There is nothing worse than having to change your bike tire because it’s become flat.
And to add insult to injury, it always happens in the worst location in heavy rain.
So, can you continue to cycle your bike with a flat tire? Or will you damage your bike and wreak your tire in the process?
Generally, it’s not recommended to ride a bike with a flat tire because you will damage your tire’s walls and potentially break the wheel frame. However, if your tire is slowly deflating, you could ride it to a place of safety and repair at the roadside.
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Why Do Bike Tires Go Flat
There are many reasons why your bike tire will become flat, not just puncturing your wheel during a bike ride.
Obviously, the most common type of puncture is when you ride your bike over a sharp object such as glass, sharp stones, sticks and twigs or other unknown objects.
Generally, these types of punctures will slowly deflate the bike tire, giving you a small window of time to get to a place of safety, back to your car or house and even to repair your bike tire at the roadside.
Another way of deflating your tire is by hitting something hard such as the curb or sidewalk, potholes, large rocks, boulders or after a big jump.
The increased pressure from the impact can damage the bike’s inner tube, usually splitting it and causing it to puncture.
Furthermore, tires naturally deflate over time if you haven’t ridden your bike for many months and it’s been sitting in the garage, shed, or basement.
Nevertheless, it is easy to pump up the tires and then go on your bike ride. This type of flat tire isn’t caused by a puncture but by air leaking out of the innertube and valve due to atmospheric pressure.
If it has been a long time since you got your bike out, the innertube and wheel rubber will be significantly weakened and will puncture a lot quicker than a newer tire and innertube.
Therefore it’s best to replace the innertube every six months for a brand-new innertube and consider changing your wheels every 10,000 miles.
The final reason your tires can become deflated is that the bike tire valve has become faulty or the rubber around it has failed, leading to air leaking out on the valve.
Unfortunately, there is no way of just replacing the valve. Therefore, you will have to buy a brand-new innertube. But don’t worry, they are relatively inexpensive.
Can You Ride A Bike With A Flat Tire?
If your bike tire is completely flat, it is not advised to ride your bike because the metal frame and rim of the wheel will start to cut through the thin walls of the tire.
A new tire and rim will cost you more than a new innertube. On average, a new bike tire will cost between $40 – $120 and an inner tune approximately $10.
Therefore riding your bike when your tire is completely flat should be avoided at all times.
Yet, if your bike tire is slowly deflating because there’s a tiny puncture inside the innertube, then you can continue to ride your bike, but the handling, speed and control will reduce as more air leaks from the tire.
If you are out on a ride and your tire is slowly deflating, and you do not have a puncture repair kit or spare inner tube, you could ride your bike with the tire deflating.
If you carry a small pump on your bike, you can periodically top up the air inside the innertube in order for you to make it home.
If you don’t have a pump to hand and pass a fuel station or garage, you could put more air inside your tire. This way, it will be enough air to get you home, hopefully.
How Far Can You Ride A Bike On A Flat Tire?
If your tire is completely flat, then the distance you can cover is zero miles.
But, if your tire is slowly deflating, you could make it many miles before the tire becomes completely flat.
If you have a small bicycle pump with you, you could continually top up the air inside your wheel, and you could cover 5 miles, 10 miles or even more on a flat tire.
Nonetheless, you will lose a lot of control and speed on your bike. Suggesting it will take you twice as long to cycle at your average pace and distance.
What Happens If You Ride A Bike On A Flat Tire?
If you ride a bike on a completely flat tire, then the metal rim of the wheel will start to cut into the rubber wall lining of your tire, and the innertube will be totally unusable.
Your bike tire is far more expensive than an innertube, and once the inner wall has been damaged, the bike wheel is compromised.
If you proceed to ride on your bike, you could destroy the wheel’s rim and buckle the wheel itself due to the extra weight on the bike saddle.
Furthermore, you could damage the spokes on the wheel, which means you will have to replace the entire bike wheel.
If the flat tyre is on the back wheel, you could also break the bike chain because it will become slacker as the tire deflates, and your rear sprocket will also take some of the impact.
Can You Wheel A Bike With A Flat Tire?
If you’re unfortunate and your back tire gets a puncture, you can wheel your bike either from your garage or off the road and back to your house or your car.
The most crucial part is that you don’t ride the bike, which will put extra weight on the damaged tire, increasing the likelihood of the metal rim and frame slicing through the wall of the rubber tire.
Therefore wheeling the bike on the flat tire is a better mode of transporting the bike back to shelter, which will cause it a lot less damage.
If your front tire has deflated, then wheeling your bike on the back tire, which is still fully intact and inflated, will not cause any damage to the front bike wheel at all.
If you’re extraordinarily unlucky and both tires have deflated, then wheeling your bike is still the best option, and it will save you from carrying the bike over a long distance.
How Often Do You Get A Flat Bike Tire?
On average, you would expect to get one puncture for every 3 bike rides. But, you can get a flat tire on your bike during any part of a bike ride. Typically road bikes have more punctures because the wheels and tires are much thinner than a mountain or standard bike.
It would be best if you considered replacing your bike tire every 1000 miles and changing your innertube every 500 miles. Or when you get your bike serviced.
However, many factors determining how frequently you will puncture on your bike. If you ride a ride bike and the road condition is bumpy with multiple potholes, glass and other debris, the likelihood of receiving a flat is high.
Nonetheless, on a mountain bike, the wheels are a lot thicker because of the off-roading design, implying you should get fewer flats on the same road conditions.
But I’ve had days where I’ve had three flat tyres during the same ride and times when I’ve had no flats for 6 months or more. It really does depend.
4 Hacks For Fewer Flat Tires
1. Use A Latex SealantÂ
You can put 40ml of latex sealant inside your bike innertube, which will coat the inside of the tube, preventing the tire from going flat.
Hopefully, the latex sealant will cover the hole created during the puncture, keeping the bike tire inflated for longer. These are great for small pinprick type punctures but don’t work for a full blowout.
2. Add Extra Rim Tape To your Wheel
As your bike tire gets older, the rubber begins to deteriorate, and the sharp rim of your bike wheel can start to cut through the wall of the rubber tire.
To combat this, add or replace your old rim tape with thicker newer tape, preventing the rim from cutting through the tire. This is a much cheaper option than buying a new bike tire and will extend the life of a new tire for a lot longer.
3. Buy Heavy Duty Tyres
If you experience a lot of punctures and flat tires, it might be financially beneficial to buy a more expensive and thicker, more durable tire.
The extra thickness of this tire will prevent small punctures from happening regularly.
Even though the thicker, more durable tire will cost you more money than a standard tire over the life of the tire, you should expect fewer flats.
Therefore, financially you should be better off.
These heavier tires are not recommended if you are a serious cyclist who is looking to get the fastest times on an extremely light bike.
But, for the hobby cyclist, it is a great option to consider
4. Ride Away From The Gutter
Do you regularly ride your bike on the road?
Then try and position your bike away from the gutter.
The gutter is the edge of the road where the curb or sidewalk meet. Typically this is where all the road debris collects, and if you cycle in the gutter, your tires will pick up a lot more punctures.
Be careful of other road users and don’t position yourself too far into the centre of the lane, and give yourself enough room that you’re not cycling in the gutter area.
Travelling on Smooth road surfaces is the ideal position to avoid any unnecessary flats.