Tips for Avoiding Punctures.

If I listed the biggest irritations of cycling, I would say that getting a puncture would be pretty high up. These are some tips for avoiding punctures.

1. Puncture Resistant tyres.

Unfortunately, at the moment it is hard to get completely puncture resistant tyres for road bikes. For some bikes you can get solid tryes, which offer a puncture resistant ride, but they are considerably slower. When racing I always choose a tyre with good layers of puncture resistance, at least 1 kevlar belt. I would rather choose a slightly heavier tyre than sacrifice the improved chance of avoiding a puncture. (puncture resistant tyres)

2. Avoid the grit at the side of the road.

Often on busy roads grit and debris accumulates on the side of the road; riding amongst all this grit increases the chance of getting a puncture. Don’t feel pushed into the edge, you have a right to cycle away from the extreme edge of the road.

3. Put on the tyre properly

The biggest cause of ‘repeat punctures’ is putting on a tyre with tyre leavers. This invariably causes a pinching of the inner tube between rim and tyre. To avoid this, it is important to always put a tyre back on with your hands. Also, when the tyre is part blown up, you can check around the rims to make sure there is no inner tube squeezed between the rim.

4. Avoid riding in the rain.

People often find that riding in the rain causes an increased chance of puncture. I think this may be due to the fact that the water reduces friction and makes it easier for grit to penetrate the tyre. I guess no body would choose to ride in the rain unless they can avoid it. So this tip may not be too helpful – you could always go for a turbo session though.

5. Correct Tyre Pressure

Not sure how much this helps but worth doing for other reasons anyway.

6. Use New Inner Tubes

Use new inner tubes rather than repairing 100s of holes in an old inner tube.

See also:

• Tips for Mending a puncture