How many miles between flat tires

[PotomacCyclist]

I rode on Vittoria triathlon bike tires for a few years, as well as the generic MTB tires on my MTB. Never had a flat on either bike. Last year, I switched to Continental tires, just because of all the good reviews I’ve read about them. Still no flats. This winter, I changed the MTB over to cyclocross tires. I don’t know the brand.

In the winter, I don’t ride as much outside. When I do, it’s usually on the MTB or CaBi. In the summer, I ride primarily on the triathlon bike or on CaBi.

I inflate the tires before every ride on the tri bike. I keep an eye out for debris, glass and sharp objects while I’m riding. I think I manage to avoid most of them. I hit the occasional pothole and curb, but still no flats. After riding through sand, gravel or other debris, I usually stop, get off the bike and slowly spin each tire while I brush off debris with my gloved hand. (Many puncture flats don’t happen immediately. The item slowly makes its way through the tire and causes a flat later on.)

After each ride, I inspect the tires and then brush off all the debris again. It doesn’t take long to do this.

For the MTB, I don’t inflate the tires before each ride, but I do make spot checks to see if the tire pressure feels OK. I try to inflate the MTB tires every one or two weeks or so. I don’t do any serious off-road riding, which is why I switched to cyclocross tires.

[JimF22003]

I ride a road bike almost exclusively, but I rarely get flats. I average maybe one flat every 3 or 4 thousand miles (I might get two or three a year, or even less.)

[jabberwocky]

I usually only get flats when my tires are about worn out. Since my commute is mostly on narrower roads, I’m riding where cars are driving and things are kept relatively clean. When the tires get thin though, small bits of glass start wearing through and I get slow flats.

[cephas]

I tend to flat in bunches. and can never figure out why. I always figure under-inflation is a factor, at least at the beginning, since I tend to inflate about once a week, and sometimes neglect that much. But then afterward, I get a couple more. and on inspection of tire and wheel, there doesn’t seem to be any issue. I can’t figure it out!

[GuyContinental]

Ha! Right up until I said something like “I’ve ridden X thousand miles with no flat tires” I’d gone about 6 years and 20K+ miles without a flat… then I had 14 in 60 days*. No joke. Still waiting for the cycling gods to let me off the hook.

Worst one? 5 miles into LFP trails on a CX, 20+ miles from home, in the dark with only a patch.

*Definitely some extenuating circumstances while I was playing with tubeless and tubed CX pressure combos

[mstone]

I’ve got continental contacts on the commuter, had a few pinch flats with them early on (within first 1k miles) until I got the pressure dialed in, nothing in over 2k miles now. I’ve had one non-pinch flat, some kind of freak splinter that didn’t fully penetrate the no-flat layer but caused enough of a dent for a slow leak. Maybe from one of the wooden bridges? Don’t know, it was a slow leak and it took me a while to notice.

On the new road bike I’m still experimenting with pressures, and the first set of kevlar beads that I’ve tried. I’ve blown the tires off the rims a couple of times, I suspect because of under-inflation. (Still dialing in the pressure…) This sucks mainly because it’s really hard to patch a two inch gash in the side of a tube.

[jhr]

In the year or so I was commuting into DC from Silver Spring, I got about 1 flat per month and also had 1 or 2 tires ruined by sharp objects (and for most of this time I was using Vittoria Randonneurs which are supposed to be tough) . On the other hand, after moving to Arlington, I think I’ve only gotten one flat on my commuter bike in just under a year, and this is on really cheap tires.

My commute is shorter now so I suppose the difference may be less when you calculate it out per mile, but I think it’s really just an issue of how much debris there is on the roads you’re riding on.

[Amalitza]

My hybrid has never had a flat. //knocks on closest wood-like substance// I bought it I think in 2008? Probably put about 5000 miles on it total.

My road bike had its first flat the day I bought it* last summer; I’d ridden a whole 3 miles on my first ride. Since then, prissy princess bike seems to have a flat maybe every 500 miles or so.

If anything, I’m more likely to ride the hybrid in flat-creating situations (with a load, through parking lots, on the occasional sidewalk) and it was my only bike for several years so also rode it everywhere I ride the road bike now.

*used, and the girl I bought it from said it hadn’t been ridden for about 2 years, so maybe that was a factor in flat #1. But I don’t think it explains all the rest of them.

[vvill]

Maybe a couple per year, although the last few I’ve had were all preventable. But based on my anecdotal evidence, every 3-4k miles.

[pfunkallstar]

I average maybe 3-4 a year, but they always seem to be:

– When it is raining. I was standing on Memorial Bridge during a thunderstorm once, desperately trying to change a flat.
– By the Lincoln Memorial. Apparently tour groups love to throw sharp glass everywhere.
– Towards the end of the week.

A lot of my flats could have been avoided by paying better attention to tire wear, not riding over fields of broken glass, or by properly inflating my tires before every ride.

[jopamora]

Once you answer be sure to post when your next flat occurs. And no, I am not gonna tempt fate by answering.

[culimerc]

I get most of mine when the tires are on their last legs and need replacing. That does include the odd screw or piece of glass, but those are definitively the exception to the rule. That said, I now fully expect to get a flat within 3 mins of the next time I get on a bike.

[jrenaut]

I laugh at your superstitions. I’m going to go bike under a ladder, past a black cat, and right through a pile of rusty screws and broken glass.

[Vicegrip]

Got my first and so far only flat on the road bike 5 min into a “I wil be right back I have just enough time to do a loop” ride. CO2 inflator was cheap junk and let the gas out the side rather than into the tire. Out comes cell phone, here comes the wife with a tire pump and nice fresh out of the box pair of rolleyes. :rolleyes:

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Vicegrip 47810 wrote:

Got my first and so far only flat on the road bike 5 min into a “I wil be right back I have just enough time to do a loop” ride. CO2 inflator was cheap junk and let the gas out the side rather than into the tire. Out comes cell phone, here comes the wife with a tire pump and nice fresh out of the box pair of rolleyes. :rolleyes:

Never call the wife when a bit of walking will allow you to deny everything.

[Author]

Posts