149 Miles....and then a FLAT :(

[Edudbor]

Well, here I am again, complaining about flat tires, lol....

This morning I got a flat. I was stopped at a light and noticed my front tire was going down. It turned out to be a tiny piece of glass

I was only about 20 minutes late for work because of it; and I did the math and I had gone ~150 miles before a flat. My total, so far, is 4 flats in 210 miles. That's an average of one flat every 52 miles. Each ride I do is 23 miles round trip. I'm averaging, overall, a flat every 2nd ride. (Those 3 flats were with a different bicycle though; with my current one, I'm averaging 150 miles between flats).

Anyway, at $5 dollars per tube, and my total average, we're looking at a about 26 miles for every $2.50 I spend on tubes. So far, that's basically the same as what it costs me to drive; especially if you consider the additional time it takes for me to ride.

So, yeah, I'm a bit sad. People say flats are just 'part of the experience' but people also say things like, 'You'll save so much gas money' by riding...so I don't know what to think.

Regardless of the cost, getting a flat is just a big pain in the butt. I time all of my rides, trying to beat my last ones...if I get a flat, well, the whole ride is lost. I'm also keeping track of the gas money I save; so far, I'm -$850 dollars or so; but the idea is that EVENTUALLY, I'll actually save money by riding. So every flat, every purchase, etc, keeps me further from that goal.

To that end, I'm trying hard not to spend any more money on my bicycle. I'm trying to save money. But I also can't afford to be late for work (and I'm unwilling to allocate an extra 20 minutes for a possible flat each day I ride. As it is now, instead of leaving for work at 7:30am, I'm out the door at 6:40, the ride takes me an hour and then by the time I change clothes and clean up, I'm 5 or 10 minutes late to my desk).

I'm trying to decide if I should purchase a set of 'Kevlar' tires. I saw the Forte GT2 Kevlar Road Tire and it's something like $10 dollars a piece. I've also heard great things about Gatorskin/Armadillos but they are a bit more pricy - I saw some Armadillos for $35 each.

The Armadillos sound like they'd really help, I've heard of people going 3,000 miles without a flat is pretty common with them. But is that really true, or is that hype? By the time you consider shipping and handling, I'm looking at $80-$85 dollars for new tires - maybe I could ebay my old ones, but I'm not counting on it.

What anti-flat devices/technologies would you all recommend for me? Really, what I'd also like to know is what should I reasonably expect in terms of flats? I mean, is a flat every 200ish miles considered normal or is it every 500, or 1000, etc...?

 

[sogood]

Get better tyres.
Patch your tubes at home (so bring a spare).
Practice to complete a change under 5mins.
Avoid glass when you can. If you can't, just let the bike freewheel and glide gently over it. Wipe your tyre down after each ride and check for embedded foreign body.

 

[kdelong]

Get better tyres.
Patch your tubes at home (so bring a spare).
Practice to complete a change under 5mins.
Avoid glass when you can. If you can't, just let the bike freewheel and glide gently over it. Wipe your tyre down after each ride and check for embedded foreign body.

+1 on sogood's post. If you aren't racing, there is no need for you to have really thin, light tires. Ask your LBS what they would suggest for flat resistant commuter tires. You seem to be flat prone and it may be the route that you are taking! Can you pick a better, cleaner route to work?

 

[DrunkenBiker]

+1 on sogood's post. If you aren't racing, there is no need for you to have really thin, light tires. Ask your LBS what they would suggest for flat resistant commuter tires. You seem to be flat prone and it may be the route that you are taking! Can you pick a better, cleaner route to work?

Yea really.

That many flats would drive me bonkers. I ride to work everyday and do rides during free time. Average around 70-75 miles a week. And my last flat was 4 months ago. And I'm riding with run of the mill Nashbar 26x1.5 slicks and tubes. Nothing fancy.

What are you riding or riding thru to get that kinda of miles/flats ratio ??

 

[kdelong]

Just a little add on to my previous post. You were riding a Fuji to start, weren't you? You really can't judge your current bike with the flats that you experienced with the Fuji. For some strange reason, Fuji Bikes tend to get more flats and there are a million different ideas as to why. I think that you have only had one flat with your current bike.


Also, where you ride makes a lot of difference in your chances of getting a flat. Major roads tend to collect more trash than secondary roads in the suburbs. Country roads collect a lot of trash, no matter if they are primary or secondary roads. When you ride, try to stay to the left of the white line on the right side of the road. This is where the cars run and they tend to push all of the trash to the side of the road. If you ride to the right of the white line, you are riding right through all of the trash.

If you cannot make it to work on all secondary roads, ride near the white line on the primary roads, but on the left of it instead of the right of it. In most, if not all states, you have as much right to be there as the cars do. Unfortunately having that right does not prevent people from getting run over!

 

[Insaneclimber]

"You were riding a Fuji to start, weren't you? You really can't judge your current bike with the flats that you experienced with the Fuji. For some strange reason, Fuji Bikes tend to get more flats"

"What The"

Any ways anyone ever hered of a tyre saver? its a small piece of wire that is shaped to the curve of your tyre and hangs down from the back of the brake mounting bolt, the idea is that sharp objects that get stuck in your tyre will be knocked out by the wire, preventing them from going round 50,000 times and causing a puncture.

 

[catlike]

With "non racing" tyres and proper air pressure there should not be flats at all (unless you dont cut tyres on glass). Be sure to pump tyres regulary (I am pumping once a week and try to keep pressure 7.5-8 Bar. This season i rode 3000 km and had about 5 flats, most of them in the end of season because of tyres were wore out- i replaced them with Conti 4000S- 500 km and had no problems yet. Still i belive most of flats i had was because of low air pressure in tyres)

 

[artemidorus]

I'm not sure that my per-kilometer bike costs are much less than per-kilometer car costs, forgetting the purchase price of the vehicles but including all other accessory/ spares /maintenance costs. But bikes are a lot more fun, they give you free exercise and in Sydney rush-hour gridlock, they're much faster.

 

[chainstay]

What anti-flat devices/technologies would you all recommend for me? Really, what I'd also like to know is what should I reasonably expect in terms of flats? I mean, is a flat every 200ish miles considered normal or is it every 500, or 1000, etc...?

If economics is the prime motivating factor and not bike weight or maximum speed, why not just add these Mr. Tuffy liners in the link below? (And adding these liners could only make a few seconds time difference on your total commute time at most anyway.) You would have a very hard time selling your used tires on Ebay. May as well add the liners and ride your Vittorias until they are worn out! And you can even keep reusing the Mr. Tuffys if you want to. What is more, there may be nothing wrong with your Vittorias at all, but still, winter time tends to collect a lot of **** on the roads in Colorado and other places in the Rockies. Put the liners in and use them until next May or June and the roads are cleaner again, and then maybe give another try without the liners.

http://www.rei.com/product/546130\

Walmart may have them cheaper. Be sure to get the size to fit your tires. So put those in and remember to inspect and brush off your tires before every ride, and you should be good to go for a long time.

You may have just had one isolated instance of bad luck with the Ibex. I still believe the flats you had on your Fuji were related to a bad rim strip tape. You probably are not getting too many answers on how long people go without flats, because when people bring up how long they have gone without one, they invariably bring themselves bad luck and get a flat the very next ride! So I will dance around the issue and say I bet most people average at least one thousand miles or more without a flat, and the 3,000 miles you mentioned above for Armadillos and Gatorskins, is easily believable to me. That being said, choice of routes and clean roads make a big difference.

By the way, did you ever solve your glove problem? I have a pair of winter riding gloves for the coldest days that I bought at REI that are designed for skate skiers. They are insulated, warm, breathable, windproof and nearly waterproof, but relatively thin and easy to shift with. I think I only paid about $25.00 for them on sale. I hope you were able to return those $50 ones that didn't even keep your hands warm.