2012 The Year Of Flats?
Anyone else having more flats than usual this year? Seems like I so much as think about a flat and I'll get one. Maybe it's simply a matter of it being my turn.
Tags: flats
Views: 1012
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cameron 7.5 mi on -
A commuter bike should be a bike that you can just hop on and go, otherwise it's not really meeting your transportation needs. If you can't just hop on and ride then you need to rethink your build or your preventive maintenance routine.
James BlackHeron said:Many people treat their bicycles like a car. Just get on and drive it (without the putting the gas in part every few days.)
This sort of works with a car as they are built pretty tough (but it'll cost you a ton more money in the long run.) This doesn't work very well for a bike at all . But people still do it. Not only will it cause you to spend a ton of money fixing stuff that would have been simple and cheap to fix before it got bad, but flat tires really suck.
People who are regular riders and don't even own a pump, or rarely bother to use it if they do, just astound me. Seriously, how lazy can people be? I keep the pump right by my back door, and use it every other day. I almost never get flat tires.
Joe Willis said:I have realized that a lot of cyclest have no idea what their tire pressure is or how to check it.
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Permalink Reply by spencewine on -
This is probably sacrilege, but I do not know how to fix a flat because I've never had one in the 9 years I've been bicycling around Chicago. I mean, I've watched a youtube video on how to do it, I have the tools to fix one, but I've never actually experienced one while riding. I do keep tire pressure good, but that's about the extent of the preventive maintenance that I do. I've only started commuting daily this year though, so perhaps this year will be the year... in the past years, I would only put in a couple hundred miles a year riding recreationally and the occasional commute.
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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams 6.6 mi on -
I love everything about my RiBMo except for the difficulty in mounting. It is the only tire I've ever used that required a tool (tire iron) to mount. Using a tool to mount a tire is asking for trouble of course.
I've had one huge puncture since I started using them last year - the hole was so big that the patch eventually blew out through the hole (twice). I addressed that problem by installing the above-mentioned Mr Tuffy (from a really old pair I had in the parts bin.) I've put a hundred or so miles on it since.
But the difficulty of mounting will probably nudge me to try something else on my next build (the two-speed).
As for the other tires mentioned in this thread - I've managed to eventually get flats with Armadillos, Gatorskins and the regular Marathons. I have not yet tried the Marathon plus.
As for the conspiracy theory, it does seem like there is a lot of glass out there on the streets, but I'm not sure it is any worse than previous years.
James BlackHeron said:I've got a set of Panaracer RiBMo 700x28c tires on my road bike and really love them. I've got just under 1000 miles on them so far and they still look like new. I've ridden them in some gnarly spots and over glass quite a few times that I didn't see until too late on asphalt and on gravel.
They are not quite as super-supple as some of the other super-grippy tires but they wear like iron and are very flat-resistant. They are also foldable so you can carry a spare on the road (not that I think that is even really that necessary as it would really take a monster to tear these open to the point where a tire boot wouldn't get you home.
I like them a lot and will be buying another set when/if these ever wear out. Seems like it won't be any time soon. I hope to get 3-4k out of them.
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Permalink Reply by Craig S. on -
Yeah, in fact, I had three flats with new tires (I thought these were Panaracer Pasela Tourguards but I'd had a brain fart and ordered standard Paselas instead) on the Big Red Fuji on the last Marauders. I went through my two tubes and thanks to Shawn for the final tube.
Prior to this, I hadn't had a flat on that bike for ten years and the worn out tires were a set of Panaracer Pasela Tourguards and I loved them. I've run Specialized Armadillos with great success as well. It's getting increasingly harder to find 27 x 1 1/8 puncture resistant tires.
Since Marauders, I've put a new set of Tourguards on the Big Red Fuji.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn C. on -
Craig, glad the new tires are working! Looking forward to that beer on the next ride...
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Permalink Reply by Julie Hochstadter on -
I got some nice Kevlar type tires at Iron Cycles last summer. Before that I got 3 flats on one ride.
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Permalink Reply by Julie Hochstadter on
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+1
notoriousDUG said:Buy high end puncture resistant tires and never look back.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus, Gatorskins, Vittoria Randonneurs, etc. offer more, and better, flat protection than those tire liners can.
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Permalink Reply by Jamais716 on -
More love for Gatorskins! Picked em up after I got 3 flats in 2 weeks last March and haven't had a flat since. Which means I don't get to use the bead jack that I bought at the same time, but I'm ok with that. :-)
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Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on -
Sucks to get a mile into a ride and have a tire explode...
Perhaps it isn't me who needs to re-think his maintenance routine.
Cameron Puetz said:A commuter bike should be a bike that you can just hop on and go, otherwise it's not really meeting your transportation needs. If you can't just hop on and ride then you need to rethink your build or your preventive maintenance routine.
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Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on
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I have no difficulty mounting my 700x28c RiBMo tires on the Sun/Ringle 700-CR18 rims I built my wheelset out of. It's a two-thumb affair. No swearing or anything. They pop right on like pulling on a set of underwear over my hips.
Popping them off is a 1-lever affiar to get started and then slide the lever around to unzip. I'm sure i could get them off without the lever but it's always the easiest way to use one lever and then unzip.
What rims are you having the difficulty with?
Tony Adams said:I love everything about my RiBMo except for the difficulty in mounting. It is the only tire I've ever used that required a tool (tire iron) to mount. Using a tool to mount a tire is asking for trouble of course.
I've had one huge puncture since I started using them last year - the hole was so big that the patch eventually blew out through the hole (twice). I addressed that problem by installing the above-mentioned Mr Tuffy (from a really old pair I had in the parts bin.) I've put a hundred or so miles on it since.
But the difficulty of mounting will probably nudge me to try something else on my next build (the two-speed).
As for the other tires mentioned in this thread - I've managed to eventually get flats with Armadillos, Gatorskins and the regular Marathons. I have not yet tried the Marathon plus.
As for the conspiracy theory, it does seem like there is a lot of glass out there on the streets, but I'm not sure it is any worse than previous years.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on -
Actually we had already ridden 5 miles on the bike that day. And another 55 miles on our other bikes with out problems. Considering the bike you're mentioning was taken from not being in riding condition to working condition is a testament to his ability to fix things up.
I haven't had a flat on my commuter for a year. I don't need a 20 minute anal retentive daily routine to save myself the hassle of fixing a flat that will only take 5 minutes of time. Must be nice to have so much free time on your hands to spend an hour a day checking every little thing. I on the other hand have a life.
You don't seem to have nearly as many nasty things to say face to face.
James BlackHeron said:Sucks to get a mile into a ride and have a tire explode...
Perhaps it isn't me who needs to re-think his maintenance routine.
Cameron Puetz said:A commuter bike should be a bike that you can just hop on and go, otherwise it's not really meeting your transportation needs. If you can't just hop on and ride then you need to rethink your build or your preventive maintenance routine.
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Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on
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I suppose if someone thinks it takes 20 minutes to check the pressure on a bike tire I can certainly imagine why they don't do it.
20 minutes is time enough to pull both wheels, swap out tires and tubes, refill them with air (to the proper pressure) and put them back on the bike. With time to spare to clean your hands.
I am very sorry, Liz, if you feel I am lecturing. It's not an opinion -it's a fact. If your tires are not to the proper inflation level (or rotted out) you are a MUCH greater risk of flatting. If you like changing flats then by all means go ahead and let them get low. It's your bike, you can do what you want with it
Personally, I'd rather ride to the end of my ride and "waste" that 2 minutes it takes to check my tires every other ride or so. It's all a matter of priorities. You spins the wheels and takes yer chances. Cheereo!
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