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.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 12, 2012 at 5:37am

I got some nice Kevlar type tires at Iron Cycles last summer. Before that I got 3 flats on one ride. 

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 12, 2012 at 5:37am

+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.

Permalink Reply by Jamais716 on June 12, 2012 at 6:02am

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. :-)

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 12, 2012 at 7:16am

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.



Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 12, 2012 at 7:28am

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.

Permalink Reply by Liz on June 12, 2012 at 7:40am

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.



Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 12, 2012 at 7:54am

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!

Permalink Reply by Liz on June 12, 2012 at 8:00am

Once a week seems to be more than sufficient on my tires, I wonder what you're doing that seems to bleed so much pressure, maybe you're buying poor quality tubes. 

James BlackHeron said:

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!

Permalink Reply by Vondo on June 12, 2012 at 8:05am

and her dude said he didn't bring a 15mm box wrench for his wheel. Then he said he did have it but it would take him too long to unpack it... Just Will said:

Oh and don't forget she also had a broken spoke on that wheel. Glad you had a big pump with you and John had the tube.

On Sunday, after a late brunch, I picked up my bike from the bike lock, and found that my rear was completely out of air. Which was strange, because I did check before I locked it up that it was still full of air.

This would make it #5 for me this year alone. Different wheels and tires, though.



Vondo said:

Seems that way. I got a flat 5 minutes into the Naked Ride yesterday, literally flatted while rolling my bike into the street in front of Gabe's building as we were heading to the rally. Helped a few riders with flats along the ride as well, including loaning my pump to help while another Security team member (I think his name was Will) fixed a flat for a girl with no rim tape on her wheel.

Permalink Reply by spencewine on June 12, 2012 at 8:07am

Does anyone take Hubbard to Green to Kinzie? This is my normal route thinking that Hubbard would be all chilled out rather than taking 2 lane'd Grand, but Hubbard is a war zone....pot holes, glass, scrap metal everywhere... some days I think I'd be better off biking the Korean demilitarized zone.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 12, 2012 at 8:22am

The only time in the last 3 years of riding I've gotten a flat was on Green.  It's pretty nasty in places.  No goatheads, but plenty of broken glass, screws, nails, and other "sharps" if you know what I mean. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 12, 2012 at 11:20am

I check my tires by feel every few days and fill them every week or so by feel as well and I have almost no tire problems.

Cameron is right in my opinion; a daily commuter should be a bike that you can just unlock, get on and ride without having to think about it.  I build all of my bikes to require as little work to upkeep as possible.



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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