Flats suck
Flats suck, plain and simple. A friend and fellow cyclist has had two flats in about a week and I've had two flats in the past month. The last one for me was, of course, at the most inopportune time (aren't they all). I was riding home from the Bike Project at 10 p.m. last night on St. Mary's Road through the south part of campus. My rear wheel hit one of those nasty potholes that line campus roads and pinch flatted my rear tire on my fixed gear.
Of course I didn't have a patch kit or pump and I probably would have struggled fixing it in the relative dark so I had to push it home. As a direct result, this week I have been inspired to discuss ways of making flats happen much less regularly. I have been lucky and have not had a flat for about five years until recently. Much of it is due to luck and my choice of equipment.
Here are some great tips to avoid flats (some are dirt cheap):
Proper tire pressure: Keep the right amount of air pressure in your tires — this is probably the cheapest way to prevent a flat. Having too little or too much air in your tires can result in slit-like punctures called snakebites. Look on the sidewall of your tires and see what the recommended pressure range is for the tire and stay within it. You will have to check it about once a week because tubes tend to leak air over time.
Avoid obstacles: Try to avoid obstacles such as potholes, shiny items such as glass and metal, nails, etc. on the road. Also, it is usually advisable to avoid grass and weeded areas, as many have thorns that could puncture your tire.
Find the cause of the flat: When you have a flat, find out why you got it.
- Check the inside of the tire for cuts, punctures, and wear.
- Check the sidewall to make sure there are no cuts or it is not worn through.
- Verify your rim strip is in good condition.
- Make sure there are no spokes or nipples protruding which could puncture the tube.
Tires: Typically, a good tire will provide better protection against flats than one that is a strictly economy tire, advice both myself and my friend should heed. Good tires may have belts inside them that are made of Kevlar or steel that resist thorns, glass and other obstacles. While not flat-proof, when it comes to tires, a decent well-made tire is a better, more long-lasting purchase than those made from cheap materials that save a few bucks.
Industrial strength tubes: These are a bit costly but they will probably make up for it in their life expectancy. They are much thicker and resist puncture. Weight conscious cyclists (those that worry about the weight of their bike, that is) need not apply, as they will add to the weight of the bicycle.
Tire Protectors: This product is simply a band that goes on in between your tire and tube offering a layer of protection. One brand of these is Mr. Tuffy. These tend to work but add a bit of additional weight. They also can be difficult to fit if you have a tight fit for the tire on your rim anyway. They also do not provide protection against sidewall punctures.
ITEMS I DON'T RECOMMEND
Slime: This is a green liquid that you put into the tube that is supposed to seal any leaks. Take the time and save money and either replace the tube or buy a simple cheap bicycle tire patch kit and fix the tube right. These can also leak and make a mess. You have been warned, don't get slimed.
Car inflation 'fix-a-flat' products: These are not designed for bike tires and take it from me, don't seal anything on a bike tube. They are a mess and could mess up your rim from all the sealant.
Solid Tires: Some folks rave about them, many hate them. I have never used these tires which are solid foam instead of having air in them. I can't imagine that they would be light or provide a comfortable ride. They will guarantee that you do not get a flat though.
While all of these products and ideas these may help avoid a flat or reduce their frequency, there is no guarantee that you won't get a flat. That is why it is important to have a pump or a CO2 inflator, and a spare tube or two or — if you are patient — a patch kit in a bag on your bike. It can be the difference from being able to fix your bike and a long two mile walk at 10 p.m. pushing your bike. Trust me, it isn't fun at all.
7 comments
Erik Martin
Quick comment on the tire pressure issue…
-Your inflation pressure has only little to do with what the tire says. 1. Most tires are rated to higher pressures than clincher rims, and rarely do people know what the “max pressure” of their rims is.
2. What you inflate your tires to is far more dependant on your weight. the 105psi I put into my tires at my weight of 175lbs is not appropriate for a small woman for example.
Finding the cause of the flat:
-This is much easier to do if you align the label of the tire with the valve stem. This makes checking the tire relative to the hole in the tube a relatively minor procedure.
Tire Sealants:
These aren’t always a bad idea, particularly on large volume, tires designed for lower pressures (ie mountain bike tires). Also, I have heard of a lot of friends having good luck with slime or stans sealant during cyclocross races… these of course involve doing nearly the opposite of your avoiding obstacles and additionally involve lower than recommended tire pressures…
I agree that tire sealants aren’t always a bad idea. If you live in an area with a lot of thorns (the southwest, for example), the sealant will often times allow you to get home on a thorn-punctured tube.
That said, I don’t think it is really necessary in central illinois if you are riding on roads. Sealant won’t do anything for pinch flats, which in my experience are more common. For that it is best to just get a under the seat bag and stuff it with a couple CO2 cartridges, tire levers, and or course tubes.
Liam
Bontrager Hard Case tires and Continental Ultra Sport Gatorskins are two great kevlar bead tires.
I got the Gatorskins and only had two flats in 7 months after. Highly recommended.
Rim Tape is a REQUIREMENT! Without it, the end of the spokes can just tear through the tube. And don’t do the cheap stuff, spend the extra five bucks.
My two cents, hope they help!
Gary
My wife and I have been using Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on our city bikes for a few years now. Schwalbe claims that “Punctures become obsolete with the MARATHON PLUS” and that has so far been the case for us.
The Marathon Plus tire is expensive, heavy and can be difficult to get on and off some rims (see comments). But they come in a whopping 15 different sizes, ride well and appear to work as advertised. They also have a retroreflective sidewall, as I believe all Schwalbe tires do.
For my road bike, I’ve had very good luck with Continental Duraskin/Gatorskin tires. I can’t remember the last time I flatted those.
—Gary
Dan Wright
Great article! Here’s a couple more things to add to it:
1. You can make your own tire liners (e.g., Mr. Tuffy): an old (punctured) tube works just as well! Cut out the valve stem & cut around the tube on the inside; put the new (good) tube inside it, put the whole thing in the tire and inflate. These are not quite as heavy-duty, but they help quite a bit. They also wrap all the way around the tube and might help with sidewall punctures, too.
2. re: industrial strength tubes—another way to do this is to just buy one size tube larger. For example, if you have a 26x1.75 tire put a 26x2.0 tube in it. What this does is keeps the tube from stretching very much when you inflate it. You don’t want to go more than one tube size up, though, or you can end up with folded-over parts of the tube.
Tire Tubes
Checking your tire pressure is the biggest key to keeping your tires in great shape. Even after one day of riding, my tires tend to leak (I am sure all of yours do too). By pumping your <a href=“https://www.kenjones.com”>tire tubes</a>
to the proper PSI every ride, you save your self the possible hassle of having to fix a flat.
Scott
Agree, agree and agree. Nice column and comments. I loved my old Conti CountryRides (now seemingly impossible to find) and am wearing out my third set (10,000+ miles) with, I think two flats on that bike total.
A word on pressure along the lines of the first comment: I cracked a pretty high-end Mavic mtb 26’’ rim by using a road slick at 80 psi. The tire was rated for it, the rim was not. The hub was also pretty nice I bought a new rim, relaced it and have put another couple of thousand 30-40 psi, fat-tire, off-road hard-use miles on it with no trouble.
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