Southern Suburbs rider - punctures?

[Dreama]

Gday,
ive just started riding this year to get fit and i live in the southern suburbs.
im riding an older 18speed mountain bike, i have changed the nobbly tires for more road biased ones as i have only been riding down the bike track that used to be the old train line through Reynella/Morphett Vale/etc - but this last weekend i have had 3 punctures!

Do other people in this area use this path? or is it better to use the main roads?

cheers,
Dreama

[philmart]

Hey dreama

Used to ride down there myself .. and during three corner jack season you would get a few punctures. Are they three corner jacks? If so you can buy MTB tubes that have "slime" in them that fill the puncture pretty much straight away. You can either purchase the slime by itself and use your own tubes or get the thicker tubes with slime "preinstalled". Obviously a heavier tyre at the end of the day but you won't go flat. Got my tyres with slime from JT Cycles at Brighton for 24 odd dollars from memory.

I did the same thing as you and unfortunately the lack of extra "knob distance" makes you more susceptable to flats.

[SeanB]

I ride these paths too and they are notoriously bad for broken glass bottles after a weekend (or pub hols like today).

having said that, I think you have just been very unlucky. Pay close attention to the ground in front of you and bring a spare tube.

[Dreama]

I there was a 3corner jack in the front, but it hadnt gone all the way through the tire, and the hole in the tube was a long way from there - almost directly across on the other side of the wheel.

Puncture fixing goo hey? sounds good!

I have noticed glass, and i think its mainly in 1 section, so maybe i will bypass this spot, but its a good track to keep away from traffic, but if i keep getting punctures its gonna be a pain!

[bepboy]

Hi Dreama - had similar issues to you. Try changing to thick puncture resistant tubes. I did and have not had a puncture since.
Bep

[Dreama]

ive increased the pressure im using (at the advise of the bike shop where i bought the tubes) and havent had any since, but havent exactly ridden the same stretch of path either!

[318ute]

Hi Dreama,
I have not ridden in your area, but had similar problems when I first started riding, very frustrating...
My first commuter was a mtb, and I went the usual route of taking off the knobbly tyres and putting some smooth skinnies (cheapo) on for less rolling resistance and more grip but I started getting punctures a lot...
So I went into a bike shop in the city and stated my case and said give me some quality tyres that wont go flat!
Maybe I was lucky, but I bought a pair of Schwalbe tyres, don't remember the model name, but they were bullet proof, glass was no problem and they had a nice reflective band too...
You could also go for the extra thick tubes as mentioned and this seems to be a popular option, but I can't speak highly enough of those Schwalbe tyres I had..