2024 Black cat award (punctures)

[jasonc]

creating a 2024 thread
old total - 0
20240312 - opened my account this morning. damp roads. front tyre felt squishy. stopped and sure enough it is deflating. couldn't find anything in the tyre which frustrated me. replaced tube and on my way.

new total - 1

[elantra]

I’ll add one for the other day.
60 km leisurely morning ride, mostly quiet country roads with a variety of road surfaces.

Riding 23 mm clincher, approaching the end of the ride in the beachside suburb of Bogangar (yes, there is a place called that)
One of the more prestigious streets, nice gardens and super smooth hotmix street surface.

Maybe a bit distracted, not concentrating on what was in front of me.
Bingo, hit a rock, not a big rock, but big enough to pinch flat instantaneously.

No big drama, but I thought how ironic, as 20 minutes earlier I had successfully pounded over a 2 or 3 km segment of corrugated, stony gravel road.
Without a tyre pressure hiccup.
Say La Vie !

[jasonc]

20240312 - opened my account this morning. damp roads. front tyre felt squishy. stopped and sure enough it is deflating. couldn't find anything in the tyre which frustrated me. replaced tube and on my way.

old total - 1

20240313 - went around the corner and the rear felt weird. stopped and sure enough had a puncture. nothing found, again. changed tube and on my way

new total - 2

[familyguy]

Timely reminder.

Since Jan 1st:
1. Slow leak front enduro road, swapped 3 weeks ago
2. New bike had a slow leak front, swapped 2 weeks ago
3. Commuter front flatted out of the blue, reinflated, seems to be holding air just as it used to but I'm counting it on a technicality

[jasonc]

20240312 - opened my account this morning. damp roads. front tyre felt squishy. stopped and sure enough it is deflating. couldn't find anything in the tyre which frustrated me. replaced tube and on my way.

20240313 - went around the corner and the rear felt weird. stopped and sure enough had a puncture. nothing found, again. changed tube and on my way

Old total - 2

29240401 - hopped off the bike at Landsborough train station. Rear tyre felt a bit soft. Found a small rock had dug in. Replaced tube, caught train, got off at the other end and all is good



New Total - 3

[jasonc]

20240312 - opened my account this morning. damp roads. front tyre felt squishy. stopped and sure enough it is deflating. couldn't find anything in the tyre which frustrated me. replaced tube and on my way.

20240313 - went around the corner and the rear felt weird. stopped and sure enough had a puncture. nothing found, again. changed tube and on my way

29240401 - hopped off the bike at Landsborough train station. Rear tyre felt a bit soft. Found a small rock had dug in. Replaced tube, caught train, got off at the other end and all is good

Old Total - 3

20240404 - rear tyre on the gravel bike was deflating on the way home. Found nothing. Took out the gunk and stuck in a tube. Tubeless is great. Yeah right

New Total - 4

[warthog1]

Try some gravel with tubes. Gravel is much harder on tyres

A brave statement I know, but 100% tubeless here, no punctures this year yet.

[jasonc]

I couldn't even find the hole to plug. I could hear the noise but couldn't feel the exact spot.

[warthog1]

I couldn't even find the hole to plug. I could hear the noise but couldn't feel the exact spot.

Seat, valve, or rim tape? A small hole in the tread should have sprayed sealant and/or sealed.
It may be worth whipping the tube out, reseating the tyre, inflating and roll it through the laundry sink.
It is worth persisting. I do similar ks to you and find tubeless so much better I wont ride anything else.
Stans and orange seal have both been good.

[g-boaf]

I dare say I've been having a pretty decent run with Pirelli P-Zero tyres, still just using clincher type with tubes.

Saying that now I'll have to make an offering to the puncture gods...

[CmdrBiggles]

I dare say I've been having a pretty decent run with Pirelli P-Zero tyres, still just using clincher type with tubes.

Saying that now I'll have to make an offering to the puncture gods...

Interesting, I picked up one of these in the shop; the techie who serviced my TCR yesterday said they wear very quickly, a characteristic he think is shared with the P-Zero performance tyres on cars (I do tend to agree; these are on my SV6 Commodore wagon, shod in January last year); I get around 28 to 33k of use before they are down to the TWI, and I'm not the sort to look at for mistreatment of cars! Like their four-wheel brethren, P-zeros for bikes are pricey for what they are and what they give, time-wise.

For now I've barely scratched the service of my OEM Cadex tyres. My riding is done for this week. I will be off the bike for the three days beginning tomorrow, as I have a commission for photography to get under way.

[warthog1]

I have a P-zero race tlr on the rear of my TCR.
Working well and wearing fine. No worse than other sport/race tyres.
I buy largely on price so it must've been reasonable at the time.
Still haven't GP5000 S TR because of price. They are finally approaching $100- (still ridiculous for a bicycle tyre) which is much better than they were.

[CmdrBiggles]

I have a P-zero race tlr on the rear of my TCR.
Working well and wearing fine. No worse than other sport/race tyres.
I buy largely on price so it must've been reasonable at the time.
Still haven't GP5000 S TR because of price. They are finally approaching $100- (still ridiculous for a bicycle tyre) which is much better than they were.

$110 for the Pirelli P-Zero 700c tyre is way over what I would want to pay — at this time. Mind you, there are $255 each for the car (! (meaning $1,020...)

The Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR is $140.00 here in G-Town. I kid you knot, I'm going to have to grow deep pockets with this bike over time...

There are many other tyres costing almost twice as much as this — something by Willier (?) I saw; before putting purse back in pocket...

Bontrager has some handsome looking tyres like the R4 Classic hard-case — albeit at the same price as the P-Zero!!

[warthog1]

Yep tubeless is expensive. So much better than tubes the bastards have got me.
$100 is my limit.
https://www.pushys.com.au/pirelli-p-zer ... -tyre.html

[biker jk]

I've used the Pirelli P Zero Velo (discontinued) and was quite happy with those. Have a Pirelli P Zero Race on one bike and it's fine so far. But the Pirelli P Zero Race 4S is the one to buy. I use tubes. From BicycleRollingResistance:

When compared to other tires from competing brands, we now consider the P Zero Race 4S to be 1 of the 3 top-performing road bike tires together with both the Continental Grand Prix 5000 (read our review) and Michelin Power Cup (read our review).

[jasonc]

20240312 - opened my account this morning. damp roads. front tyre felt squishy. stopped and sure enough it is deflating. couldn't find anything in the tyre which frustrated me. replaced tube and on my way.

20240313 - went around the corner and the rear felt weird. stopped and sure enough had a puncture. nothing found, again. changed tube and on my way

29240401 - hopped off the bike at Landsborough train station. Rear tyre felt a bit soft. Found a small rock had dug in. Replaced tube, caught train, got off at the other end and all is good

20240404 - rear tyre on the gravel bike was deflating on the way home. Found nothing. Took out the gunk and stuck in a tube. Tubeless is great. Yeah right

Old Total - 4

20240405 - and the tube started to deflate on the way home. I've given up and taken it to the shop
New Total - 5

[elantra]

I have had a few already this year.
At this stage I remain in the “Team tube inside” camp.

Of course there are many “categories” of puncture.
In my local area big sharp things on the roads are uncommon. But I copped one the other day.

Big nail went straight through the tire which went down like a lead balloon.



(Picture taken after the tube had been taken out and tyre pulled sideways)

The nail embedded itself in the rim tape and took a bit of effort to remove.
It left a considerable gash in the tyre (Specialized Roubaix, 26mm) but the tire was pretty well on its last legs anyway.

I shy away from buying $$$ tyres, but gone are the days when you could by a Maxxis Refuse for $ 30 at the LBS.
Some people swear by the Refuse, but I feel that ride and grip are sacrificed a bit for their durability, so I’ve been buying Specialized or Bontrager recently.
Michelin have given me good service in the past also.

[jasonc]

20240312 - opened my account this morning. damp roads. front tyre felt squishy. stopped and sure enough it is deflating. couldn't find anything in the tyre which frustrated me. replaced tube and on my way.

20240313 - went around the corner and the rear felt weird. stopped and sure enough had a puncture. nothing found, again. changed tube and on my way

29240401 - hopped off the bike at Landsborough train station. Rear tyre felt a bit soft. Found a small rock had dug in. Replaced tube, caught train, got off at the other end and all is good

20240404 - rear tyre on the gravel bike was deflating on the way home. Found nothing. Took out the gunk and stuck in a tube. Tubeless is great. Yeah right

20240405 - and the tube started to deflate on the way home. I've given up and taken it to the shop

Old Total - 5

20240409 - front tyre of the roadie felt soft going around a corner. found two bits of glass. picked them out, replaced tube and on my way.

New Total - 6

[elantra]

Took a big financial hit this morning.

Front flatted at the top of a hill.
Kept riding for a hundred metres because I knew that there was a great place to stop very soon- with a lovely view over the Tweed Valley.
And a little fence to lean the bike on etc

Operation commenced but riding buddy didn’t help when he says “I’m timing you”

1. Wheel off.
2. Two levers pressed under the edge of tyre (Conti GP 4000 25mm)
3. Nah tyre a bit stubborn.
4. 3rd tyre lever put between the first two and leverage applied
5. Something goes amiss - 3rd tyre slips, the tyre springs back and the original tyre lever somersaults into the air, over a small tree and into space
6. Another unhelpful comment- it’s gone forever !
7. Tyre is removed using the remaining tyre levers
8. Tube is inserted and inflated without further complication
9. A quick look over the void, the tyre lever lies half way down a 20 metre near-vertical cliff.
10. Back on the road accepting the loss of one of my favourite tyre levers.