BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Green Tyres makes some, and bell makes a line called 'no-mor flats'. Adds a little weight.

Hutchinson makes some now too.

http://urbanvelo.org/hutchinson-serenity-flat-proof-tire-system/

I'd recommend purchasing good flat resistant tires instead though. Solid tires ride like crap - that's why people like Mr Dunlop invented pneumatic tires 100+ years ago and no one has looked back since. I've had great success in the past couple of years with Panaracer Ribmos, Vittoria Randonneurs, Duro tires, Freedom Thickslicks etc... as long as they have the flat protection doodad in them. As in, I've gone through entire tires down to the threads without a flat, and ran a set of Ribmos for over a year without a single flat.

Kevlar

You'd think this would be standard equipment or at least standard aftermarket. How much is a Kevlar or whatever flat protection doodad going to set me back? What is it worth to my peace of mind when I roll through someone's former beer bottle at 20 mph?

Slightly O/T: Maybe this is why I so much like the concept of a growler. A large, reusable container to consume the contents of in the privacy of one's home. Litter does not occur.

mmm... I think that a lot of the population would consider the growler to just be a supersized beer. And growler pieces are just bigger shards. But I woke up on the wrong side of bed, literally, and so am in a "mood".

Thank you for reminding me to work on acquiring parts for studded winter tires BEFORE the snow storms.

While I had to patch (2) flats last week (hadn't done that in a long time though), having your tires properly inflated goes a loooong way into not having flats.

My bike has just Novara inner tubes, and the only flats I've gotten with them have been due to me running over sharp metal shrapnel. For them I just patched the inner tube-hole and that was it.... rolling again.

Just saying!

@Backlover.... changing a tire is really not that hard and rather a useful thing. Front tires are super easy, while back tires do get more tricky-dirty, but other than that ok too.

You can just get the Topeak Deluxe kit from REI for $28 and it has everything you need to change a tire: pump, patch kit, tools, levers. The pump is rather potent and ergonomically handy.

http://www.rei.com/product/695177

thanks for all the ideas!

solid tubes seemed a little cavemanish

I got a set of the Vittoria Randonneurs at Trek, they were maybe $25 or so each.

I keep a pair of nitrile (like latex) gloves in a ziplock bag with my spare tube. The bag is because the tube smells like rubber, and I can't stand having all my clothing I stuff in my pannier smelling like rubber. The gloves are if I'm biking somewhere decent, and don't want to show up with greasy/black hands, I can just use the gloves when changing the tube. Sometimes the gloves get ripped when you are mounting the tire, but even so, your hands get far less dirty than without them.

I would really recommend going for a pump with a hose (such as the Topeak Morph series) over the pump that comes in the Deluxe kit. These pumps let you brace the pump against the ground like a floor pump, saving both:

-your tubes (with the traditional portable pumps, you end up flexing the valve back and forth)

and

-your energy (the hose-pump takes half the effort of an equivalent stroke on the traditional pump, because you're only applying force to the handle)

I'll second that recommendation. I don't have the Topeak Morph but I wish I did.