can exposed tire plys cause flats?

Yesterday I had planned a 70-ish mile trip to the coast from home, that just was not meant to be. I aired up just before leaving the house, but got my first flat within 20 miles. I checked both the rim and tire carefully before putting a fresh inner tube in. 10 miles later, with a marked "phwoosh", flat #2. As I was able to pull over quickly I was able to find the air still coming out of the tire and was able to search the tire really well where I was sure the puncture had been, still no sharpies to be found even using bare fingers. So I put my 2nd, and last new inner tube in. Another 10 miles and I felt the rear going soft and pulled over again. No choice this time, pull out the patch kit. Now the real frustration. The patch is holding so I remount the tube in the now triple inspected tire. Again nothing is palpable, but I do note that visually there are short tan fibers, about 1/8 inch long that are parallel to the bumps created by the ply and appear to be attached at both ends. Unfortunately, at this point my pump refuses to stay locked on the stem (demerits to Crank Bros); so I called my wonderfully patient and supportive (literally) husband for a ride. Since only 1 of the flats was a definate puncture, I'm wondering if the tire is the cause. Any ideas?

How new/old are the tires in terms of how many miles on them? It's a little hard to tell from your description if you mean the tire threads are showing through? If that's the case, you definitely need a new tire! And if it's a fairly new tire, that shouldn't have happened. If you got it at LBS, I'd take it back and show them. If it's a tire with lots of miles, well, that can happen. It just means the tire is worn. It allows the tube to poke through enough to touch the road and you will consistently get flats.sounds like your solution is a new tire. If the other is tire is the same age, I'd check that one, too, but usually, the rear tire will wear out faster than the front. Some people switch them out - putting the more worn from the rear onto the front and buying a new rear tire - but I don't do that. I really don't want to put a more worn tire on the front, when that's where the steering is.

Hope you find the problem quickly so you can get back to riding!

annie

annie