Spent the day fixing bikes at the grammar school down the street, part of the principal's drive to get kids up and moving. She sent home flyers saying that a couple of "experienced local cyclists" would do minor repairs, and if people brought their bikes in, we'd fix as many as we had time for.
Saw the normal stuff, mostly flat tires and terminal lack of maintenance, but I was shocked, SHOCKED at the number of people who had bikes, including some pretty nice ones, they hadn't ridden for months because "I got a flat tire last year." .
We must have fixed 50 or 60 flats, and half of them were for adults, who had no idea what to do about them. I told people they should carry at least a patch kit and pump, and they laughed it off. Hey, they've HAD their flat--what are the chances they'll ever get another?.
Newbies, if you ride, you WILL have flats. I expect at least one a week, and I've had as many as nine in a day (mountain bike in the desert; lots of thorns). If you don't learn to fix them in your garage, you'll wind up taking 40 minutes to do it by the side of the road or calling for help. There's hardly a greater disgrace for a cyclist than phoning for a ride home because you don't know how to fix a flat tire.

I got a flat the other day. It just happened to be the same day I was bringing the bike into my LBS for it's first month checkup after purchase. I didn't know how to fix flats before, but I was sure to ask the LBS to show me. Now I have an extra tube in my saddle bag and a small pump too. I didn't even know I had the flat so I can only imagine what it'd be like if I was out riding on my own. I'm glad I know how to do it now.

Cory, are you serious about a flat per week? By the way it`s written, it doesn`t sound like a joke, but... Sheesh! That sound like a lot. I`m thankfull I`m skinny, if that`s why I get so few.

Cory, are you serious about a flat per week? By the way it`s written, it doesn`t sound like a joke, but... Sheesh! That sound like a lot. I`m thankfull I`m skinny, if that`s why I get so few.

No kidding--back when I used to keep a pathologically complete riding log (tire pressures, what I had for breakfast, traffic, how many lights I missed), I recorded everything I did to the bike, right down to lubing the chain (I don't KNOW why, and I don't do it anymore, but I did for awhile). That summer I averaged a flat every 30.2 miles, including six on my 24-mile RT commute one morning (ran over a thorny branch and didn't get all the little sharp pieces out of the tire).
Three reasons, I think:
There are tons of thorns around here, and construction going on everywhere. The trucks and other traffic coming from the new subdivisions in the hills bring all kinds of debris onto the roads. Even cars have problems with nails and screws that fall off trucks, but it's the thorns that do bikes in.
For awhile it was a fad for high school kids to drive around drinking beer on Friday night and throw the bottles out the windows to get rid of the evidence. That left glass all over--riding east into Reno on Saturday mornings, the road sometimes glittered like it was paved with glass shards. You couldn't possibly miss them all.
And I was using the wrong tires, lightweight skinnies without Kevlar belts. I've switched tires and the city is sweeping the streets more often, partly because of cyclists' complaints, but I still get about a flat a week.

Will using a little lower tire pressure help prevent flats? I usually pump mine to the max. Also, will the ride be harsher with higher pressure? Thanks fgor the help!

Will using a little lower tire pressure help prevent flats? I usually pump mine to the max. Also, will the ride be harsher with higher pressure? Thanks fgor the help!

Pumping tires to the max generally is a formula for poor traction, rapid tire wear, discomfort, and possibly more resistance to forward motion. The effect on flats is harder to determine, since the source of the flat is different from person to person. The general reccomendation is to keep your tires around 100 psi. If you get pinch flats at that pressure, you probably need bigger tires.

Flats can be fixed?

Im with Kerry on this one. I even read some on road rolling resistance tests by the click and clack of the bicycling world with riders of different weights on the same bikes at different tire pressures and 95-105 was spot on for the ideal pressure. Therefore I scoff at those that go to the max and then some ... with the thought that higher=faster. Not so. Since following this .... I have been very lucky (as to not jinx myself).

Where you live also has a lot to do with it... due to environmental conditions...and if you ride a lot in wet conditions will have a LOT to do with it as well.

Question is, how many times can you patch a tube and it still be good. I saw one dude pull out a tube that... I kid you not, had THREE patches on it. Unbelievable. I get mine on the cheap with my team deal, and honestly Im lucky if I patch it once and use it on my other bike... but holy cow. Thats extreme.

Question is, how many times can you patch a tube and it still be good. I saw one dude pull out a tube that... I kid you not, had THREE patches on it. Unbelievable. I get mine on the cheap with my team deal, and honestly Im lucky if I patch it once and use it on my other bike... but holy cow. Thats extreme.

Why? The patches, done right, are stronger than the original rubber. Eventually it may get a little lumpy and heavy, but three patches is no big deal. For some riders, the rule is you don't toss it until the patches start to overlap one another :-)

No reason not to patch an otherwise good tube, IMO. It's not like it actually takes any time, either, if you save up a couple of them and do it while you're watching something dumb on TV (do it during the commercials while you're watching Milano-Sanremo on Versus)

Cory, are you serious about a flat per week? By the way it`s written, it doesn`t sound like a joke, but... Sheesh! That sound like a lot. I`m thankfull I`m skinny, if that`s why I get so few.

I was averaging two flats per week in the summer until I switched to Armadillo Elites. (I take it you don't live in a place with puncturevine, a.k.a. Goats Heads). This winter I ended up with two flats, both due to glass, one was an 'unstoppable' shard, part of the bottom of a beer bottle that went through an Armadillo. The other was on a new bike still Armadilloless, hit a glass field at about 25 MPH and got a cool one (if any flat can be cool)- a PSSSSSS! so loud it drowned out the wind noise. It was an incredible WTF moment- wait, that cartoon sound effect really is a tire going down.

I normally carry two tubes, a patch kit, and I've recently replaced my inflator with a pump.

Nah, not too awful many thorns but we have our share. I flat maybe once a month. Luck might be a big part of it but I have relatively beefy tires and don`t weigh much. I also put in less miles than most dyed in the wool roadies- around 25 miles per week in the Winter, 50 in the Summer.

Question is, how many times can you patch a tube and it still be good. I saw one dude pull out a tube that... I kid you not, had THREE patches on it. Unbelievable. I get mine on the cheap with my team deal, and honestly Im lucky if I patch it once and use it on my other bike... but holy cow. Thats extreme.

I hope you're joking. I would be surprised if, between my wife's bike and my bike, our tubes weren't carrying more than 10 patches on our four tubes. It wouldn't surprise me if there were more than 15. I patch tubes when they flat, and throw them out when they can't be patched. 6 patches per tube is not unusual. I never understand this "I don't trust patches" stuff.

I hope you're joking. I would be surprised if, between my wife's bike and my bike, our tubes weren't carrying more than 10 patches on our four tubes. It wouldn't surprise me if there were more than 15. I patch tubes when they flat, and throw them out when they can't be patched. 6 patches per tube is not unusual. I never understand this "I don't trust patches" stuff.

Same here...I often have multiple patches on a tube, and I can remember only two patch failures in more than 30 years of riding. What usually makes me throw them away is when the valve rips off from all that re-inflating...
A friend of mine used to say he "didn't have time" to patch. In those days I had to work 20 minutes to earn enough to buy a new tube--I figured it took less time to put on a patch.

I ride around 200 miles per week and slightly more during the summer months. In the past four years of road cycling, I've only had one flat tire. I run Campy Zonda wheels with Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX wheels at 110 psi. All of my riding is done on nice roads in northern Indiana and southern Michigan.