No Punctures - What's Wrong?

[TonyHetherington]

sometimes, no matter how good or bad the tyre, you are going to get a puncture;

(comically, this held for the 0.5 mile home that was left. The moment I took it out; pssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttt flat)

[paulmon]

I had my first in 18 months today a few miles from home. The new tube only had a 48mm valve which only just made it through the rim. Fortunately I had a valve extender but that disintegrated under the pressure from the CO2. Luckily there was enough in the tyre to get me home.

[DoctorX]

On this subject, does anyone rate this Slime stuff you squirt in your tubes?

[Smartboy]

Thanks all.

Reckon I'll keep the boggo-standard tyres for now. Enjoy the puncture resistance of the heavy lumps in my inner-city (Bristol) commute and then upgrade when they are worn.

Spare tube and patches to be carried at all times (and a set of tyre levers as a further precaution as I've not tried removing a tyre with my girly thumbs on the road bike yet) during the ride I've signed up for, oh, and a pump on a water-bottle bracket (breaking a rule...so I won't even mention my MTB SPD's I've fitted, or talk about my peaked helmet or baggy shorts!).

[BeirutTaxi]

DoctorX said:

On this subject, does anyone rate this Slime stuff you squirt in your tubes?

Nope, I've had problems with it blocking the valves. Spend the money on a better set of tyres instead (such as Continental Gatorskins)

[funinhounslow]

When I was a kid I thought we'd all be getting about on hoverboards or flying cars in the 21st century. Rather depressing that we still haven't come up with a puncture proof tyre...

[Dave200]

I've averaged 50-60 commuting miles per week through Zone 1/2 in London with the same pair of Gatorskins on my fixie for the past 18mths without even the merest hint of a puncture.

Sure, they may not be the 'fastest' tyres in the world (as my lycra/carbon friends will often point out).
But when I see people repairing punctures on their commute in the rain, I tend not to worry about outright speed too much.

(Touching wood)

[MadDad]

6,126 miles last year, 1 x road puncture thanks to flint in the Chilterns and 1 x MTB puncture thanks to a HUGE thorn in Swinley Forest.....

Top tip for not getting punctures on a road bike, run at a decent pressure (I usually run at 120-140psi depending on tyres/rims), and stay out of the gutter!

[fromage]

120-140PSI is way to high to run on the road in the UK, it will just ride awful and skip around all over the place and actually be slowly than if you reduced the pressure a little. I thought I ran high pressure at 110-115PSI as most people I ride and race with use between 95-110

[MadDad]

I think it depends on the tyres and bike, I find Pro3's are much better around 110psi but the Tri-Comp's run extremely well in the summer months at 140, whereas the Open Corsa's are perfect at 120 - for wet and slippery weather then I tend to run at about 110 regardless.

As for the back wheel jumping all over the place it depends on the bike, my carbon and Ti bikes are quite compliant (but do step out now and again on really bad surfaces) but my Alu bike skips about a bit regardless of the surface or PSI.

As for ride comfort I have never really thought about it, the roads around Berks/Surrey/Hants are so fecked that a few PSI won't really make too much difference, a few million pounds invested in new road surfaces then I might notice the difference!

[Gizmoish]

...even with CX wheels.

[MadDad]

Given the state of the roads we will all be fitting CX wheels soon, or better still 29-ers!

[Gizmoish]

Gizmoish said:

The fairy visited me after 400 miles, and not since.

Touch wood.

Well, wasn't that just completely predictable. After yesterday's ride it was fine when I got home, but this morning...

[magpie215]

Gizmoish said:

Well, wasn't that just completely predictable. After yesterday's ride it was fine when I got home, but this morning...

Rule #60