Puncture avoidance - top ten ways...

topher9

So, having got my first puncture yesterday and being suitably annoyed, I have realised just how vulnerable road bikes are to punctures.

Looked at inner tubes that repair themselves and they look good. Wondering if there are a list of tips anywhere (avoiding the obvious ones of avoiding potholes) for avoiding punctures?! Might help us beginners a bit...

How about top ten tips...

singlespeedexplosif

Get good tyres
Don't ride in the gutter
Use your hands to brush off the tyres after going through gravel etc. (it's easy to do this whilst riding but takes a bit of practice).
Decent pressure to avoid pinch punctures

antfly

A recent survey in another place showed that wiping gravel off your tyres is pointless.

Anyway,you might find you get a lot less punctures than you would think,as long as you have decent tyres.

nferrar

I'd say decent tyres at the correct pressure is the best way to avoid punctures (besides the obvious one of avoiding sharp stuff ). I also try and balance my weight 50/50 when riding over rough patches (stand up to), not sure how much it really helps but never punctured whilst doing it.

singlespeedexplosif

A recent survey in another place showed that wiping gravel off your tyres is pointless.
can you point me to this survey pls?

Feltup

Don't allow yourself to be forced off the road by a 4x4 into a bed of flints :evil:

cougie

Conti GP400s tyres - great.

Look where you are riding.

Keep pressures around 95 PSI.

Headhuunter

Tyres with kevlar bands in are good to prevent punctures. Generally, tubes that repair themselves are not great, I've heard that they're quite heavy and when you get a puncture, the goo that blocks the hole can creat imbalances in the wheel

LittleB0b

careful if the hedge trimmers have been out - thorns and splinters can be eveil also

most councils have a phone number where you can report broken glass, street lights out bad potholes, on roads and cycleways- do a good deed for your fellow cyclists and call it in (a quick google revels it's CLARENCE 0800 23 23 23 nearly everywhere -the magic of IT will recognises your location and put you through to right council)

simon_e

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Use your hands to brush off the tyres after going through gravel etc.

Why? I've never found gravel cause a problem.

I don't seem to suffer with pinch punctures, despite sometimes forgetting to check and having run quite low pressures both on and offroad. One week last year I did the 10 mile TT with 40 psi in the tyres. Pumped them up the following week and went no quicker. How come?!

Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase for me. Tough yet roll well and inexpensive.

singlespeedexplosif

Why? I've never found gravel cause a problem.
you're clearly very lucky. The 'etc' bit was in there to cover other road debris - thorns, glass etc. But little flinty gravel bits in the wet can cause havoc. Brush them off before they get driven in further. Takes very little effort.

antfly

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

A recent survey in another place showed that wiping gravel off your tyres is pointless.
can you point me to this survey pls?

Here you go sir. http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/3863

bobtbuilder

Good tyres (another vote for the Continetal GP4000s from me), and change them when they are worn down.

I have never had a problem with gravel, etc, but thorns lying around after hedge trimming is a real hazard.

FSR_XC

3 ways to garantee no punctures:

1. Don't ride the bike.
2. When taking the bike out, make sure you keep it in the back of the car.
3. Ride gently on turbo trainer.

Fact:
No tyre / tube is totally puncture proof, but some are better than others.

Best solution:
Carry spare tube & pump etc so you can fix punctures if they do happen.

singlespeedexplosif

Here you go sir. http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/3863
Ta. But, that's a totally diffferent thing. That's removing stuff which has become embedded. I'm talking about removing it before it gets chance to dig its way in.

singlespeedexplosif

Certainly if you take a tube and pump with you, you're far less likely to puncture than if you're out on a long ride without the ability to fix a flat. There's no scientific reason for this, but it's FACT. Guaranteed to happen if you don't take a pump
It's some kind of pact that thorns and bits of glass have signed with the devil.

roger_merriman

thus far on my old roadie i haven't.....

while i'm reasonbly heavy i also hark back to rigid MTB's so riding light is 2nd nature to me i also don't ride in the gutter.

oh and two tubes and bits and bobs live in the saddle bag thus avoiding the spite fairy...

phreak

I've had kevlar tires since having a spate of punctures and since then have been ok. Whether that's down to the tires of just better luck I couldn't say. They do seem to happen in bunches for some reason.

antfly

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Here you go sir. http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/3863
Ta. But, that's a totally diffferent thing. That's removing stuff which has become embedded. I'm talking about removing it before it gets chance to dig its way in.

I wouldn`t say it is a different thing, the point is that it doesn`t do any harm anyway if you leave it there and it does dig in.

chuckcork

antfly wrote:

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Here you go sir. http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/3863
Ta. But, that's a totally diffferent thing. That's removing stuff which has become embedded. I'm talking about removing it before it gets chance to dig its way in.

I wouldn`t say it is a different thing, the point is that it doesn`t do any harm anyway if you leave it there and it does dig in.

As noted at the bottom of that link glass shards are likely different.

I'd also point out that while the end of a flint/whatever may get worn down by the road, that isn't the end that is slowly working its way through your tyre, so you may as well do a tyre check every so often and remove them. Can't hurt, can it?

And if nothing else doing a (reasonably) periodic inspection of your tyres, which lets face it are the bit that is taking the most punishment when out on the road, you might find other things to worry about, e.g. doing one a few months ago I found a hole in the non-kevlar reinforced side of the front tyre where the tube was starting to come through. Left alone it would eventually have blown out, which could have been a real worry at 40mph.

antfly

I would never discourage anyone from checking their tyres it`s just that Richard Hallett,who knows a thing or two about cycling,says picking flints out is unneccessary because they don`t go through the tread and that`s good enough for me.

woody-som

I found that the little bits of flint from the recent salt/grit was a real problem. New GP400 tyres and still punctures, solved that, cut the old tube down the middle with a knife and put the new tube inside, extra protection, so far the last 3-4 weeks been OK.

whyamihere

Only three tips needed:

Good tyres.
Correct pressures.
Avoid potholes.

I know I'm tempting fate (frankly I want a puncture just so that I don't get out of practise at repairing them) but I've never had a puncture on a road bike. I've owned road bikes for a few years, and ridden them quite a long way (about 1100 miles so far this year).

file tread

Richard Hallett is a prat then, most punctures are probably caused by debris already embedded in the tyre so a minute spent checking them before a ride can save you time sitting at the side of the road strugling with cold hands

ademort

Agree with all of the above but just one thing, if you think or know that you have just ridden over a piece of glass then stop and check immediately and don,t just wait for the tyre to go flat. How many times i have heard people say that they thought they went over a piece of glass, only to find out later that they have a flat tyre. Those with experience on this forum will surely know what i mean. Ademort

neeb

I think whether or not little bits of gravel/flints are a problem will depend a lot on local geology. Most sedimentary rocks, especially if they were originally formed in aquatic environments from rounded thingies (to use a technical term), probably won't be a problem at all, while large grained igneous and metamorphic rocks will often weather into individual mineral crystals that are effectively the same as little bits of glass... In fact, if the mineral concerned is silica, they effectively are little bits of glass. Maybe if the original rock is sufficiently fine grained, however, these may not penetrate right through the tyre.

I found that the little bits of flint from the recent salt/grit was a real problem. New GP400 tyres and still punctures, solved that, cut the old tube down the middle with a knife and put the new tube inside, extra protection, so far the last 3-4 weeks been OK.

This is an absolute nightmare at this time of year in Finland, before they have properly swept all of the grit from the roads and paths. I think the grit is probably made from the local granite. Unfortunately, I guess the hardness and sharpness that makes it bad for tyres is also what gives it grip on ice!

antfly

file tread wrote:

Richard Hallett is a prat then, most punctures are probably caused by debris already embedded in the tyre so a minute spent checking them before a ride can save you time sitting at the side of the road strugling with cold hands

Richard Hallett has probably forgotten more about cycling than most of us will ever know,he certainly isn`t a pratt and if you read the article he offers plenty of evidence against embbedded debris causing punctures.

synchronicity

Also:

* Make sure the inner tube isn't trapped anywhere between the rim wall and the tyre bead when you install it.
* Use quality rim tape.
* Inflate your tyres enough.
* Don't use 50 gram inner tubes that are 0.5mm thick...

trickeyja

I seem to have relatively few punctures - only 3 in the past 7 months...

Anyway, please avoid self healing innertubes! I made the mistake of buying these awful things for my mountain bike. They were good for a couple of months BUT in the end they puncture anyway (it only self repairs small holes). When I came to fix the puncture, I was then presented with a mess of green, sticky goo which had leaked through the hole into the tyre. This not only looked embarrassing but made it difficult to dry the puncture and stick the patch back on.

Now, I just carry a spare innertube from my LBS (or 2 if going on a long-distance ride). I just replace it and check the rims/tyre each time I get a puncture.

balthazar

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Here you go sir. http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/uan/3863
Ta. But, that's a totally diffferent thing. That's removing stuff which has become embedded. I'm talking about removing it before it gets chance to dig its way in.

A little more on the subject:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/wiping.html

dazzawazza

For a road bike get Krylion Carbons.
I'm nearing 3K miles on mine without a puncture. That includes commuting London roads during winter.
I also stay out of the gutter as much as possible, and if I accidentally ride through glass I quickly wipe the tyres with a paper kitchen towel and inspect.
On my MTB commuter I have 1" All Condition Pros, which have also been very good, fast too.