An older post but I thought it to be relevant with all this grit on the road from the flooding. I for one am glad I have left the Gatorskins on. Might be good to carry extra air and tubes for a couple weeks.

The only good time to get a flat is in your garage before you go for a ride. Unless your meeting the group! I’ve been practicing this little trick for years and have found it to work VERY well. You can greatly reduce your flats by applying this 5 minute tire service every couple rides.

Note: Use this method for your road bike with standard inner tubes.

Here is what you need. A sharp object like this old spoke (left) that was sharpened. A pocket knife will work pretty good. A flashlight and super glue. 

Step 1: After wiping down your tires with a wet paper towel or rag take your flashlight and look for embedded rocks, glass, diamonds, gold, whatever is in there. The flashlight really helps to locate the tiniest rocks. 

Boom! While embedded rocks might not have caused a flat yet think about the next time you ride and hit a bumpy stretch that little rock only gets deeper and closer to the inner tube.

Step 2: Take your sharp object and pick out the rock. Be careful, you don’t want to push it any deeper.

Hold up! Your not done yet. Now you are left with tiny holes.

Step 3: Apply a SMALL dab of super glue to the hole. I like to let some air out of the tires and pinch the tire, this opens the hole up so the glue gets deeper.

Bam! It seriously takes five minutes and will greatly increase the life of your tires and reduce the number of your flats.