in CamRock (Moderator: TheMayor1)

So it seems my bike will not go around camrock without getting flat tires!  I made it there three times with it and already got a flat!

I'm gonna go broke on tubes this summer!  I don't know what it is about that trail and me getting flats!

hmmmm.  there are so many ways to go with this..... :

buy some patches or tubeless

Yeah. Leaving yourself pretty open on this one Tim. So I gotta take a shot.

I find I get less flats when I actually keep my bike on the trail. Some of us can do that, some apparently not so much......

was this from tuesday?

I would say maybe you pinch flatted it on your stellar wipeout when we were there tuesday evening, but methinks you run your tire pressures way too high for that to be the case.


did you find the thorn or whatever caused the flat? 'cuz if not, i would take a serious look at the rim, spokes, etc. for pointy bits.

Sooner or later a realization will occur that sticks, twigs, rocks, roots, etc just aren't as smooth as manicured concrete.

Sometimes flats have more to do with the finesse of the rider that whatever makes contact with the tire and tube.  Of course, that does not apply to thorns and the like.  I haven't ridden on a trail with you in a while, so I'm not stating finesse is the case here.  Just something to think about.

D

It wasn't a pinch I was riding that night at 50psi.  It was a teeny tiny pinhole on the tire side that actually went pretty soft before the ride, I pumped it up while getting the bike ready and the next day it was flat again, I actually think it happened the last time I was out there. 

So I go and get a tube and I put it in, I'm pumping it up and the bead of the tire pops off the wheel and the tube is sticking out but most of the way pumped up, I didn't even have a chance to get the pump off of it and it exploded.  I put the wheel on and hung that bike on the wall for now! 

So then today I actually did pinch flat for the first time in a while, I let a bunch of air out cause pleasantview was kinda slippery, then cased a good drop at quarry park and landed on a rock and pop.  Got that one fixed no prob. 

I don't think there is an answer here, I think I am just cursed when it comes to camrock and tires, every time it seems I get flat after!

I'm not going tubeless cause that just seems like way more of a pain in the ass and the way I ride I don't think it will work well for me. 

I think I ride pretty smooth, I do jam on it pretty hard though.

Actually now thinking about it more.  I really push down hard on the bike cause I pump hard every little bump in the open prarie sections and everything that's kind of downhill.  In the prarie open parts i'm like jumping or unweighting we'll call it just to mash down even the smallest backside of a bump or divot. 

Chuck,  is there lots of nasty stuff off of the dirt cause I do run off the trail quite a bit actually?

Chuck,  is there lots of nasty stuff off of the dirt cause I do run off the trail quite a bit actually?

Actually yes Tim there is. CamRock is notorious for our blackberry bushes. We fight to keep them back as summer approaches or your arms will get shredded on rides.
So there are lots of old and dead black raspberry bush vines that have been trimmed with lots of thorns on them that will be lying all over the corridor. Off the tread, but in the corridor. 

off the trail

That could explain a lot of flats. I tend to lolly gag when I ride so off trail excursions are rare as are flats for me.

What I said yesterday - gather and use data.

Remember or mark tube and tire relationship so you can see exactly where the flat happened. It will help you find out if you're pinching, have a spoke doing it, if it's the tread. If it's the tread and you suspect thorns know they can hide. I've had repeat flats and finally found when I worked the tread of the tire the thorn would poke through.

Put your tubes in with care. Use talc powder. Inflate, let some air out, make sure everything is seated well.

Pay attention to tire pressure.

Those Michelin tires I gave you are high traction XC or "AM" tires - not DH/FR tires even though they have same tread pattern.

I'm pretty sure it's from going of course a lot.  That sounds like it to me.  I ride like half out of control on anything that is't inclined up and I use all the space provided no matter if it's brown or green.  I guess I got to stop doing that.  Probably won't happen!

Have got three more since, last update here.  Even got one on the fixie road bike now just while riding through town!

Man I am going to start buying tubes in bulk I think!

Man I am going to start buying tubes in bulk I think!

Why buy tubes? Less than $0.25 per flat:
http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Tire-Repair-Patch-Small/dp/B000NV79L4