Is it riding into a head-wind on the last stretch of your ride?
That’s mine. I hear Danny Glover from Die Hard Lethal Weapon in my head every time…
EDIT: Correct movie referenced
Is it riding into a head-wind on the last stretch of your ride?
That’s mine. I hear Danny Glover from Die Hard Lethal Weapon in my head every time…
EDIT: Correct movie referenced
This always interests me.
Between three bikes, two e-scooters, and probably 20,000km of riding (in four years) on everything from isolated trails to shoulders littered with every type of debris you can imagine, I’ve only had two flats:
The first was on my escooter, and it happened right in front of my home (puncture). This was when the tire was due to be replaced anyway, so there may simply not been much rubber left.
The second (a bike) was likely caused by a poor inner tube installation when the tires were replaced.
On my bikes, I’ve currently got three very different types of tires:
I check my tires for fragments, cuts, etc. They all look clean. Like, nothing but regular wear.
The Ultra Sport tires in particular have seen 2000km in three months, and they are pristine.
Is it just luck? I don’t know, but it ways interests me when someone says they get multiple flats on a regular basis.
In my case the problem is that part of my local trail butts up against a golf course, and when they mow they just blow all the clippings onto the cycling track. We have a lot of goat head stickers here so you end up riding through grass with these little landmines in them.
All the flats have been from little thorns from the stickers.
Do you have the option or desire to use Schwalbe marathon plus tires? They should offer excellent puncture protection, but they are heavy.
Tubeless won’t actually prevent punctures, so depending on your needs and ride style, I’d consider better tires.
The tire rolling resistance site has tests that compare puncture resistance (and other specs) among just about every major tire out there, so that could be a starting point.