So many punctures

Twelly

I have 3 bikes. 2 MTB's and a road bike. In the last 3 years I have had 0 punctures, probably due to decent tyres and checking my pressures regularly. Bought the road bike in February and have done over 600 miles puncture-free.

In the last month I have had:
A slow puncture on my full sus MTB
A flat on my hardtail
5 flats (all rear wheel) on my road bike

Literally every time I ride a bike at the moment I get a flat tyre and I'm starting to get seriously pissed off.

The MTB's I can put down to bad luck as the full sus was well overdue a flat and the hardtail had a nice shard of glass in the sidewall but I want to throw my Allez in a ditch at the moment.

I have used different makes of tube, checked the tyre for foreign objects thoroughly, changed the rim tape for wider, thicker stuff on the road bike, even took it to LBS and asked what they thought (bit embarrassing going to a bike shop with a puncture!) All they did was change the rim tape again, check the tyre and put a new tube in. 2 days later, another flat tyre.

The only thing I have left to do is change the tyres but they still have loads of life left and it seems silly to bin them.

Am I missing something or am I just seriously unlucky...

EDIT: I check my tyre pressures every couple of days - 110psi on the Allez and 40psi on the MTB's

sturmey

If there's defo no foreign bodies buried in your Allez rear(can be hard to see a small sliver of metal, or wire) then i would cite three possible causes:
1) Tyres that are not very good to start with, ie worn or not particularly puncture proof
2)Riding a lot of city streets
3)riding on wet roads as this increases your chances of a flat.

I have had two punctures in two days when commuting a few times. I usually bite the bullet and chuck the tyre when this happens.

estampida

3 years good record

your bike tubes are at least 3 years old change them

the rubber will degrade, the valve / tube interface will give up the ghost

and tyres will be worn out??

that combined with bad luck and hey presto....

Twelly

estampida wrote:

3 years good record

your bike tubes are at least 3 years old change them

the rubber will degrade, the valve / tube interface will give up the ghost

and tyres will be worn out??

that combined with bad luck and hey presto....

I meant 3 years for me without punctures, not the bikes. The full sus is the only one to go that long with the same tubes, which have now both been replaced.

The hardtail is a month old so has brand new tyres/tubes but as I said, big shard of glass doesn't help so I'm putting that to bad luck.

The Allez was bought in February and has done 600 ish miles. Tyre looks in good nick still.

The Allez is the only one puzzling me, it is just coincidence that the other two went around the same time.

desweller

estampida wrote:

3 years good record

your bike tubes are at least 3 years old change them

the rubber will degrade, the valve / tube interface will give up the ghost

and tyres will be worn out??

that combined with bad luck and hey presto....

After 3 years? Sorry but that's a load of nonsense. I've run tubes for 15-20 years, no problem. Replacing the tubes is futile.

Hoopdriver

DesWeller wrote:

estampida wrote:

3 years good record

your bike tubes are at least 3 years old change them

the rubber will degrade, the valve / tube interface will give up the ghost

and tyres will be worn out??

that combined with bad luck and hey presto....

After 3 years? Sorry but that's a load of nonsense. I've run tubes for 15-20 years, no problem. Replacing the tubes is futile.

I agree. I've some quite old tubes in my expedition bike - which runs on bombproof Schwalbe Marathon Plusses - and feel no need whatever to change for the sake of change

sungod

if you are getting excessive/repeat punctures...

has the tyre been cut through? i had a tyre where the inner surface was just a bit rough around a small cut, every 3-4 days i had a puncture, after the third time i twigged the cause was the rough bit abrading the tube

have you checked the position of the puncture wrt to tyre and rim? if the punctures are in the same position each time, you know where to look, check for tiny bits of wire buried in the tyre, you won't feel it, but under inflation pressure it can poke out when ridden and cause a puncture (i've had this happen too)

if they are not related to tyre/rim maybe it's just bad luck, wet roads do usually cause more punctures, and it's certainly been wet a lot when i've been out

SYLVIANRUNNING

My mate had the same problem. Brand new Scott fitted with Conti Ultras. Lost count of the amount of punctures he had in the first 500 miles, to the point where he dreaded riding the bike. Solution - got rid of the tyres, bought some Vittoria's not had a puncture since. Conclusion - set of duff tyres

Twelly

Come payday I will be swapping, which isn't a bad thing as I still have the stock spesh tyres on there which could be better. Was just hoping my excuse for upgrading would be worn out tread rather than me having to walk home 3 or 4 times....

Any recommendations? No experience with road tyres so advice appreciated. Think they are 23mm on there currently. Not fussed about comfort, would rather have speed and/or puncture protection (for obvious reasons...)

sturmey

If you want a puncture resistant tyre that rolls quite well you could go for :
1) Vittoria Rubino Pro (less than £20 each @ most places.
or
2)Michelin Krylion Carbon @ around £23 each

Used both of these andthey were good performers in all departments.

cycleclinic

Did the LBS find where the puncture is before they sold you new rim tape? chainging the rim tape is likely do nothing along with changing the tube. If someting is going the cut through the tyre it will puncture the tube.

I would also try different tyres. The moist cost effective puncture resistant tyre I have found are Conti Gator skins. It's what I ride on and since Christamss and 3000 miles I have had just one slow puncture on the back. Before that I was getting them every week with the cheaper ultra races.

It's not worth cheaping out on tyres.

yeachan153

TwellySmat wrote:

I still have the stock spesh tyres on

I punctured probably around 5 times in 500 miles on my Allez's stock Specialized tyres. Worth swapping them over definately

If not at least go through the tyre checking for embedded flint/glass working itself in; if that hasn't already been said

SaintMark

I've also had a run of punctures recently on two different bikes and so have a couple of work colleagues. IMHO it is quite likely down to the terrible weather. When it rains it washes all the sharp bits out onto the road/trails and if it's still wet when you go out, the water provides lubrication and that makes the sharps work into your tyre even more. All mine have been small shards of flint or glass and all have been either in the rain or when it had rained that day.

indysmith

+1 for changing the stock tyres off of the Allez. The ones it comes with attract punctures like a friggin magnet. I've never known a tyre so bad.

rolf_f

SaintMark wrote:

I've also had a run of punctures recently on two different bikes and so have a couple of work colleagues. IMHO it is quite likely down to the terrible weather. When it rains it washes all the sharp bits out onto the road/trails and if it's still wet when you go out, the water provides lubrication and that makes the sharps work into your tyre even more. All mine have been small shards of flint or glass and all have been either in the rain or when it had rained that day.

It's not down to the terrible weather - it's down to you not taking into account the consequences of the terrible weather. You're right about what is happening but if you maintain your tyres (ie remove the shards from your tyres on a regular basis) you probably wouldn't have had the punctures in the first place. The small shards do tend to take time to work through the reinforced belt.

Twelly

Yeah thanks everyone, tyres are being swapped on pay day.