# Do road bikes get many punctures?



## noadapter (1 Jun 2009)

Hi all, need some info from all you roadies out there, for the last year I've been cycling to work on my flatbar hybrid, and since I'm hooked on cycling thought I would get myself a road racing bike, but have a couple of questions. 1. Racing bike wheels being only 23mm wide do they buckly? and 2. do they puncture easily? will I spend most of my time fixing punctures and tightining spokes?


----------



## Will1985 (1 Jun 2009)

1. Only if you treat the wheels badly/crash.
2. Depends on where you ride and what tyres you use. Some people have all the luck. I've had 1 p******e in 3000km this year and that was just because I rode over a flint I couldn't see/avoid whilst in a bunch.


----------



## Wigsie (1 Jun 2009)

I am a burger over 17.5 stone and 6ft 4 and ride a road bike for the last 6 months 18.5 mile commutes and 15 - 30 milers at weekends, the only two unexpected flats I have had have been my fault!

So I guess the are pretty sturdy... I think some tyres are prone to be a little easier to p**cture but I have Specialized Mondo Pro's as they came withbike and they have been great.


----------



## MadoneRider1991 (1 Jun 2009)

nope., havent had a puncture in ages!


----------



## Will1985 (1 Jun 2009)

MadoneRider1991 said:


> nope., havent had a puncture in ages!


You'll be regretting you said that now


----------



## palinurus (1 Jun 2009)

I've got three road bikes, all with 23 mm tyres. I spend very little time fixing punctures and wheels (less than 1 puncture / year for an annual mileage of 6000-ish miles)

Road wheels can be pretty tough. I use the same hubs and rims on my road bike as my cyclocross bike (although the crosser has fat tyres).


----------



## Sittingduck (1 Jun 2009)

noadapter said:


> 1. Racing bike wheels being only 23mm wide do they buckly?
> 2. do they puncture easily? will I spend most of my time fixing punctures and tightining spokes?



1. I'm a heffer and my wheels seem true so far. Guess it depends on how well you avoid potholes. You can also get 25mm road tyres - have these myself.

2. Two factors are being able to avoid obvious nasties on the road and the quality of the tyre, I would think. Had 2 p*nctures in the space of a couple of weeks on the el-cheapo £6 Vittoria Zaffiro tyres I had on it first. Just put Continental Gatorskins on this weekend, so I'll be interested to see if the next visit I have from the P Fairy is sooner or later!

Cheers
SD


----------



## RedBike (1 Jun 2009)

> Racing bike wheels being only 23mm wide do they buckly


The wheels are probably the exactly the same as you've got on your hybrid, just narrower tyres. A good set of wheel should in theory NEVER need to be trued. 



> do they puncture easily?


Nope. It *totally depends on what tyres you fit*. 

The additional width + tread on a hybrid tyres tends to make them heavier and more expensive to produce. To get the weight and the cost down on these tyres manufactures tend to sacrifice puncture protection. Also higher pressures (as found in road tyres) are better at 'pushing' sharp objects aside rather than letting them dig in. So if anything you should hopefully find road tyres are MORE resistanct to punctures. 



> will I spend most of my time fixing punctures and tightining spokes?


If you do then you've brought really crap wheels and tyres.


----------



## Joe24 (1 Jun 2009)

You tend to have a time when you have a few punctures close together, then none for a while.
Im on the none for a while stage at the moment. Im sure there will be some coming up soon though. But ive got new tyres on so fingers crossed.....


----------



## Garz (1 Jun 2009)

Good call red!

Oh that reminds me for comparison sake, I have a hybrid and ride with a friend who uses a MTB. With me he has had two punctures, and he's had three without me in the past two years! So that *five* punctures to my hybrids zero. He is alot more careless than me I have to say.. *stokes moustache*


----------



## HLaB (1 Jun 2009)

It depends a lot on the rider (and carpet tacks  ) My last set of 23mm tyres done over 2,500 no p'tures fitted new treads and only got a couple of hundred miles before the Etape/ tack thing. I think my last 25mm tyres on my winter bike got 3760 miles no p'tures. I put new treads on it too and again only got about 200miles out of them before I got a snakebite. My Hybrid (massive 37mm tread) has done over 6000miles, same tread and the p fairy has only visited once about 5,500miles ago.


----------



## Garz (1 Jun 2009)

Thats some fair mileage there HLaB old boy!


----------



## on the road (2 Jun 2009)

Wheels will only buckle if you constantly ride up and down kerbs or over bricks. Providing they are built well, wheels won't buckle even if you crash. The amount of punctures you get really depend on the state of the tyres, how well they are pumpped up and where you ride.


----------



## coopman (2 Jun 2009)

I did 40 miles on my new roadbike (23mm) before getting a puncture, sidewall, I guess I clipped something sharp or the edge of a pothole. I hope like all the other posters I dont get another one for many miles!
After riding a hybrid I am noticing that I do need to be a little more conscious of road surface and rough bits, where as on my hybrid I just rattle on thru!
I seem to be unlucky, in gereral over the last 2 years I have probably averaged a puncture every 300 miles or so! Tho this year been puncture free on hybrid for over 600 miles and long may it last.


----------



## RedBike (2 Jun 2009)

> in gereral over the last 2 years I have probably averaged a puncture every 300 miles or so! Tho this year been puncture free on hybrid for over 600 miles and long may it last.


At that sort of rate I would be getting on average one a week! 
Thank god it's nothing like that common. Not had one all year so far!


----------



## chris667 (2 Jun 2009)

It varies, really. I had a road bike once that seemed to get one most days, and one that was reliable as a bond film at Christmas. Same tyre.
Really narrow tyres need respect and skill, though, and although it's something you can pick up fairly quickly I don't ride with skinny tyres because I want a wheel I know shouldn't break if I hit a pothole and they aren't that much faster than wider tyres. 28mm is much, much more comfortable and still gives a really fast, exciting ride.


----------



## accountantpete (2 Jun 2009)

If you use country roads always keep a lookout for a freshly cut hawthorn hedge.


----------



## Black Sheep (2 Jun 2009)

i'm about 10 stone and the wheels on my bike are the first set of wheels i built and have been on there for two years without having to true them (ought to get round to that) in that time i've only had about 2 punctures, this was due to a very worn out tyre and another that bulged and pinched the tube (exploded in the bike shop!)


i have pinched a tube when replacing a tyre but i don't think that counts.


----------



## HJ (2 Jun 2009)

If you have good wheels and tyres it shouldn't be a problem, from experience I can recommend Mavic Open Pros and Conti GatorSkins...


----------



## swee'pea99 (2 Jun 2009)

15 miles every working day, in London, on supposedly reasonably puncture-resistent tyres (either Conti GP4000 or Gatorskins - 700/23 & kept reliably at 120psi back, 100 front), I reckon over the last five years I've probably averaged a puncture a month. Maybe I'm unlucky. (As someone said, the odd thing is they seem to be like buses - none for ages, then three come all at once...)


----------



## HJ (2 Jun 2009)

One a month  I have been averaging one per 1,000 miles...


----------



## on the road (2 Jun 2009)

I've been averaging 1 puncture every 3200 miles over 4 years (roughly).


----------



## Tynan (2 Jun 2009)

I've tried and discarded Conti Gators and GP4000s for cutting and flatting, one a month chimes with my opinion on those tyres

cheap as chips Luganos and Blizzards run well, wear well and have been far better for flats

pretty colours too


----------

