When I raced. I always carried a spare. Never flatted in 15 years of triathlon racing, with the exception of a slow leak in my rear tire at one race that I discovered after the fact. I always raced on tubulars, which if you know what you are doing can be changed very quickly - 1 to 2 minutes tops. If the flat happend within a few K of the finish and the course was flat, I would just ride it in. This is another advantage with tubulars - you can ride them when deflated( not reccomended, but doable). Clinchers are hard if not impossible and very unsafe to ride when deflated.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Usually I would (and have) keep going. This weekend I quit because I ended up sitting on the side of the road for over an hour and fifteen minutes.

I had a few flats while training and usually at the end of the ride when I check the final numbers I realize that I did as well as in a normal no flat tire ride. There must be some extra adrenaline that gets triggered after getting a flat that makes you go faster.

I flatted this weekend. It cost me about 5 minutes but it didn't ruin my day. I only get to do about 5-6 races a year so I would feel really bad about having to quit a race because I didn't bring a tube with me. If I raced every weekend I might not carry a spare on the less important races.

Paul

I flatted in my first race this year (2 weeks ago). It was just a sprint, and I lost about 10 minutes fixing it in the sandy dirt on the side of the road. But I kept going! As long has I have the tools to fix whatever's broken, I fix it and keep going!

-bcreager

I flatted on a training ride on Saturday and silly me, I was caught without an extra tube, patch kit, CO2 cartidges, etc. I broke down and called my support crew and made her come and pick me up -- that wasn't easy as our boy was in the middle of a nap and my wife was in the middle of a scrapbooking session with a couple of friends. I felt like such an ass sitting there at the side of a country road with trucks and tractors driving by and I am sure laughing until they swallowed their chew.

Mike

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One of the few who actually finds Kangaroo entertaining.

One race, I lead out of T1 (small local race <200 people) and was flying when I got a flat. Changed, but lost about 7-10 places. Apparently, I didn't get the original culprit out of the tire and flatted again 5 miles later. SAG for the race helped me with another spare. But, at that point, I was just pissed. However, I got back on, road strong, but not terrible fast and had a good run, cheering on others. I paid money for the event, so damn if I quit!



Point is, have fun!



Chris

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Chris
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“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
― Hunter S. Thompson,

I can see quitting because of serious mechanical problem but I don't think a lot of people quit because of flats. I would think it would be more likely they were having a bad day already and that was just the last straw.

The longer the race the less likely I would be to pack it in on a flat. In a sprint .5 mi 18mi 5k race, your race is pretty much over place and time wise. Back in the days when I cared(and so did the sponsors) finishing well out of the top ten was not an option. In an oly race there is a little time to give, but in a really quick short race man you lose a lot of places in a hurry..
So I guess my vote is to go on, but I totally understand why a pro or top amature would rather DNF than have a crappy result in the boo"ks. Kind of like Tiger Woods scoring a 103 or something. People would say Hey I could have beat that chump." G

I have come to see a flat as an opportunity! It hasn't happened in a race yet, but on the rare occasion that I have one I yell "GO!!" in my head and punch my watch to start a new lap--then I fly through it as fast as I can and see how I did. It sfun, but I hate dirty hands.

I've never dropped out of a race in 27 years of competition (running and triathlon) so having a flat tire would definitely not be a reason to quit. When I was a competitive runner I saw too many guys that made the DNF a habit if the race wasn't going well so there's no way I'd quit without a really good reason (total wreckage of my bike in a crash might be a valid reason but not a flat tire that can be fixed quickly). A flat might take you off the podium in a short race but you can always try to salvage the race by having a great run after your "tire change rest".

interesting. reminds me of a story. after my first sub 30 half iron ocean swim i rode over the remnants of a busted beer bottle at mile 50 of a narrow and dangerous bike course - that slashed my new tire in two. spares at this point were useless so i rode 5mph on the rim for the next 6 miles. as i crept along i figured my chances at a decent race, 4.45 was my goal to pr. were over - until some asshole passed me and made a crack about my situation "should have saved something for the run dude" was the remark, verbatim. apparently he thought i was bonking and didnt notice the michelin axial pro flopping off my rim. anyway, he was on one of those very annoying 'tri team guys' from the area that possess a majority who often look alot faster than they actually are. well, i rolled into t2 and took off and had the run of my triathlon life - i caught the smart ass at mile 6 of the run and told him that 'NOW was the time to start racing' -- he didnt say a word though he had the decency to mutter 'good job'. i pr'd that day at the 1/2 distance and never thought about bailing. unless it is a sprint - i always pack my tubes and co2.

tristan

In sprints and Oly, if I flat I'm out since I don't carry a spare. In 1/2IM and IM I carry spares (but only 1). Been racing for 15 years and never (knock on wood) had a flat in a race.

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Paul

Flat Tires: Do you quit the race?

No. I flatted at IM NZ early on and lost 7 minutes, and at least 100 places. I did pull that third tube out of special needs and stick in my jersey just in case.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I would never quit a race for a flat tyre (tire) assuming you have a spare tube or tubular.

I have flated only once in a race. Sprint tri 0.5m S/ 20km B / 5 KM run. Rear wheel flat on new ZIP 404 tubular after hitting a bridge joint on a 3 loop bike course.

I was leading my AG when I got the flat. Thought my chances of a place were shot, but after slow 5m 30s (fingers were cold and too damn good of a glue job) I changed the tire, jumped back on the bike then played "catch-up". Foinsihed up 2nd in my AG, about 1 minute down from 1st place, and was 20th overall I think.

Actually, the flat was the best thing that happened. The ZIP 404 was new (only ridden for about 6 hours in Kona 2 weeks before). Upon removing the tubular it delaminated 8" of carbon from the rim. Got a brand new ZIP wheel in 10 days. This was my last race for last season - it may have been harder to get a warranty claim if it happen this season.

IMO you paid your race fees, may as well give it a go and finish.

Mark

If the bike is under 40K, I would quit. If over, it would be silly to quit. Thus far, I have not flatted in a multisport race. I have flatted a few times in a crit and a road race, however.

I have DNF-ed one race EVER. I have ran my bike over the finish line before just to finish, and even got onto the podium on a bike a ran across the line.

I cant believe the amount of people that dont carry spares on a race, WTF?????? I can see maybe a sprint race but anything else is just poor planning and lack of gumption. What freaking sport in the US do athletes quit when down, I can name one, TRIATHLON, this is absurd and embarrasing, where did you learn to quit when down, do we teach our kids to do this??????? All you athletes out there that quit in the middle of a race should be ashamed of yourselves and strip the title of ATHLETE from your resume and insert QUITTER. You spend all that money on new bikes and equipment and then let a 3 dollar tube or 50 dollar tire decide your race, sheeeeeeesh.
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I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard

stated rather eloquently, Heavy.

I do carry a spare. I imagine that if I flat in a multisport race, unlike what I say I would do, I would go ahead and change it. I finished a cit with a broken bike, for Chrissakes!!!! I have had many flats in a road and crit race and got the neutral wheel. Sometimes, this happened after I gave up my wheel.

I tend to do different than what I even think I would do when faced in a situation. Logically, if the race is short, I *think* I would just let the sag wagon grab me.

For AGers - No way. Finish and see how many people you can catch. A flat is a cop out. With CO2 you should be able to change in 2-3 minutes and long change would be 4-5 min, so if it is a short race your placing will not be as good, but chances are you drove a ways to the race and got up early, so why not finish? Also, I can recall a couple races where a flat change under 4 would not have changed the placing.

reminds me of my first triathlon ever. i borrowed a 15 year-old road bike from a family friend. the bike had platform pedals with cages, so i wore my running shoes on the ride. i flatted on the ride with about 5 miles to go. i got off and ran the bike to T2 and then took off for the run. it was a bit embarrassing finishing so late, but i was glad to finish it.

i don't think i'd ever quit a race because of a flat. i'm not in this to earn money and it's still gratifying to finish a race well, even if i lose 5 or 50 places due to a flat.

always finish.. sure any hope of placing in Oly/sprint is gone by the time I've changed a flat, but I can still have a good run.

Only flatted once so far in a race, an early-season duathlon with wet roads from rain/snow mix. Changing the flat wasn't a big issue, but I got hit by another bike coming off the road to avoid being killed by a pickup truck. Took a while to regroup from that.