For context I’ve been commuting on my bike to university for the last 2 months. I’ve completely destroyed an entire tire and inner tube once, and then again recently punctured an inner tube.
Any advice for keeping air in my tires in a dirty urban environment?
Location, Downtown San Jose.
by Tchernoi
16 Comments
Avoid riding in the gutter.
Conti Gatorskins or Specialized Armadillos and self-sealing tubes. It won’t be the smoothest ride. If you can’t find self-sealing tubes get some with removable cores and squeeze some sealant inside. You could also try TPU tubes, which are more puncture resistant but far more expensive to replace especially for a student
Fatter tires than that, and gatorskins or equally tough tires.
[Tannus inserts](http://tannusamerica.com) helped me a lot with that – doing gravel on very technical trails I used to get flats every two days, and the situation got **way** better now. But they are extremely tricky to install on tires below 40C, and I don’t even know whether you could use them on the ones you have.
Get some gatorskins and make sure they are properly inflated.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires.
gatorskins, inserts, or tyre liners.
tried all 3, ended up just using liners. At the end of the day, if something is big enough to puncure through the rubber, it’ll fuck the tube anyway.
Ride tubeless, trust me. I haven’t had a flat in over a year (used to get 1-3 a month riding in NYC) riding S-Works t2/t5 (they’re not even heavy, reinforced commuter tires)
Fatter tires.
But at the very least, be very very religious about inflating your tires. For inner tube tires, I generally run my tires at the high end of the pressure range and check it at least once a week. A track pump with a good gauge will pay for itself in less flats. I’ve noticed a lot of people get pinch flats from under-inflated tires.
I like riding tubes with sealant on my beach and road bikes. It’s not as light but I find the tube helps the tubeless sealant form a better skin patch with a bigger puncture. It’s a whole lot cleaner to install too.
I use tire liners and I absolutely watch what I’m traveling over too. Haven’t had a puncture in 6 years
Thorn-proof tubes
Use an old tube as a tire liner
Helps to pick the glass shards out of the rubber with pushpin and a beer after a hose down Fridays. Source 20yr commuter in Seattle. Oh and know how to boot a tire with a dollar bill. Gatorskins yep. Tube liners, more rotational weight makes you stronger. I’m old and dk about tubeless.
Continuous bunny-hops cuts down on the amount of time your tires are in contact with the pavement, thus lowering the frequency of punctures. Continuous wheelies also halve the punctures you may receive.
Switch to liquid tire sealant. Ditch the inner tubes.
Free yourself from the shackles of minor slow leaking punctures!