I just got a flat tire and it’s like the third our fourth in about six months. It’s really distressing… I was in the middle of an awesome ride and had to trudge all the way back in pretty low spirits.
Are there any tires/tubes out there that will cut down on the probability of picking up a flat?
you can put slime in the tube. I have some in my MUni and unless you somehow manage to create a massive hole in the tire and tube, you won’t have to worry about flats anymore.
or avaiable at your local walmart 
i use these for my 20"s.
they are a bit heavy, but i used to frequently get pinch flats. like sometimes every other day. ever since i started getting these…no more. and i can still hop with them just fine.
5x tubes…they’re really cheap and really durable.you can get them at walmart. they are thick…and i mean thick.
I use a Motorcross tube in my 19". What size tire is it?
I have had no flat problems sense using the MX tube, works very well.
If it’s a smooth road tire you could make a little thing out of a coat hanger that brushes stuff out of the tire before it gets all of the way through. I used to have one on my 29’er and it stopped a run of flats that seemed endless. If I can find it I’ll post a pic.
What kind of flats? Pinch flats on the trail? Punctures on the road? Same place on the tube every time? There may be some standard causes for this. Give us more info. Rim, tire (brand, size), pressure you’re running, what you’re riding on.
What John said.
And buy a patch kit and a way to inflate your tire. Either trail pump or C02 inflation cartridges.
You didn’t say what the cause of the flat might be. Did you find a thorn or other pokey thing in the tire? Or did you ride off a drop and hear the tire leaking shortly after?
There are essentially two types of flats:
Some people in the thread have posted good solutions to #1 and some to #2. The solution (slime, thicker tube, more air pressure, better tire) depends on which type you’re getting (or maybe you’re getting both :().
I was getting flats riding my 29" through too many thistle bushes. I switched to “ghetto tubeless” over a month ago and am very happy with the change. I used a 24" (x 1.7"?) tube and Stan sealant. It took a while to get all the tiny punctures out, because I used the same tire (Kenda Nevegal tyre) I had been riding through thistle bushes, and it had lots of tiny leaks. I have not had a problem since I got the tubeless tire set up.
Here are some general instructions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRM7gq1fcoQ
Scott
if you can’t figure it out and it keeps popping, replace the rim strip maybe with some decent velox cloth tape.
There is also install related flats
I’m super careful not to pinch the tube with the tire iron, as this can make a new flat, or a weak spot. You do use tire irons I hope. An expert can do the change with screw drivers in a pinch, but most folks who use screw drivers aren’t aware of how the sharp corners are a tricky hazard.
As many ^ have said, be sure to find out what caused the flat in the first place. If you can discover and fix that, and don’t pinch the tube putting it on, that just leaves stop riding over garbage and you’re good.
Almost all of my flats have been punctures (thorns, glass, general trash). My three previous flats happened on my old 20" Torker, and the latest (and most distressing) was on my first off-road ride (nasty thorn) on my shiny new 26" KH (2.3 WTB Stout tire). Mostly I was looking for something along the lines of the Slime tube (yuk), so I’m pretty excited to learn about those.
I picked up a pretty heavy Downhill tube at a bike shop today, so I’ll see how that lasts.
there are also thorn proof tubes to ask about… they’re 3mm thick on the outside area and normal thickness inside the rim. and get slime for the tube if you’re riding through thorn bushes and glass fields.
I use a thorn-resistant tube (extremely thick rubber) with 55 PSI on my Schwinn for MUni, and although I get many thorns stuck in my tire, they have never once punctured the tube.
Ask your local bike shop about tubes like this.
Ok. I really need an answer to this… How can I prevent from having flats on my trials uni?! I’m riding at like 30 PSI, I have a tube over my tube to have a thicker tube and I got 10 flats this season. I’ve never had soo much flats! Even when I was riding with a super low pressure.
Pinch flats? I have had success, as well as others it seems, with 15" motorcycle tubes. Alternatively, more air.
Yeah, pinch flats. Next time I get a flat I’ll take a look for a motorcycle tube. It a motorcycle tube doesn’t work, it’s because I’m not normal:p
i went tubeless and will never go back to normal tube!
Yeah, I know tubeless is really good. But would a tubeless Trials uni work? And what if I have to rotate or change my tire?
i have it set up on my muni and my trials bike and mountain bike there is no pinch flats. and you just would do it the same way you normally wood. just a little harder