Overweight commuter - LOTS of flats

Get some decent rims/tyres and go TUBELESS. Will be cheaper than the dole in the long run.

5 golden rules for avoiding punctures

1. Decent tyres. I'd suggest Marathon Plus. Bombproof

2. Decent rim tape - Velox is the stuff to use. Not electrical tape or plastic/rubber strips

3. When fitting, check inside rims and wheels for debris. Wife's bike had drilling swarf in the double skin of the rims. Be extra careful when fitting that you don't nip the tube.

4. Keep tyres inflated at or near the maximum.

5. Respect your wheels and tyres. Avoid glass,debris and potholes as much as you can and bumping off undropped curbs as well.

I carry a heavy child on the bike, every day, for 3 years, through a busy city, glass and debris, with not a puncture yet, marathon plus schwalbe are bulletproof, I used to ride a thick tire which had punctures all the time, but began to ride a 700c slim road tire on my Raleigh Tourer, and now a smaller schwalbe Apple on a tandem, follow a decent line, no bumping over pavements or cracks, good pressure checked regularly, check the tube is inserted right, should be able to use a repaired inner tube over and over but if the tube and tyre are pinched you will get flats, also make sure you're tyres aren't worn down too much and maybe minimise what you carry in the panniers.

I carry a heavy child on the bike, every day, for 3 years, through a busy city, glass and debris, with not a puncture yet, marathon plus schwalbe are bulletproof, I used to ride a thick tire which had punctures all the time, but began to ride a 700c slim road tire on my Raleigh Tourer, and now a smaller schwalbe Apple on a tandem, follow a decent line, no bumping over pavements or cracks, good pressure checked regularly, check the tube is inserted right, should be able to use a repaired inner tube over and over but if the tube and tyre are pinched you will get flats, also make sure you're tyres aren't worn down too much and maybe minimise what you carry in the panniers.

I know loads of bigger riders.

Some of them go through wheels, tyres & tubes like sweeties.
Some of them don't.

What the latter category all have in common is they pick better lines when riding, and therefore don't stress their set-up so much.

That often means riding a little further out, avoiding cracks in the road, manhole covers, etc.

They're also conscientious about checking tyres regularly, usually before every ride. One minute in the warmth may save you being stranded and shivering.

first thing is you are not overweight - you are the weight you are now which will come down as you exercise ?do you stand up on the pedals as you go over bumps / dents / potholes? take the weight / pressure of the tyres and there will be fewer problems. courage my friend and dont let the ba****ds in the supermarket get the better of you.

As others have said, if you don't have one already, buy a track pump and regularly check your tyre pressure, at least once a week. I'd suggest going for the maximum pressure stated on the wall of the tyre. Make sure whatever pump you carry with you can get up to this pressure too (it will need to be a specifically high pressure pump.)

Also, again as others have said, check your rim tape while switching over the tyres.

The Marathon Plus tyres are good for avoiding penetration punctures, but the tyre pressure is what you need to fix for avoiding pinches.

Do your best to avoid the potholes, kerb edges, etc!

Like CXR94Di2 I recommend going tubeless. Unfortunately this isn't cheap as you will need a rim strip (I used 26" ones - not the 29" ones, which just flopped around - when converting my 700C commuting wheels tubeless), some of that Stan's yellow tape or equivalent (to replace your existing rim tape; I've used electrical tape before but it gave up after a while), some sealant but most importantly a tubeless ready tyre. It also helps to have a compressor to get tyre to seat properly - local shop should be able to help. The specialized tracer pro 2Bliss is a 38mm with a file tread that rolls pretty well on the road, seems pretty puncture resistant and sets up tubeless pretty easily with Stan's rim strips. In my experience it can take a few days for tubeless sealant to get into all the tiny holes - i.e., for first day or so your tyres go flat and you have to keep pumping them back up/adding a bit more sealant.

A lot of (road bike) type of tyres and tubes, are not built to take that sort of weight. I would suggest trying to get hold of a cheap (possibly second hand) mountain bike. If you keep at the cycle commuting, you will see your weight drop fairly soon. When your BMI drops into a more healthy zone, the road bike tyres and tubes will cope much better. I know that may sound a bit harsh, but it's what I found, through personal experience. Keep at the riding, good luck.

As a fellow fatty I hear you loud and clear. I suffered many a puncture and nearly gave up the road biking to go back to MTB after a spell of punctures.

My number 1 and 2advice for (against really) flats is:

1. Buy slime inner tubes - normally a tenner each but Rutland cycling sell them for a fiver in the sale.
2. 120psi. And CHECK YOUR PRESSURE on a weekly basis. Or whatever your max recommended is (check tyre wall).

I cycle through the land that is paved with shards of glass and since I've found this miracle cure for punctures I've not had one.

I weigh 105kg (down from 110) and I've been road biking for a year (6000km) with a 10 mile commute each way on Continental Ultra Sport IIs, which are apparently slated for being as thin as an A4 piece of paper. Trust me, trust in slime. Tyre choice is irrelevant. My winter bike has Specialized Armadillos (which are only marginally more comfortable than riding on Fred flintstone concrete wheels) so personally I would go with a cheap flimsy high TPI tyre for comfort, anything soft, racey and grippy. Just make sure they're properly inflated.

If you can't be asked replacing the tube you can also buy the slime itself but it's REALLY fiddly to get it into a presta valve tube, I speak from experience. Best to buy he ready made stuff. It's less trouble. Replace tube once. I've had mine for 5900km and still going strong.

Honestly it will change your life.

Developed with the commuter in mind... Give these guys a try:

http://www.tannus.co.uk/

Solid rubber tyres created to a compound that has low rolling resistance a 100% guaranteed no punctures!

Check that the tube diameter is the right size for the tyre - if you've gone from 42 to 32 with the same tubes, the tube may be too big and folded onto itself.

Also, not saying you're doing this, but, if you are... don't hop on and off kerbs. That's a classic way to put a big deforming load into the tyre, making a pinch flat more likely.

Stick with it!

Leave earlier to give yourself the extra time 'just in case'. Change your rim tape. Inflate your tyres to that recommended on the tyre. It almost certainly isn't the weight. Try not to hit potholes/kerbs though.

You might want to consider tubeless tyres. No more pinch flats and greatly improved puncture resistance.

Check if your rims are compatible for tubeless, most can be made compatible with two layers of rim tape sealant.

Keep it up is the key thing - that's a decent oul' commute, so the more you do this, the less you'll weigh, and the less you'll puncture!

For current purposes, I'd ignore the Bike Quarterly thing; the variables it's looking at are comfort and speed, it excludes propensity to pinch-flat. In general, particularly at a high weight, high pressures are your friend. Those tires should be wide enough, but after checking out the rims, tape etc. as dunnoh says I'd try inflating them towards the upper end of the tire's and rim's rating.

To eliminate pinch-flats pretty much altogether, I'd suggest going tubeless, but a proper conversion/new set of wheels is an unnecessary expense. Unless there's a rim issue, or you're riding across a thumb-tack farm every morning, sufficient pressure should at least significantly reduce the incidence.

(unless you're riding at good pressure already. you mention different pressures, but no specifics - do you have a track pump with a pressure gauge?)

Are you trying to repair the punctured tube, or just fit a new one in? You should be able to fit a new inner tube in well under 10 mins, so you don't have to leave all that much earlier.

Keep it up!

I bet its your rims. Have a look at the rim tape and mark the spot where the wheel keeps popping. Or try different inner tubes. If it is the tyres then try Specialized Armadillos work pretty well. Failing that you may be putting the tyres back on incorrectly. Use plenty of talc and don't use levers

What pressures have you actually been using and how much are you carrying in the pannier?

Bicycle Quarterly's advice might be a good starting point - http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf

Am guessing wider tyres & more pressure might be the solution...