Vinegar. We’re not sure when we initially heard about rubbing tires with vinegar to help prevent flats, but our staff has known about this hack for years.
Many riders note that wet roads go hand in hand with more flat tires. The culprit seems to be tiny pieces of glass and small sharp stones that are washed onto roadways. Good tires tend to have a ‘stickier’ compound for traction that can contribute to the problem.
A simple solution that was passed on to us is to rub vinegar on the tires about a half hour before riding. Not all tire compounds are the same, so we can’t guarantee the results, but we believe it does reduce the amount of small debris picked up by your tires.
How does it work? We’re not sure on what the chemical process is. We have seen forums imply that it will change the rubber compound and increase wear (but we haven’t noticed that). We’ve used vinegar on primarily high thread count clincher and tubular tires (Vittoria, Challenge and Bontrager) with success.
It’s not just us. Here’s a link to the Challenge folks and their take.