Last month, for the first time in thousands of KM, I got a flat tire.
It was fixed (replaced tube) and I've happily ridden another 400km since.
But I ride at nearly max pressure for the tires, because I assume this was caused by a pinch flat. At the time this flat happened, I was not running low pressure, but lower pressure than I am now (50psi vs 60psi, perhaps), and it happened on a very low speed ride on a smooth trail... no hard hits.
This was a new tube that I installed about 350km earlier, so maybe "user error."
But can someone tell me what might have actually been the cause of that type of flat?
Looks like you didn’t seat the tube properly before fully inflating.
I’ve had this happen a bunch of times. Inflate the tube, put in in the tire and over the rim, go once around the tire pinching the base of the tire to make sure the tube is sitting deep inside and inflate the rest of the way
But you putting 350 km on it may mean I’m full of shit
That's what I think, too.
There's the caveat... how could I have gone so long without this happening sooner?
Since the holes are aligned in the direction of travel not across it like pinch flats usually are, this gets my most probably theory vote too. 50psi is probably doable with a heavy tube. When I’ve done this personally it usually doesn’t blow during inflation until like 90-100psi. And sometimes it will even hold overnight at that pressure until you go ride on it.
So I imagine at half that you might be able to ride on it until wear issues pop it, which is what it looks like here.