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How worried should I be about getting and repairing flat tires? I plan on using my bike, primarily, to commute 12 miles to work and back, so I will be riding solo. The reason I ask is because my wife recoils in horror at any bike I look at with wire rims, because she insists I should get tubeless tires, thus cast wheels. I don't mind cast wheels, it just limits my options. SO, should I be worried about getting and repairing flats, or is it a paper tiger?

Check your tires regularly and unless you hit a hazard on the road, shouldn't worry too much...



By the way, you can still get flat tires on a tubeless and with cast rims....

She just thinks it's easier to plug them. I'm not too concerned.

I have had plugs put in my rear tyre before with out incident, im not so sure I would plug the front, maybe, depends on how old the tyre was.

Tubes are easy to repair as well, infact, Ive heard of people putting tubes inside their tubless as a repair which sounds perfectly reasonable.


Flats, unfortunately, are just another part of riding, I just hope I never get one in the front at speed

Doctor Discotheque wrote:She just thinks it's easier to plug them. I'm not too concerned.

She has a point. If you have a plug kit and some source of compressed air, you can fix the flat without having to take the wheel off the bike, and take the tire off the wheel. That can be a real pain on the side of the road.

In my experience, flats are pretty rare if your tires are in good shape and you avoid road hazards.

Well, I got 2 flats this year on my way to work.

one was a screw and the other was a piece of metal from (I think) a truck tire that had come apart and not been fully swept up.

Flats happen. I plugged them, inflated the tire and was on my way in 15 minutes. Can't do that with a tube tire. I'll never have another bike with tubes/spokes.

(Now I hear BMW has some spoked wheels that use tubeless tires.)