A few tips about tires and flats

I've been putting in more miles on the bike lately and, despite having great, grippy tires I've had 2 flats in the last two training sessions.  Each time the flat was due to going over a `goat head.' 

I ride the Bacchetta Ti Aero most of the time and it has 650 wheels and tires.  I use bombproof Velocity wheels because they've been extremely strong and reliable. 

When I ride the Bacchetta Carbon Aero (CA2) I have 700 wheels and tires.  The wheels are nothing really special but they're also strong and reliable. 

On both wheels I run Continental Gatorskins (650's and 700's).  I'd be happy with Conti 4000's too.  But ... I have what I have at this point.  (I also have some Schwalbe Durano Plus 700's and am comfortable with them). 

Some of my tires are `foldable' and some are wire bead.  For some reason it is very hard to mount both kinds of tires on the 650 wheels.  It isn't as hard to mount the tires on the 700's, but it is still quite a struggle. 

Getting a flat on the open road in the high desert or mountain grades (or anywhere else, for that matter) is a pain.  And having to struggle with getting the tire back on the wheel rim is even worse.  But I've made it easier with a simple fix.

I carry a small plastic vial of powdered chalk (you can get it in a hardware store).  When I'm down to the last few inches of mounting the tire I spread some powdered chalk on that section.  This substantially lubricates the interface between the rubber and the metal.  I  mean `SUBSTANTIALLY.'  I don't struggle anymore.  The first effort is usually the last effort. 

Another things I've begun doing (again) is putting tire liners between the tube and the tire.  I use to do this all the time when I rode in the city (Chicago - a lot of small pieces of metal easily penetrated any tire). 

Even though the tires I currently use are excellent they are still no match for mother nature's `goat head.'  They are sharp enough and just long enough to work themselves through the tire thickness (23's) that I use. 

Adding another layer of firm plastic between the tire and the tube seems to defeat the goat head. 

I've heard from others that they've had problems with the tire liners, that the `ends' of the liner are sharp enough to pinch the tube into flatting.  I've never experienced that problem but I've taken steps to minimize that from happening. 

First, I cut the edges of the tire liner to round it.  Then I take a metal file and `smooth' the edges.  Finally I carefully measure the tire liner so that it doesn't overlap and doesn't leave a big gap between the edges when in the tire.  This last step also helps reduce or eliminate a small `thumping' feeling I may get when descending on smooth road.