So many punctures

[MontyVeda]

Must be a good seven or eight years for me... but I never travel without a means of fixing one.

The last two have been when I haven't had something essential for fixing it, such as the pump adapter for my valve, or when the pump had cracked and I hadn't noticed... Sod's Law in full affect. When I've got everything I need, I never seem to need it

[edit]... the cotton wool is a good tip

 

[presta]

I'm absolutely convinced there's no rhyme or reason to punctures, I've gone a year or so without one, but I've also had as many as 30 in a period of 8 months. Perhaps 2 or 3 a year would be typical. The most I've had in a single day was four, on one occasion during a ride of 60 miles, and another in just 16 miles. On one occasion I had both tyres flat at the same time, independently from separate causes. The overwhelming majority are caused by grit.

I always have a piece of cotton wool in my puncture kit, I run it round the inside of the tyre, if it snags you got something in there.

Not all debris protrudes. Only once have I been unable to find the cause of a puncture, and I got another hole through the middle of the new patch within about 24 hours. It was a tiny fragment of grit, and being far smaller than the thickness of the tyre it wasn't protruding either inside or outside.

I have all my tyres and tubes marked so that they're always fitted in exactly the same position, that way you can use the hole in the tube to find the debris in the tyre.

 

[albal]

Had x5 on my recent ride from Whitby to Poole. Went out this morning and !!! Another!! , use Panaracer ribmo. Same tyre on trans Canada ride. 2018. I Had 5 total. In 5000 miles. Definitely worse in this weather for sure.

You can't always feel the tiniest of flints inside the tyre. When inflated to 7 bar on a loaded bike, it sinks into the tube. Seriously considering tubeless.

 

[Alex321]

The roads round here (Vale of Glamorgan, mainly back roads & lanes) are pretty terribel. My old bike, around October-November last year, I was averaging roughly a puncture every 100 miles on the original tyres (Schwalbe Tyrano). Swapped them last November for marathon+ (it was a hybrid weighing 13.9Kg, so didn't affect the ride much), and only had one puncture in the next 2300 miles.

The in August, got a new road bike, that came with Continental Grandsport race tyres. Had 5 punctures in the first month . So I swapped those out for tubeless (Hutchison Fusion 5). That gives a slight improvement to the ride, and so far no punctures, in spite of several places riding through the debris left from hedge trimming, and the weather turning very wet.

I have always carried a spare inner tube and puncture repair kit - now also have a pack of tubeless plugs and applicator.

 

[pjd57]

I've only had one in the last few years. That was during the lockdown craze of scattering carpet tacks on cycle paths.

I've got Schwalbe Marathon plus on my hybrid and CX , and Durano on my road bike.

I wouldn't use any other brand now

 

[carpiste]

Last one I had was 3 years ago in France. Luckily I always carry a spare tube and repair kit like a lot do. Finding a puncture, the day after a repair suggests to me there is something stuck in the tyre. For the trouble, and cost of repairs if you are using your LBS to fix them, I`d definitely be changing the tyre for new along with a new tube.
Also it struck me that you don`t say where the punctures are. If they are in the same place, then that might help in finding the answer. I`d be looking at where it is in relation to your valve.

 

[freiston]

Back in the 80s, I got loads of punctures but I reckon the tyres of today are far superior and offer much better protection

I started using Schwalbe Marathons in the late 90s and more recently, Vittoria Randonneurs too. Since then, I can only recall two punctures, both this year, both on the front (the tyres are getting a bit thin now). I ride mostly on the sort of single track lanes that have a very poor surface, plenty of hedges and a load of silt, debris and plant life down the middle.

The first puncture, in February, was due to a thorn from a recently cut hedge and the thorn was so tight in that the tyre didn't deflate at all, but I could hear it every revolution on the road surface - all the way home where I set to removing the thorn and repairing the tube. I couldn't remove the thorn with tweezers or pliers and in the end I resorted to pushing it through with a thin screwdriver. The second was in August on a wide, fast country road. I couldn't find anything in the tyre and I couldn't find the hole in the tube at the roadside so I bunged the spare tube in and continued on my ride. When I got home, I needed a bowl of water to find the puncture. As small as the puncture was, the tube deflated too fast to make it a slow puncture.

Unless it's a short utility ride, I always take one or two spare tubes, a packet of self adhesive patches and a piece cut from a plastic milk bottle to use as an emergency tyre boot. My usual practice is to swap out the tube at the roadside and repair it at home with Rema Tip Top patches and vulcanising solution and then putting the repaired tube in the tool bag as a spare.

 

[sasquath]

Last time I had pinch flat was before I knew how to inflate my own tyres and my dad was on 6 month deployment...

Apart the blown to bits 8 years old 23-28c inner tube stretched to 38c tyre I can't recall last puncture. On a cheap hybrid tyres riding mix of roads and gravel paths.

 

[cyberknight]

2 in a week commuting on durano plus
usual suspect cycle path which is now literally covered in large gravel chunks for maybe half a mile from the remnants of a RTC which backlogged the whole road both ways the other week.
Reported it to my MP but i dont hold out much hope and i have reported the issues along this stretch repeatedly to the appropriate council department and fix my street for a couple of years and feck all gets done

 

[Wooger]

I use Continental All Seasons tyres on 100 psi and have very few punctures, may be one every two years. I never ride close to the edge of the road and read the tarmac in front of me so as to avoid any debris, potholes etc... Seems to be working so far. I always carry two new tubes with me too, just in case.

Same.

This always makes it very hard to understand the claimedbenefits of road tubeless that a few people are always shouting about.

“it’ll seal 90% of punctures “ they say.
So… I will still spend 10x longer in maintenance than I do changing tubes…? I say.

 

[Alex321]

Same.

This always makes it very hard to understand the claimedbenefits of road tubeless that a few people are always shouting about.

“it’ll seal 90% of punctures “ they say.
So… I will still spend 10x longer in maintenance than I do changing tubes…? I say.

So basically you are saying that it is impossible for you to benefit from it because any benefits will gain you less than the time you spend on general maintenance?

I must admit, I don't understand how many of the people on here seem t have so few punctures. Until I put the marathon+ on my hybrid, I had never had a time where I was averaging more than a few hundred miles between punctures. And at the worst, it was averaging around 1 per hundred miles.

 

[GuyBoden]

I had a puncture last week in a brand new pair of Marathon plus tyres, it's the hedge cutting time of year for farmers around Cheshire. A Hawthorn was stuck straight through the top tread of the Marathon plus tyre.

 

[sasquath]

I had a puncture last week in a brand new pair of Marathon plus tyres, it's the hedge cutting time of year for farmers around Cheshire. A Hawthorn was stuck straight through the top tread of the Marathon plus tyre.

I doubt tubeless would seal that. If it went through ~8mm of rubber it would make sizeable hole in thin tubeless tyre.
I wonder how many thorns half way through that tyre you would find...

 

[si_c]

So basically you are saying that it is impossible for you to benefit from it because any benefits will gain you less than the time you spend on general maintenance?

I must admit, I don't understand how many of the people on here seem t have so few punctures. Until I put the marathon+ on my hybrid, I had never had a time where I was averaging more than a few hundred miles between punctures. And at the worst, it was averaging around 1 per hundred miles.

When commuting I would go months without a puncture, and I was doing ~200miles a week.

 

[Drago]

Hi just wondered how often people get punctures, I seem to be forever getting them and seem to have to rotate which bike I use due to punctures.

Not had a deflation since March 2011.

I use puncture resistant tyres and slime tubes, sometimes both, and equip my bikes accodingly, ie, the high mile all weather machines may get both, but my sunny day road tools may get none. Tried tubeless, on and off road, but despite what anyone says its no better any other puncture reduction systems, and a godawful mess if you do have to unship a tyre and tube up at the roadside. The benefits - very minor for a heavy rider like me who can't really benefit from lower pressures - weren't worth the grief.

I then read the road ahead, and not just the square metre 6 inches ahead of my front wheel.

And before putting them to bed I quickly check the boots for any debris or nastiness and remove anything dodgy. A lot of punctures are cause by debris picked up several rides ago that have been quietly working their way in.

And periodically I sacrifice a goat to the puncture fairy.