embedded rocks and glass.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I installed a new rear tire because the old one was getting thin and got a good cut on the tread and flatted. Less than a mile out from the first group ride I got a huge construction staple embedded in the new tire. The loose end of the staple smacked against my frame on each revolution, but I was in the middle of the group so I ride with it a short distance until I could safely stop.

Last weekend I had a complete blowout of my mountain bike tire as the bead on one side broke. Luckily it was pre-ride.

Just yesterday, I found a perilous sidewall cut in the front road tire on a lunch stop after a noontime group ride that had a scary amount of tube herniating out of. Had it burst on the ride, it would have been an instant flat. I was able to deflate the tire partially and make it back to work on time.

 

[dhk2]

Originally Posted by doctorold
When I first started serious riding I was on some Bontragers on my Trek Hybrid. When I switched to a road bike I got 6000 miles out of Vittorio Rubino Slicks 23s (Crazy). I then went to Gatorskins (still 23). Then I switched to the the Conti Four Seasons in 25s. I'm now running the same in 28s on my new bike. I run 100 psi on all the Continentals. I pump my tires once a week. And I use Conti tubes. I have used Michelins.

Thanks for the reply doc. You're running some pretty tough Conti's, so I'm not surprised about your flatless streak. The worst tires I've had for punctures have been the Vittoria Open Pro CX. Great race tires, lightweight, grippy and fast with a really nice ride feel. But they picked up small flints and cuts, and flatted with regularly. When the box says "high performance race tires, avoid gravel and road debris", they aren't kidding. At least they are warning the customer.

A buddy of mine runs Rubino's. They seem like good tires. He'd gone a couple of years without flatting on them, but recently picked up the small flint chip which worked its way thru the cord and caused a flat on the road. I've found the GP4000s don't seem to have these issues, plus the rear lasts 3-4K miles for me.

 

[Colnago62]

I believe group riding may increase your chances of flating, especially if the is not real good about pointing things out and riding the group around debris. It seems that if I am going to flat, it is with a group, usually fairly large. I haven't had a flat this summer.

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by maydog
You guys with the long flatless streaks are lucky or maybe just overdue. Flats seem to come in spurts, but I average maybe one a month or about 800 miles. I have had flats in all different grades and brands of tires - none are immune. I find that I get more flatfree rides by trying to avoid debris and doing a pre and post ride check of the tread, removing embedded rocks and glass.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I installed a new rear tire because the old one was getting thin and got a good cut on the tread and flatted. Less than a mile out from the first group ride I got a huge construction staple embedded in the new tire. The loose end of the staple smacked against my frame on each revolution, but I was in the middle of the group so I ride with it a short distance until I could safely stop.

Last weekend I had a complete blowout of my mountain bike tire as the bead on one side broke. Luckily it was pre-ride.

Just yesterday, I found a perilous sidewall cut in the front road tire on a lunch stop after a noontime group ride that had a scary amount of tube herniating out of. Had it burst on the ride, it would have been an instant flat. I was able to deflate the tire partially and make it back to work on time.

Maybe you have some weird stuff on the roads out there. When I lived in north western England I never really had a problem with punctures, even in the winter. Now that I'm in NorCal I sometimes get one puncture per year with my Conti GP4000S.

A few years ago I did try some other tires, top end road tires from Michelin and Vittoria and got fed up of fixing flats. The last time I ever rode a Michelin tire on my bike was the Deathride in 2010. It was the only time I punctured in that ride (I've ridden it since 2005) and I punctured 3 times, the last time at the top of the 4th mountain at almost 8,800ft. I was not happy. The following day those tires were in the garbage and order was restored to the Universe. Conti tires = FTW.

 

[mpre53]

Aw, eff me. I jinxed myself. Took the bike out of the basement to ride, found the rear flat. Mystery flat. Nothing in the tire. Inflated the tube to an inch and a half diameter, went all the way around it looking and listening for a leak. Nothing. Replaced tube, rode 20 miles, finishing in low light with no light. New tube held. Rim tape looked good all the way around. Also discovered that the "folding bead" Luganos are wire bead. I had assumed that but confirmed it. Still went on easy. Still thinking that I'll throw the almost new R3s on there over the weekend. Now that I think about it, I hit a pothole last night a mile from the end on my club ride. Probably a pinch flat. I was in a hurry to get on the bike tonight and just gave the tube a quick once over.

 

[dhk2]

Originally Posted by mpre53

Aw, eff me. I jinxed myself. Took the bike out of the basement to ride, found the rear flat. Mystery flat. Nothing in the tire. Inflated the tube to an inch and a half diameter, went all the way around it looking and listening for a leak. Nothing. Replaced tube, rode 20 miles, finishing in low light with no light. New tube held. Rim tape looked good all the way around.

Also discovered that the "folding bead" Luganos are wire bead. I had assumed that but confirmed it. Still went on easy.

Still thinking that I'll throw the almost new R3s on there over the weekend.

Now that I think about it, I hit a pothole last night a mile from the end on my club ride. Probably a pinch flat. I was in a hurry to get on the bike tonight and just gave the tube a quick once over.

You really did call out the jinx. Guess you've proven that any of us are just one ride away from our next flat.

Oh, and if someone starts a thread entitled "How Often do you Crash?", suggest you avoid responding.