Are all flat tires caused by nails or screws?

[LanghamP]

After just pulling the nth nail out of my car tire and patching it, I wondered if all flats are nails/screws. There's the snakebite, but that's just from underinflation.

I'm guessing twenty flats in the past four years, including an astonishing 9 inner tubes during one summer for a bicycle. 3 screws at the same time for my KS16S, and crazy number of nails in my car tires. Maybe a lot more than twenty flats...all from nails/screws.

[rolekl]

You can always cut a tire open on a rock or similar (think thin mountain bike tires), but yes, nails, pieces of glass etc seem to be what's getting me to repair punctures. In my world more glass than nails. I'll happily fix 10 bicycle punctures though if I don't have to fix one on the euc...

[RockyTop]

Many bicycle tire flats are caused by the metal fiber threads from steel belted car tires.

Car flats are usually in the rear. The front tire lifts and sets objects to be caught by the rear tire. ( unicycles  rule) 

You might also want to check under your tires before leaving your house. People have been known to set nails under tires for your enjoyment. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by RockyTop

[Rywokast]

why the hell are there so many nails where you live??? never had a nail or screw pierce a tire in my life that im aware of

[meepmeepmayer]

I don't know about EUCs, but from my biking days, it was always some tiny little pebble getting inside the tire and puncturing the tube. But I guess it depends on the surroundings what gets you

[null]

In Paris there is a lot of glass on the ground, so much I’m amazed not having had a puncture in 7000km on EUCs. The only one I’ve fixed is a nail in a friends kick scooters rear tyre.

[LanghamP]

23 hours ago, Rywokast said:

why the hell are there so many nails where you live??? never had a nail or screw pierce a tire in my life that im aware of

Both places I've lived there has been home construction. If you just stand near a home construction site, where they build using mostly wood, and pick up the nails, you might easily reach the hundreds of nails.

[Rywokast]

5 hours ago, LanghamP said:

Both places I've lived there has been home construction. If you just stand near a home construction site, where they build using mostly wood, and pick up the nails, you might easily reach the hundreds of nails.

geeeez.. that sounds shit.. ive only had a few tubes go, but never from being pierced.. one was a break at the valve, and two were just tubes wearing down after thousands of km as indicated by the magnitude of rubber dust inside the tire when i changed it

[LanghamP]

10 minutes ago, Rywokast said:

geeeez.. that sounds shit.. ive only had a few tubes go, but never from being pierced.. one was a break at the valve, and two were just tubes wearing down after thousands of km as indicated by the magnitude of rubber dust inside the tire when i changed it

There's this thingy which looks like a gigantic broom, but instead of bristles it has a magnet. Construction workers regularly use these to sweep their areas, and will gather hundreds of nails. 

[Circuitmage]

I used green slime on my 16S until I decided to change the tire without using it. Then I had 3 flats in a row between my 16S and 18L. Now I decided to use it again and have gone about a year without a flat. And my 18L only needs inflation about once a month or less.

And my last flat was a snakebite from going over a large drainage grate. At least the 18L came out of it and got me home OK.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Circuitmage

[mrelwood]

The only flat I got was two years ago, and it looked like a few larger grains of sand had done their job at the tube. The valve hole in the rim is large enough to let stuff in, so I sealed it with silicone. Fixed the tube with Goop (UK Slime alternative), and have used Goop ever since.

[Rywokast]

3 hours ago, mrelwood said:

The only flat I got was two years ago, and it looked like a few larger grains of sand had done their job at the tube. The valve hole in the rim is large enough to let stuff in, so I sealed it with silicone. Fixed the tube with Goop (UK Slime alternative), and have used Goop ever since.

you know whats ironic is the only tires that i have ever had a flat with are the only ones that had slime in them... i never had a flat on a tire that i didnt slime and every tire that i slimed got a flat.... coincidence? O.o

[.....]

I must have repaired and replaced 10's of 1000's of car/truck tires in my life so far. Number 1 cause of flats was in fact.... NAILS. Other things happen(ive seen COINS flatten tires), but nails of various size were most common. Sometimes it was simply rotted rubber and tires would seep air over time. Sometime in tubes it was pinches from running flat. You are WAY more likely to suffer a flat on a tire that is worn. Front tires routinely hit the nail first, so Im not sure sure about the rear tire being flat more often. Oddly, the federal forestry trucks we serviced, came in with melted tires all the time and it looked like hell, but didnt cause flats. As a kid, thorns were the most common thing to ruin my bicycle tires.  Ive seen toothpics punch thru multiply commercial truck tires. Then theres the odd gravel rock that magically works its way in, but that takes a lot of vehicle weight.  I have metal detectors that i sweep my driveway with if ive been building or mechanicing out in the drive(5 yrs of searching, Ive collected tons of trash/nails/can s and $ 0.55 in coins.  +1 on the construction site magnetic broom, if i frequented a place known for too much debris. Fwiw, ANY tire repair on a car that does not include removing the tire from rim, is considered temporary and uninsurable. I have eaten tons of tire rubber bits from the proper repair of tires. Done correctly, a repaired car tire is more likely to fail somewhere other than the repair. It also takes a little finesse and some time/effort to do it right. A tire PLUG is far from doing it properly and poses undue risk on the public. Plugs are intended to temporarily get you to a place to repair or replace (not applicable for NON Highway vehicles). Even so, I WOULD NEVER risk repairing a sport bike tire, as motorcycle tires tend to flex and expand a LOT more than 4 wheelers. Theres also the fact that a failed sport bike tire is deadly, more often than a car tire is. Those loud harley davidson couches fall under the "plug it because who gives a shit" umbrella.  I have plugged tires on the road to get me to a service station, as you gotta do what you gotta do. Stay off shoulders of highways and flat reduce by half... all the debris from the roads, collect on the sides. Scrap yards and construction sites are so bad, we had a truck that was MEANT for those places and it had the crappiest tires we could find. I shudder when i have to take my personal truck to the dump.

Edited March 20, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[GothamMike]

Storm Drains with a sharp edge

Metal

Screws

Nails

Thorns (bicycles)

Glass

[mike_bike_kite]

On motorcycles and cars it always tends to be the rear tyres that get punctured. The front wheel goes over the nail that's flat on the road then flips it up so the rear tyre catches it. Some tyres are more prone to getting punctures though - I road Moto Guzzi California's through London for almost 10 years and never got a puncture but got 5 punctures in a year in the rear tyre of my BMW GS. I plugged all the punctures it received and the tyre was absolutely fine. I used to pick up a lot of punctures on the scooters I rode too, I think the combination of soft grippy tyres and continually riding in areas where car tyres don't go.

[Nic]

On bicycle...

Small pointy stones, bits of glass, or sharp slivers of metal. Most of my punctures were in the wet from small pointy stones.

Nails, staples and screws also, but I haven't had punctures from these yet.

Tyre pressure too low causing tyre to move on rim during braking, which over time rips the valve stem. Low pressures can also lead to snake bite punctures.

Tyres puncture more easily on wet days and when tyres are worn or old.

New silica based rubber tyres puncture more easily as the rubber isn't as strong and it perishes faster. Older rubber loses its elasticity and becomes easier to puncture, which happens faster in hot climates as the UV and heat will break down the rubber making it easier to penetrate. This also applies to inner tubes.

I haven't suffered any punctures for over 10 years now when I swapped to using only the best touring grade tyres with good puncture protection from top brands. I never use slime. I also treat my tyres with a rubber protectant to keep the rubber elastic and stop it degrading.

[Boogieman]

I have had 4 flats on one tube...noe i have had it and will change, problem is finding a tube :-/

1. From glass. Mended with tyre sealant

2. From steel piece. Mended with small patch

3. Snake bite from pointy rock standing up, slammed 2 perfect long "bites" in the tube. Mended with big patch. Added a tiny amount of tyre sealant as well... shouldn't have. NOT under inflated, was around 3.5 bar and i weigh 95Kg. Pointy enough object + speed and snake bite is instant.

4. Patch from nr 3 leaked out instantly when cornering heavy. Probbaly tyre sealant devulked the patch allowing the snake bit to spread and cause instant blowout.

For sure nr 3 and 4 are the worst. Both happened at fairly low speed 25-30km/h but I didn't even have time to brake and jump off properly to grab the wheel. Nr 3 i allmost came to a stop before wheel squirrels away from beneath me so could jump run off the wheel at maybe 15km/h

Nr 4 was so fast i just started braking, maybe got down to 20-25km/h and then went rim to asphalt and threw me against a fence which i by reaction pushed away with my HAND (STUPID) which slit my index finger right open, so it was a quick ride to ER to check nerves and tendons and sew it up. I was in luck, all tendons made it even though it was bone deep...also nerves were ok (a slight loss of feel, but probably heals back up or a surgery is needed, without dominant hand index finger you really miss out on doing a lot)

Could post a bloody slit up finger picture, just to make sure people take care but I think some might not react well to that. The tyre and tube is one important component to keep us upright. I just wish there were better tubed with bent nozzles (imagine a Foss tube that would have s bent nozzle and fit the EUC, what a dream). I would buy it immediately.

Edited July 15, 2020 by Boogieman

[Hans wang]

i have only ever had 1 flat in around 2000km (lucky me ). it was a TINY metal shaving on my old inmotion v5 with a tire that had gone around 1000km, it was JUST enough to puncture the inner tube (not lucky me  ). it was very fun for a 14 year old to find out how to open and fix an inmotion by my self hehe, i managed to do it after messing up the outer shell.

it seems metal is the reason therefore all metal should be banned!!! (sarcasm obviously)

[Boogieman]

I had those during 4600km - so in comparison lucky You
In the cities of Sweden - our lovely policitcians loves to clean the CAR road and if You are parked on that road at that 1 day in month You get a nice 50€ Fine.

Since they cant fine bicycles - the dont give a shit about the amount of broken glass from drunk teens on the bicycle road - where 90% of the debris exist.

A typical example of a socialist regime - punish the normal people because their gov workers cant do their useless job.
But dont give a shit about people that cant afford a car or plan to be green by going electric or by bicycle by not cleaning the bicycle lanes....stuuupid as regimen.
Then brag about how well You bring in taxes AND keep road clean.

Sweden is such a joke we should be banned from EU.
Hell i would rather have that based on our wellfare money to EU as of the countries that get the cash from our tax....
Several countries fucked up way before corona and now WE are supposed to pay for their fuckups. Hell no, thats even worse than the immigration crisis :-S
Italy, greece and other countries need to fix their own shit - They fine us if we go into their Zona so why on earth should we give them cash? Its not like countries like Italy couldnt handle themselves with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Modena industrial zone....so wellfare to them is money into nothing but rich mens pockets.

Edited July 22, 2020 by Boogieman

[Hans wang]

3 minutes ago, Boogieman said:

Several countries fucked up way before corona and now WE are supposed to pay for their fuckups. 

i did not know about that! i am happy norway is not in the EU! we are some sneaky bitches that get all the benefits and non of the disadvantages  

[Boogieman]

3 minutes ago, Hans wang said:

i did not know about that! i am happy norway is not in the EU! we are some sneaky bitches that get all the benefits and non of the disadvantages  

I really love You "norrbaggar" even though we love to joke about You (as You about us )
Norwegian is for sure my favourite Scandinavian language (Oslo easy to understand and Bergensk really funny to learn...due to odd similarities. de e sgu driiita bra)

Only downside...booze and snus is expensive as F (and pizza) compared to Sweden (that is already insane expensive taxed). But You also have your "small" cash reserve in the west

I think its time for a EUC meet in the fjords next year, dont You?. I will bring my Sherman v2 and a group from south Sweden and You and the Norwegian crew be the guides.
That would be just EPIC
 

[Hans wang]

2 minutes ago, Boogieman said:

Norwegian is for sure my favourite Scandinavian language (Oslo easy to understand and Bergensk really funny to learn...due to odd similarities. de e sgu driiita bra)

I think its time for a EUC meet in the fjords next year, dont You?. I will bring my Sherman v2 and a group from south Sweden and You and the Norwegian crew be the guides.
That would be just EPIC
 

haha in my dialect (tromsø) we can say "d e d d e" "det er det det er" in oslo dialect, it means "it is what it is", we sure have some crazy dialects over here.

yes a meet up would be epic, though i think getting people to travel that "far" for "just a meet up" can be a challenge.

[Rywokast]

47 minutes ago, Hans wang said:

i have only ever had 1 flat in around 2000km (lucky me ). it was a TINY metal shaving on my old inmotion v5 with a tire that had gone around 1000km, it was JUST enough to puncture the inner tube (not lucky me  ). it was very fun for a 14 year old to find out how to open and fix an inmotion by my self hehe, i managed to do it after messing up the outer shell.

it seems metal is the reason therefore all metal should be banned!!! (sarcasm obviously)

thats actually pretty common for the V5F, i dont know what it is about how they put those things together but all three of them i had had flats within 500 km, its crazy no other wheel has not be able to make it at least 3x that far without its first flat lol, fkn annoying... though at least theyre easy to take apart

[Boogieman]

13 minutes ago, Hans wang said:

haha in my dialect (tromsø) we can say "d e d d e" "det er det det er" in oslo dialect, it means "it is what it is", we sure have some crazy dialects over here.

yes a meet up would be epic, though i think getting people to travel that "far" for "just a meet up" can be a challenge.

Tromsö....Yeah, whenever  we might go to live in the ICE hotel it might be a side tour, but otherwise its a pretty steep ride around 2200Km. Tough even with Car + Sherman
I think in need to get something together with my friends around Oslo Bergen to make it happen.
If You plan going south July - August - PM me, the more the merrier

[Boogieman]

Just now, Rywokast said:

thats actually pretty common for the V5F, i dont know what it is about how they put those things together but all three of them i had had flats within 500 km, its crazy no other wheel has not be able to make it at least 3x that far without its first flat lol, fkn annoying... though at least theyre easy to take apart

Could it be a tube made for 1.75 fitted in a 2,125"?

That would make the tube stretch quite a bit. I recently purchased a 1.75 to 2.125 tube and compared with my original 2.125 for the Tesla and it was A LOT less wide = will expand more = will get thinner. Also weighed 125g vs original 180g. So my guess is to little rubber (allows better control but less puncture resistance)