How Often Do You Flat?

[AyeYo]

I rode one of my usual weekend endurance routes today and found out that over four miles of road had been turned into a pre chip sealing gravel mess. First thing I thought of was this thread and how now, thoroughly jinxed, I was going to end up with two flats forty miles from home. Amazingly, my cut up and worn out Pro4's went over the gravel without issue. Checked them for embedded gravel once I finally got back to pavement (there was none) and went on my way without issue. Definitely stocking up on these tires while Wiggle and Chain Reaction have them for cheap.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I was going out Saturday evening after a day wasted on work. I rolled the bike out into the sunlight only to see...the rear tire was shot. Tread was showing, but it was holding air.

Rather than press my luck I wasted another 20 minutes of sunlight changing the tire...

 

[BigSkyFatGuy]

I am new to road cycling. I have a bad ankle and at 260 pounds cycling is about the only thing low impact enough to not irritate it. I bought a Trek Madone 4.5 two weekends ago. I run 125psi both tires. I have put about 175 miles on in 2 weeks going on 25-30 mile weekend rides and commuting to work 10 miles round trip each day. I have been running over all kinds of **** on purpose just to see what it takes to get a flat. Lots of rocks, glass, broken tail lights etc. No flats yet. Bontrager tires. I know, I'm a wierdo...commuting on a carbon race bike and running stuff over on purpose. It gets better. I use a backpack and have $30 bmx platform pedals on it. "Real" cyclists give me that confused WTF? look regularly. I laugh because I'm having a blast riding. Some clipless pedals are in my future, but not yet.

 

[swampy1970]

I was going out Saturday evening after a day wasted on work. I rolled the bike out into the sunlight only to see...the rear tire was shot. Tread was showing, but it was holding air. Rather than press my luck I wasted another 20 minutes of sunlight changing the tire...

20 minutes to change a tire? Rookie. Mr Campy-no-go invented quick release levers early LAST century in case you hadn't heard... Even with frames that feature those "made in 'Merica" lawyers tabs, you shouldn't take more than 5 minutes for such a simple task - or did you decide to fully wash the bike and give it a quick lube job too?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by Swami:
"20 minutes to change a tire?"

There about.


"Rookie."

No.


"Mr Campy-no-go invented quick release levers..."

Yes, he certainly did. And Mr. shitmaNO didn't.

 

[swampy1970]

Well the legend of Tulio on the Crock d'dunga freezing hands in the snow uttering phrases of frustration that lead to the birth of the first patented quick release lever may not be true. Strange that (a) it didn't snow during the 1927 race and (b) nor is there a patent for a quick release lever. http://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/07/01/a-reappraisal-of-tullio-campagnolo/ Interesting write up about the other innovations that weren't his innovations. 20 minutes for a tire change - I guess that's Ok if you're also having a beer and chatting to the neighbors.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Actually, he did invent the QR. He patented it as a shifting aid because wheels were reversed to engage the gear on the opposite side of the hub at that time.

Snow and cold; usually found at higher elevations. As well as fingers that will not work so well. Duh.

shitmaNO invented squat.

No beer. Better yet, no neighbors.

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
Actually, he did invent the QR. He patented it as a shifting aid because wheels were reversed to engage the gear on the opposite side of the hub at that time.

Snow and cold; usually found at higher elevations. As well as fingers that will not work so well. Duh.

shitmaNO invented squat.

No beer. Better yet, no neighbors.

There was no snow in the 1927 edition of the Coppas della Vittoria. That was the myth - cold and snowy, poor Timmy Campag had the strength of a school girl and couldn't undo his wheel on the Passo Croce d'Aune. It's hard to be cold and snowy when reports of the race that year had no snow.

I know it's often colder and snowy in the hills, given that I'm only a couple of hours away from where roads are closed for months at a time due to many feet of snow.

Ebbetts Pass, south of Lake Tahoe, just prior to the Alta Alpina Challenge in June!



It was fun riding up there in the snow banks. Cold but fun.

It doesn't seem like Camapg invented much the more I read about it. Evolved existing designs, yes. Invented. Not so much.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by Swami:
"...the more I read..."

Yeah. You 'read' it on the intarwebz. It must be true...

Campagnolo invented the quick release wheel. shitmaNO invented nothing.

Good Lord. What do you carry in that suitcast strapped to your seat? A spare shitmaNO group? Or is it just storage to stash all the shitmaNO parts that fall off your bike?

 

[Froze]

7 years without a flat? That's crazy long. You must have very clean streets where you live. If you're worried about the CO2 cart then you need to buy a couple of more just in case your worries prove you right. Personally, and again this is just a personal opinion, I would never ride with CO2 unless I was racing because CO2 gives you limited air supply, it cost you to use the air, and you have to dispose of the spent cart (of course you could do what most CO2 users do and simply throw the spent cart on the side of the road! For anyone doing that here I'll say this about you...you're a falken moron!) If you like the CO2 then I would carry either 3 carts or get a Lezyne Pressure Drive CFH pump that is a hybrid pump that can do both that way you can use the CO2 cart for a flat and if by chance you get a second or even a third flat on the same ride you simply use the pump.

 

[dhk2]

I can see the advantages of carrying a frame pump in certain conditions. But CO2 works fine for me. I prefer the speed and ease vs my old Zefal frame pump, which I haven't carried for 10 years.

Maybe it all depends on how many flats you get. I've needed it once on the road in the last 3-4 years, after getting a pinch flat. I carry one extra 12g cartridge, so I do have a back up on the road, but have never needed it. The cost isn't an issue either. I bought a 15-pack from Wal-Mart about 5 years ago, at less than $1 each.

And I don't ride with anyone who would throw an empty CO2 cartridge on the side of the road. I don't know "most CO2 users", but even here in the southern US, I've never seen anyone just toss one. Since we carry them all the time full, it's hardly a burden to take an empty home and put it in the trash or recycling.

 

[swampy1970]

Quote by Swami: "...the more I read..." Yeah. You 'read' it on the intarwebz. It must be true... Campagnolo invented the quick release wheel. shitmaNO invented nothing. Good Lord. What do you carry in that suitcast strapped to your seat? A spare shitmaNO group? Or is it just storage to stash all the shitmaNO parts that fall off your bike?

I stopped using CrappagNogo when I realised that having equipment that was seemingly made from lead and worked worse that Shimano 600EX SIS but cost 5 times as much was a bad thing to do... That's not my bike - just someone that was up there a couple of days before the event. Carrying a ton of stuff on a 200 mile ride over 8 big hills is never something I'd do, although I did have a bag big enough for an extra top. Having moderate asthma and riding at high elevation at cold temps presents more challenges than just climbing a ton in one day. On such rides I normally just carry a couple of tubes, patch kit, tire levers, about 3" strip of old tire suitably chopped and tire levers. High mountain cold weather rides also get full gloves and a folded sheet of aluminum foil.

 

[Froze]

LOL, you two are funny.

First the comment about Campy Ergo doesn't work as well as Shimano SIS is true...but neither does Shimano STI, I know because I have both Campy Ergo, Shimano STI and Shimano SIS in 2 different flavors and it's been confirmed by other users who have used both that SIS was faster, in fact the reason Shimano developed (developed not invent) Di1 was because it was getting some ridicule about the fact that SIS was faster so the only way they could get a derailleur to work faster (and keep up with SRAM) was to go with electronic shifting.

Second Campy made of lead is not true because both Campy Super and Record is lighter than Shimano Dura Ace, and both Chorus and Athena is lighter than Ultegra!

Third Shimano did invent stuff including the commented on SIS technology, as well as RapidFire Plus, integrated shifting system, V Brake, Hyperglide, freehub, and SPD.

Forth, the most reliable components goes to Suntour, but in modern times Campy wins that department along with the ability to replace small parts instead of replacing the entire part. Campy is the only one that makes a completely rebuildable shifter, the only one that uses bearings instead of hinges on the front derailleur pivots.

Sram however is the fastest shifting component manufacture, some say it rivals SIS, but the durability is not up to par with the others.

 

[swampy1970]

You should try re-reading that I wrote. There was no Chorus and Athena when I started to think about making the switch on the road bikes circa 88/89. I think it was record, crock o'dung and victory. My TT bike got the hand me downs of Campag stuff and with the Shamals weighed 24.5lbs or there abouts. The 531C tubeset complete with tandem downtube didn't help weight matters...

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by Swami:
"Carrying a ton of stuff on a 200 mile ride over 8 big hills is never something I'd do, although I do have a gut big enough for an extra topping of cream cheese."

FTFY

 

[swampy1970]

Quote by Swami: "Carrying a ton of stuff on a 200 mile ride over 8 big hills is never something I'd do, although I do have a gut big enough for an extra topping of cream cheese." FTFY

At least some of us can do rides like that when was the last time you did 20,000+ ft of climbing in a day without being on a plane or in a 'copter

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Shake a tail feather!

 

[swampy1970]

Ok, those are ace.

 

[stevegreer]

I've been lucky so far and have only flatted once while out on a ride. It happened while I was in a turn and going about 18mph, but luckily it was the rear tire, so I didn't end up eating pavement.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Apparently, 3 times this season. So far.

Yesterday I pumped 'em up to 105 PSI and got 8 miles into a metric when the rear went Kapow! like a gun shot. The tube mold seam facing the rim let go.

No puncture. No impact. Just Specialized brand Chicom **** failing under pressure (couldn't resist...er...).

The explosive force tore the bead of a nearly new Michelin Pro 4 Service Course about 2" and trashed the tire. Not bootable and the first time since I switched to clinchers in 2006 that I trashed a tire. I used my micro pump and put 60 PSI in the new tube and sketchy tire for the ride back to my friend's house and borrowed tire, a Yksium Griplink; a front-specific tire mounted on the rear and mounted backwards in a hurried job, to boot (no directional arrow and I don't use tire with tread patterns).

BTW, the Yksium rides like a rock with 100 PSI in it when compared to the Pro 4's, but any port in time of storm and all that. Other than the ride difference it cornered well enough despite being on the wrong end of the bike and having the tread rotating the wrong direction.