Avoiding Flats
A lot of people with flat tires visit my shop. If you ride enough you will inevitably get a flat a two. Fortunately there are many things you can do to reduce the chance you will get a puncture.
1. Tires should be in good shape. Bald, worn out, or tires that are cracked from age are easy for glass and such to penetrate the tire.
2. Tubes must be FULLY inflated. If your tubes are at a low pressure then any minor bump in the road can cause the tire to fold in and pinch the tube! I see this type of flat all the time. The proper pressure is usually written on the side of the tire. Check them about once a week.
3. rim and rim strip in good shape. Rims are not commonly a problem but still while fixing a flat check the rim
4. Do not hop curbs! You are not 60lb kid on a BMX. Any proper sort of commuting bike is not made to take those sort of stresses!
5. Ride in a predictable, smooth fashion. Weaving back and forth, hauling ass around blind corners, while fun means that your less likely to see that pothole/fallen branch/ extended curb/ etc.
6. Don’t ride in the gutter! To be polite to other traffic you should ride towards the right, but not so far that you risk running over all the debris that inevitable collects near the curb.
7. Stay off sidewalks! Sidewalks sometimes have a lot more debris on them than then the streets. The streets actually get swept occasionally as well as passing cars tend to push debris towards the gutter. Sidewalks almost never get cleaned!
There are also lots of products out there that claim to reduce or eliminate flats. Some of them do help. In some extreme situations they might even be necessary. Personally I consider them a waste of money for normal riding. I run the cheapest tires and tubes possible. It’s been three years since I got an actual punctured tube(it was a small thorn that penetrated through a kevlar tire!)! I’ve had two other flats. Both was a result of being lazy, not keeping my tubes fully inflated in one case and in the other I had worn the tire so bald I created a hole in the tire and popped the tube! But still I’m averaging about one flat a year, not too shabby!
I can afford to break my own rules because I always keep my flat repair kit with me and I have a huge amount of practice fixing flats. It doesn’t take me long! If you don’t know how to or have the tools to fix one you are well advised to take care to follow these guidelines! Depending on the shop it can cost $10-$20 a pop (no pun intended) for a flat tire. It gets expensive quick and what are you going to do if it’s midnight and all the shops are closed?