Puncture Defense !

Slappy101

Hey guys,

I am picking up a new bike (Felt QX65 2011) later for commuting to work (~20 miles round trip). My question for you is, how do you deal with flats?

I have looked into all sorts of solutions like slime, Kevlar tires(specialized armadillo/gator skin) and puncture resistant inner tubes such as Raleigh .

So what do you use(if any!) to combat punctures?

Thrill

Going on a long spin I'll carry a spare tube, pump and levers.

Simply swap out the punctured tube for the spare and away you go.

Slappy101

How long have you got changing a tube down to?

Thrill

Only ever got the one puncture and took no notice of how long it took to swap out the tube but it felt like around ten minutes or so before I was on my way again.

It's not something I've ever practiced though. Maybe I should.

kenmc

Slappy101 wrote: »

How long have you got changing a tube down to?

A more pertinent question is probably puncture to km ratio. It really doesn't matter how long it takes to change a tube if you don't puncture.

maloner

Pump your tires to the correct pressure before every ride will certainly help.

Tonyandthewhale

I've got normal 700x23 road bike tyres (vitoria rubino), they're decent enough but not known to be especially puncture resistant. I keep them properly pumped and check them every now and then to make sure there's no glass or anything in them and I reckon I get a 1000km or so between punctures. I'm not really sure what my puncture to km ratio is though as when I do get a puncture it only takes a few minutes to get the tube swapped out and re-inflated, it's not a big job.

It can be a bit of a hassle for a newbie but I don't think punctures are the kind of thing you need to lose sleep over.

Wishbone Ash

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

I reckon I get a 1000km or so between punctures

I'm about the same 1,000kms - i.e. about one a month.

Mycroft H

I've not had a puncture in a year at least.

Granted, I'm running puncture resistant tyres. Panaracer Paselas TourGuard and Schwalbe Marathons.

Personally I think that they are completely random occurrences, I could go for months without one and then have 3 in a week....

kenmc

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

I reckon I get a 1000km or so between punctures.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm about the same 1,000kms - i.e. about one a month.

Jaysus. I commute on average 70km a week, not to mention training and racing. Going by the first four months of this year I'd say my avg yearly is 7500km.

My last puncture (according to Strava) was 7th January. The last one I remember before that was sometime in 2010. The one before that on my commuter was so far ago that the spare tube had developed a friction hole from my saddlebag.

My commute bike has Gatorskins, my race bike either GP4000s, Gators or Schwalbe Ultremo ZX.

If you're getting a puncture every 1000km, you either have crap tyres, dodgy wheels, or not enough pressure.

Wishbone Ash

kenmc wrote: »

If you're getting a puncture every 1000km, you either have crap tyres, dodgy wheels, or not enough pressure.

I check pressures daily. I do a lot of night time cycling where debris can be more difficult to see. I've tried various brands of tyres and many of my punctures are caused by a tyre being deeply cut or sliced open (poor roads on my commute) which is very annoying when the tyre is just days old. Others are caused by nails, wire or thumb tacks penetrating the tyre. I've never managed to wear down a tyre naturally.

I wouldn't have though that 1 per 1000km is excessive. Some posters here report several each week.

Tonyandthewhale

On thinking about it it's probably more than 1000km between punctures (that's on my road bike where I get most punctures), I think I've only had one puncture so far this year (but maybe two, can't remember) and that's over 3000km on the road bike.
On my commuting bike (currently running 1.4 inch ritchey tom slicks which I only bought because they were cheap) I haven't had any punctures yet (6 months of roughly 100km a week).
My touring bike which runs 35mm panaracer rimbos hasn't had a puncture yet (over two years) on these tyres so that's several thousand kilometres.

Slappy101

Bit of a newbie question here but if my tires are 700 x 37c, what size replacement tires can I get? Am I limited strictly to 700 x 37c??

Mycroft H

Slappy101 wrote: »

Bit of a newbie question here but if my tires are 700 x 37c, what size replacement tires can I get? Am I limited strictly to 700 x 37c??

Check your bead set width on your rim.

See here for more details (near bottom of page...)

Slappy101

BX 19 wrote: »

Check your bead set width on your rim.

See here for more details (near bottom of page...)

Correction, mine is 622 x 19, that would be a 700 x 19c right ??

Mycroft H

Slappy101 wrote: »

Correction, mine is 622 x 19, that would be a 700 x 19c right ??

That printed on the side of the tyre or is the 19mm the width of the tyre?

622mm=700c

Slappy101

BX 19 wrote: »

That printed on the side of the tyre or is the 19mm the width of the tyre?

622mm=700c

It's printed on the side of the rim, it just says,

etrto 622 x 19 am-i