Preventing flats

Well tonight I got my first flat with my new bike... worst possible place
and time too (don't we just love Murphy?

Anyhow, tomorrow I will have to go to the bike shop, I plan on installing a
kevlar tire to reduce the risk.

I also heard of a product that can be installed inside the tire to prevent
flats... anyone ever used it? Is it
worth it?

yes, i have some kind of green strip thingys that go between the tube &
tire. havent had a flat since i installed them but wonder there is any
effect on efficiency.


"Daniel Crispin" wrote in message
...
Well tonight I got my first flat with my new bike... worst possible place
and time too (don't we just love Murphy?

Anyhow, tomorrow I will have to go to the bike shop, I plan on installing
a
kevlar tire to reduce the risk.

I also heard of a product that can be installed inside the tire to prevent
flats... anyone ever used it? Is it
worth it?

"dreaded" wrote in :
yes, i have some kind of green strip thingys that go between the tube &
tire. havent had a flat since i installed them but wonder there is any
effect on efficiency.

Doesn't work as well as a kevlar belted tire. Also, some people report that
the inserts flats themselves through friction or rough edges.

"Daniel Crispin" wrote in message
...
Well tonight I got my first flat with my new bike... worst possible place
and time too (don't we just love Murphy?

Do you know for certain what caused the flat?

Anyhow, tomorrow I will have to go to the bike shop, I plan on installing
a
kevlar tire to reduce the risk.

Kevlar-belted tires can help against some kinds of punctures. Not much use
against pinch-flats or flats caused by rim problems or rim tape issues.

Be sure you know what actually caused your flat before you panic.

I also heard of a product that can be installed inside the tire to prevent
flats... anyone ever used it? Is it
worth it?

Mr Tuffy and similar strips add a layer of kevlar or similar material, for
additional protection from punctures. On a bike with wide tires and heavy
wheels you probably won't notice their presence. On a bike built for speed
they will slow you down a bit.

RichC

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 22:19:07 -0400, Daniel Crispin wrote:

Well tonight I got my first flat with my new bike... worst possible place
and time too (don't we just love Murphy?

Anyhow, tomorrow I will have to go to the bike shop, I plan on installing a
kevlar tire to reduce the risk.

I also heard of a product that can be installed inside the tire to prevent
flats... anyone ever used it? Is it
worth it?

One other procedure that might be useful: Check your tires periodically
for little bits of embedded glass or metal that haven't yet worked their
way in deep enough to puncture the tube. Often, little shards will stick
in the surface layer of the tire, then gradually be forced in deeper and
deeper as you ride. When they eventually penetrate the tube, pffffft...

If you do a careful inspection now and then (especially if you ride
through much broken glass, or in other industrial-wasteland-type
environments), you will probably find a couple of small, sharp objects
embedded in your tires, which you can then remove (carefully, of course,
lest you inflict a puncture yourself), possibly averting a flat before it
occurs. An ounce of prevention...

Now that I mention it, I'd better go and check my tires...

AMG

Daniel Crispin wrote:
Well tonight I got my first flat with my new bike... worst possible place
and time too (don't we just love Murphy?

Anyhow, tomorrow I will have to go to the bike shop, I plan on installing a
kevlar tire to reduce the risk.

I also heard of a product that can be installed inside the tire to prevent
flats... anyone ever used it? Is it
worth it?

We talked about this on a club ride yesterday.

I tried kevlar-belted tires for a year or more. I noticed the increased
rolling resistance more than I noticed a reduction in flats. The guy on
the ride who was using them (they came on his brand new touring bike)
seemed to agree. And Mr. Tuffy tire liners got the same review.
Several people had tried them, then given them up.

I don't doubt these things can help somewhat, but they're certainly not
cures. Far more effective is to watch the road surface and avoid the
glass and trash. In particular, stay in the area that the car's right
tires sweep clean, at least as much as you possibly can.

--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 02:48:03 +0000, Ken wrote:


"dreaded" wrote in
:
yes, i have some kind of green strip thingys that go between the tube &
tire. havent had a flat since i installed them but wonder there is any
effect on efficiency.

Doesn't work as well as a kevlar belted tire. Also, some people report
that the inserts flats themselves through friction or rough edges.

They can indeed have an effect on handling and efficiency since the tire
will effectively be stiffened slightly, losing suppleness. I just think
they feel "weird" but that's pretty subjective. Worth a shot I guess, I've
heard folks rave about them, so they can't be totally dismissed either.

A Kevlar belted tire's a good bet. They aren't foolproof, if you get a
piece of glass stuck in the tread, it will work it's way in slowly, so
it's worth having a quick gander at your tires after every ride.

Do carry a patch kit and inflation device/pump and learn to use
it--consider flats part of the challenge of cycling, just like a pit stop
for auto racers--it's par for the course. I can personally get back on the
road in 5 minutes or so with my road bike. I don't even remove the wheel,
just open the tire on one side, slip out the tube, patch, inflate and
ride. Never had a patch fail in over twenty years of riding either.

Proper inflation is crucial, and think about tire style. Are you on a
super racy bike, or a mtb, or hybrid? It might be worth looking for a
little heavier rubber in addition to the kevlar. I run 70x25s while most
other folks around here use 21s and 23s on their sport bikes--I find just
that added bit of width helps enormously. If I had a cyclocross bike or
touring ride that could handle the width, I'd probably go for some 32mm
wide touring tires since I ride solo and worry more about long distance
comfort.

In my experience, if you get more than one flat per thousand miles on a
regular basis, there's something amiss. Between my city and sport bikes, I
average a flat every 1000 -2000 miles, the sportier ride getting perhaps
50% more flats due to the thinner rubber.

As always, YMMV.

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 22:48:33 -0400, Rich Clark wrote:

Kevlar-belted tires can help against some kinds of punctures. Not much use
against pinch-flats or flats caused by rim problems or rim tape issues.

Be sure you know what actually caused your flat before you panic.

well said--check your rims for rough spots on the inside, with particular
attention to the valve hole. sometimes you have to smooth it with a round
file--though I'm a lazy ******* and often "soften" the edges with
electrical tape.

Daniel Crispin wrote:
Well tonight I got my first flat with my new bike... worst possible
place and time too (don't we just love Murphy?

Anyhow, tomorrow I will have to go to the bike shop, I plan on
installing a kevlar tire to reduce the risk.

I also heard of a product that can be installed inside the tire to
prevent flats... anyone ever used it? Is it
worth it?

Carry one or two spare tubes and a pump. Learn to replace a tube in less
than ten minutes and then you wont bother worrying about flats anymore.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

Ken wrote:

"dreaded" wrote in :

yes, i have some kind of green strip thingys that go between the tube &
tire. havent had a flat since i installed them but wonder there is any
effect on efficiency.

I concur. I have some Mr. Tuffys I've used for over ten years and never
had a flat with them. They increase rolling resistence a little - it's
barely noticeable.


Doesn't work as well as a kevlar belted tire. Also, some people report that
the inserts flats themselves through friction or rough edges.

I disagree. I think the quality of the tire is a more important factor.
My on-sale kevlars a full of holes and I got plenty of flats. I
re-instlled the Mr. Tuffys and haven't had a flat since.

Installation is important. A folded Mr. Tuffy WILL abrade your tube and
give you flats. Of course, the little bump every tire revolution will
annoy you first.