Brett asked:

<Honest question, I'm not trying to stir any pots: What does one do with the flatted tire? Leave it on the side of the road and pick up later? If speed of changing tires during a race is the issue, wouldn't this make more sense? Or, do you stuff it in a back pocket and finish the course?>

In the U.S. you best take it with you, lest you end up with an abandoned equipment penalty. We don't know you plan to go back.

David Schoonmaker

Cat. 1 USA Triathlon official

I can't remember the last time I had a pinch-flat. The last time I had a flat in a race was due to a "goathead" thorn, one of those nasty two-pronged things. Didn't thorns spring up after Adam and Eve ate that apple? About a third of the racers got flats. I understand that a tubular is much faster to fix, but are they any more resistant to thorns and glass? Are flats the inevitable consequence of sin?

Two words: tire boot.

Not an issue.

Ken Lehner

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"Go yell at an M&M"

And -- tire boots cost a dollar. Well, in fact, they ARE a dollar.

A dollar bill folded over makes a very nice tire boot for clincher rips up to a half inch or so.

Julian,

I have used a folded dollar bill before it works great...

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"You're guaranteed to miss 100% of the shots you never take" - Wayne Gretzky