"Repeated contact between the tread at the point where the flint is lodged and the road do not drive it in because the tread does not get sufficiently thin as it compresses against the Tarmac."
Ha.
I don't believe that to be the case for normal riding. Plus, of course it ignores what would happen if you hit a bump or pothole edge right where the flint is. That would definitely drive the flint further in.
Since I got into a routine of regularly deflating the tyres and then picking out the bits of flint and glass, the incidence of punctures has dropped away drastically.
Agree with this. I had two punctures on Monday – the first I checked the tyre where the hole in the inner tube was, but couldn't feel anything protruding on the inside, nor see anything on the outside. Suffered a second unscheduled deflation a few miles from work, so walked in.
When I got the chance to look at both tubes they were both slashed in the same place, and it turns out a shard of glass was embedded in the tyre rubber... impossible to see from the outside without completely removing the tyre and flexing it, and there was a gash on the inside.
The second puncture might not have happened so quickly had the road surface not been abysmal and the tyre a bit under-inflated, so needless to say I shall be investing in better puncture-resistant tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus seems to be the recommended solution, and hopefully an improvement on my Conti 'Contacts') and a Topeak Road Morph pump with gauge so I can actually properly inflate my tyres on the road
Given that I'm commuting approx. 29 miles a day, I do make a habit of checking my tyres weekly as part of my maintenance schedule, removing anything suspect.
