I grew up riding my bike all around my hometown. Never had a flat. Still to this day, I have never had a flat while out riding. Where do y'all ride that you have to worry about punctures so much? Or maybe it has to do with the type of bicycle? Do road bike tires puncture more easily? I would always ride one of these (mine was a 5-speed, though):
The two most common types of flats in our house are pinch flats from going over unavoidable potholes (used to live in an area of Indianapolis that had the audacity to have poor people so the roads were sh*t) and holes from the various high desert stabby seeds pods that are in abundance in Colorado. DH actually put Kevlar lined tires on his bike after we moved here after getting a flat EVERY DAY for a week. Also, we both primarily ride road bikes which I think do just inherently get more flats.
Yes, pinch flats are the most common flats. I will be writing about this in the spring but the three most important hacks for preventing flats are:
1. Make sure the inside of the wheel is covered so that the sharp backs of the spokes do not puncture the inner side of the tire, I prefer electrical tape for this (changed my life!)
2. Use thicker tubes - cost is a little more $8 versus $5-6 for standard tubes
3. Keep your tires at high pressure 80-110 psi, this prevents the tire from pushing down into the base and pinching the tube
Two additional tips which are plus or minus.
4. (most expensive and usually optional unless you have many thorns around) Buy kevlar or "hardshell" tires - $60-80 per tire
5. (even more expensive) Buy fancy racing wheels
Using these 5 (most of the time the top 3) methods, I have not had a standard flat in over 15,000 miles of bicycle commuting in Denver, Colorado!
The only flat I have had is when I wore all of the way through my hardshell tire and the tube blebbed out and pinched on the road! I should have known to replace my tire sooner but wanted to get maximum miles out of it! I hope this helps. If the language is confusing, stay tuned to my blog, I will detail all of these things with pictures and extra tips