incidence of punctures and experience of riding

teticio

i'm really tempting fate by posting this but i was wondering whether anyone else had had the same experience as me.

when i first started commuting i was getting an average of 3-4 punctures a week. i haven't done anything specific to change this, but its months (TOUCH WOOD etc) since i last got a puncture. same thing goes for my road bike. first time i went out on it, i got three punctures. really only the second one counts as the first one was because i slipped on my cleats and fell over with the bike before i even got on it and the third one was because i couldn't inflate the tyre enough. but the second time i found a little sharp object embedded in the tyre. since then i haven't had a puncture with the road bike.

is it because, with experience, you get more confident and are more able to watch the road and maneouvre around dangerous looking spots, or is it that your riding style gets better? or is it just a coincidence and that i am the only one this happens to?

asprilla

Swings and roundabouts.

Sometimes I get nothing for weeks and yesterday I had two, and another this morning. Have got sick and put Duranos on the commuter; it's like cycling though treacle (or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

iPete

With experience has come the ability to choose better tyres! Not to mentioned learn where all the pot holes are...

The Puncture Fairy

teticio wrote:

i'm really tempting fate by posting this but i was wondering whether anyone else had had the same experience as me.

when i first started commuting i was getting an average of 3-4 punctures a week. i haven't done anything specific to change this, but its months (TOUCH WOOD etc) since i last got a puncture. same thing goes for my road bike. first time i went out on it, i got three punctures. really only the second one counts as the first one was because i slipped on my cleats and fell over with the bike before i even got on it and the third one was because i couldn't inflate the tyre enough. but the second time i found a little sharp object embedded in the tyre. since then i haven't had a puncture with the road bike.

is it because, with experience, you get more confident and are more able to watch the road and maneouvre around dangerous looking spots, or is it that your riding style gets better? or is it just a coincidence and that i am the only one this happens to?

adds teticio to list

gert_lush

The Puncture Fairy wrote:

teticio wrote:

i'm really tempting fate by posting this but i was wondering whether anyone else had had the same experience as me.

when i first started commuting i was getting an average of 3-4 punctures a week. i haven't done anything specific to change this, but its months (TOUCH WOOD etc) since i last got a puncture. same thing goes for my road bike. first time i went out on it, i got three punctures. really only the second one counts as the first one was because i slipped on my cleats and fell over with the bike before i even got on it and the third one was because i couldn't inflate the tyre enough. but the second time i found a little sharp object embedded in the tyre. since then i haven't had a puncture with the road bike.

is it because, with experience, you get more confident and are more able to watch the road and maneouvre around dangerous looking spots, or is it that your riding style gets better? or is it just a coincidence and that i am the only one this happens to?

adds teticio to list

aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh the fairy, burn her at a stake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

teticio

please sir / madam fairy, have mercy on me. i have a half ironman in a couple of weeks, please spare me from puncture misery... in return you can pierce my tyres twice daily for all i care...

Kieran_Burns

teticio wrote:

please sir / madam fairy, have mercy on me. i have a half ironman in a couple of weeks, please spare me from puncture misery... in return you can pierce my tyres twice daily for all i care...

He said the 'p' word!!!!ONEONEELEVEN!!!ONE

Aahhhhh. Hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends. Aaahh

DonDaddyD

I got better at fitting the tube less side wall pinch. Confidence meant that i didn't ride in the gutter and avoided the debris. Experience taught me what to look out for like newly laid cycle lanes.

Better tyres go a long way.

First I used some Kenda's then GP4000s, which I still maintain are arguably the best weekend/sportive ride tyres in the World. Now I commute on 4 seasons and swear by these for commuting! Not just for their p-protection but also because they're give about the same level of impossible grip in wet or dry conditions. Bit too slow and weighty feeling for a weekend/sportive tyre (or they would be the best tyre in the world, full stop).

So in conclusion.

GP4000s for the weekend and sportives. You sacrifice some p-protection for speed and a lighter feel.

4 seasons for commuting. You sacrifice speed and the lighter feel for added p-protection.

Both give you a reassuring amount of grip.

jonginge

Kieran_Burns wrote:

teticio wrote:

please sir / madam fairy, have mercy on me. i have a half ironman in a couple of weeks, please spare me from puncture misery... in return you can pierce my tyres twice daily for all i care...

He said the 'p' word!!!!ONEONEELEVEN!!!ONE

Aahhhhh. Hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends. Aaahh

You mean Macbeth?

cjcp

Asprilla wrote:

and put Duranos on the commuter; it's like cycling though treacle (or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

+1. They're good for training, so once I put my GP4000Ss on, I have no doubt that I'll do a great impression of the De Lorean in Back to the Future. This is the happy little bubble I live in anyway.

AndyManc

teticio wrote:

.

when i first started commuting i was getting an average of 3-4 punctures a week. i

I've not had that many in 5 yrs :shock: , do you work in a council recycle centre.

.

CiB

The roads are clearer now. At the back end of the winter there was so much debris that PF visits were commonplace. I haven't had any since late January if you exclude taking the road bike on a canal towpath, an act of blinding stupidity with hindsight.

My regular routes are now squeaky clean instead of being covered in sharp stones and bits of stick & thorns. That's the difference.

asprilla

cjcp wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

and put Duranos on the commuter; it's like cycling though treacle (or at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

+1. They're good for training, so once I put my GP4000Ss on, I have no doubt that I'll do a great impression of the De Lorean in Back to the Future. This is the happy little bubble I live in anyway.

OT: Having upped my gearing as well this week is certainly getting me out of the saddle a lot more. Hoping to bring the S1 out to play tomorrow, so I should cut though London like a hot knife though butter.....

desweller

Round me they happen in spates. Usually coincides with the farmers clipping their hedges back, although a few weeks back some helpful individual knocked the glass out of every bus shelter along the Bristol Road in Gloucester, resulting in me flatting both tyres (front on the way in, rear on the way back). How helpful.

I'm not sure how much of a difference you can make with tyres. I had Specialized Armadillos on my BSO a couple of years ago, and had a few punctures with those. They were nowhere near as good as I expected them to be, and in the wet the grip was catastrophically bad. The cheap and cheerful Chinese tyres that were supplied with my roadie were comparatively puncture-free until I'd done a few thousand miles on them, while the red Conti Ultra Sports I replaced them with were disastrous (although I now suspect they would have been much better if I'd gone for the black ones over the red ones). I currently run the same combination of tyres on my commuter and my roadie as DDD and am quite satisfied with them. I've never used the Schwalbe Marathons; although most users swear by them, the oft-reported difficulties with removal and refitting put me off.

asprilla

DesWeller wrote:

I've never used the Schwalbe Marathons; although most users swear by them, the oft-reported difficulties with removal and refitting put me off.

Have had them on my station pig for three years. They were a bitch to put on, but I've never had to take them off since.

Mikelyons

I'd agree that better tyres help a lot

but so does buying a decent pump and keeping the pressure up.
I find iIt's worth checking the pressures at least weekly .

if you also take a few minutes to check for embedded debris at the same time, all the better.

Mike

Jay dubbleU

Kieran_Burns wrote:

teticio wrote:

please sir / madam fairy, have mercy on me. i have a half ironman in a couple of weeks, please spare me from puncture misery... in return you can pierce my tyres twice daily for all i care...

He said the 'p' word!!!!ONEONEELEVEN!!!ONE

Aahhhhh. Hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends. Aaahh

Fingers in your ears, spin round three times and say ferrets - I haven't had a puncture since January 2009

freakybacon

Slime tubes, and tube defenders. Works for me.

Jay dubbleU

Jay dubbleU wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

teticio wrote:

please sir / madam fairy, have mercy on me. i have a half ironman in a couple of weeks, please spare me from puncture misery... in return you can pierce my tyres twice daily for all i care...

He said the 'p' word!!!!ONEONEELEVEN!!!ONE

Aahhhhh. Hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends. Aaahh

Fingers in your ears, spin round three times and say ferrets - I haven't had a puncture since January 2009

Oh yes - and possibly the Marathons may have something to do with it

dugliss

Gotta love the marathon plus although I had to change a tube last week after over inflating with my dodgy track pump and getting a blowout on a ride. Quite fiddly to get back on by the roadside with no levers but managed it eventually!!