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another way to minimize flats....

...is to ride higher-volume tires at lower pressures!

Ceteris paribus, lower pressures will always reduce the likelihood of something puncturing your tire casing and tube.

I saw yet another mini-discussion of flats that mentioned getting armor-plated tires that minimize flats by, so to speak, brute force. But such tires also tend to ride badly. 

My primary bike has fabulous 42mm tires that ride like pillows carried on fluffy bunnies, on which I get about two flats per year. 

David

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Permalink Reply by Fran Kondorf on September 8, 2012 at 6:58pm

But then you run the risk of snake bites (pinch flats), no?

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on September 8, 2012 at 7:13pm

Higher volume tires generally run at lower pressures. I have a set of 700 x 32s that have a manufacturer recommendation of 65-85 psi. I run them at 70-80, and since they're shielded, I never flat (mindful of the hubristic implications).



Fran Kondorf said:

But then you run the risk of snake bites (pinch flats), no?

Permalink Reply by David P. on September 8, 2012 at 7:18pm

No. I don't mean running, say, 25mm tires at 60psi, which would put you at risk for pinch flats. With higher-volume tires you can run progressively lower pressures. 30mm tires at something like 80psi are going to be (again, ceteris paribus) less flat-prone than 23mm tires at 110psi, 35mm tires at something like 65psi less flat-prone yet, etc. I use 42mm Grand Bois Hetres (fabulous tires) set at 50-55psi, which is actually about the high end of what those particular tires should be run at (others set them at 35-40psi for on-road use) - higher than that and you just lose the nice ride - and you wouldn't be at risk for pinch flats until you got into the 20s. Really, my point was that larger tires that you can set at lower pressures are going to be less flat-prone than narrow tires that have to be set to high pressures to avoid pinch flats and the like.

David

Permalink Reply by ilter on September 8, 2012 at 9:41pm

David, only Hetres I am aware of are 650Bs, which makes me curious about your bike, may I ask what is it? Is it a conversion?

Permalink Reply by David P. on September 8, 2012 at 9:48pm

Ilter,

Yes, Hetres are 650b-only. I do have another 650b bike that is a conversion, and my girlfriend's is too, but the one that has the Hetres was designed as a 650b frame. It's a Rawland cSogn.

David 

Permalink Reply by ilter on September 8, 2012 at 11:22pm

Oh, you embraced the 650b size :)  I plan to change my commuter with a 650b bike. One candidate is the VeloOrange Polyvalent, and the other is the new Rawland (Stag) which is not yet available. I want to attempt a conversion at some point as well, but not sure when that will happen..


David P. said:

Ilter,

Yes, Hetres are 650b-only. I do have another 650b bike that is a conversion, and my girlfriend's is too, but the one that has the Hetres was designed as a 650b frame. It's a Rawland cSogn.

David 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 9, 2012 at 10:20am

I think, from my reading of many bicycle forums,  the whole 650b craze is fueled mostly by the very existence of the Hetres.  If they started making them in other sizes 650b would slowly begin sinking again into the obscurity from whence it came. 

Still, I think they are pretty darn cool.   

Permalink Reply by ilter on September 9, 2012 at 11:39am

It looks like 650b is becoming the new fashion in mountain bike industry. So it may continue to exist for a long long time if industry starts marketing that.

Permalink Reply by David P. on September 9, 2012 at 3:55pm

Only inadvertently. I bought the Rawland frameset because it was the kind of bike I wanted, and that it was 650b was incidental. I converted my go-fast because I loved the bike other than the tire clearance problem, and it was not hard to justify a lightweight 650b wheelset since there were 2 bikes I could use it on.

David

ilter said:

Oh, you embraced the 650b size :)  I plan to change my commuter with a 650b bike. One candidate is the VeloOrange Polyvalent, and the other is the new Rawland (Stag) which is not yet available. I want to attempt a conversion at some point as well, but not sure when that will happen..


David P. said:

Ilter,

Yes, Hetres are 650b-only. I do have another 650b bike that is a conversion, and my girlfriend's is too, but the one that has the Hetres was designed as a 650b frame. It's a Rawland cSogn.

David 

Permalink Reply by David P. on September 9, 2012 at 3:57pm


There are plenty of nice tires in variosu widths available in 700c, and lots of high-volume choices, and not just armored ones that ride like crap. My intent, really, was to point out a benefit of using higher-volume tires at lower pressure rather than to talk about 650b.

David
James BlackHeron said:

I think, from my reading of many bicycle forums,  the whole 650b craze is fueled mostly by the very existence of the Hetres.  If they started making them in other sizes 650b would slowly begin sinking again into the obscurity from whence it came. 

Still, I think they are pretty darn cool.   

Permalink Reply by ilter on September 9, 2012 at 5:05pm

Yes, we steered the conversion away from your initial point. I agree that for many people, running wider tires at low pressures would mean less flats, as well as more overall comfort. Depending on the tire choice & where they ride, it would not necessarily be slower either.

David P. said:

There are plenty of nice tires in variosu widths available in 700c, and lots of high-volume choices, and not just armored ones that ride like crap. My intent, really, was to point out a benefit of using higher-volume tires at lower pressure rather than to talk about 650b.

David

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 9, 2012 at 5:12pm

While there are plenty of tire choices for other wheels sizes, such as 700c, many of the bikes that run these wheels lack the clearance to fit them -especially with fenders.

Thus the 650b craze.  It's a wheel often used in frames that were specifically designed to run large high-volume low-pressure tires along with full-fenders while still being lighter-weight distance bikes.    

To a lesser extent some MTB's and cruisers can run fatter high-volume tires without too many clearance issues but still most bikes that can run really wide/tall tires such as the Fat Franks are often built around that idea from the start.  Many MTB frames just can't fit them, and the cruisers that do are heavy tanks ill-suited for the kinds of riding that most people buy 650b-equipped road bikes for.  



David P. said:


There are plenty of nice tires in variosu widths available in 700c, and lots of high-volume choices, and not just armored ones that ride like crap. My intent, really, was to point out a benefit of using higher-volume tires at lower pressure rather than to talk about 650b.

David
James BlackHeron said:

I think, from my reading of many bicycle forums,  the whole 650b craze is fueled mostly by the very existence of the Hetres.  If they started making them in other sizes 650b would slowly begin sinking again into the obscurity from whence it came. 

Still, I think they are pretty darn cool.   

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