Air-filled tyres mean that a puncture is always a possibility. Yet it’s something that should happen rarely, perhaps once a year. You can prepare for this eventuality by practising how to fit an innertube and taking a spare with you, along with a pump and a couple of tyre levers. Puncture repair spray (from, for example, Gup or Zefal) is another solution, while folding-bike riders can simply phone a taxi. But don’t just wait for the puncture fairy to pay a visit. There’s plenty you can do to prevent flats in the first place.

Keep your tyres firm

Air gradually seeps out of tyres over time, so they slowly become softer. Soft tyres puncture more readily. The tyre footprint is bigger, with more rubber in contact with the road, so there’s a bigger target area for thorns, nails and shards of glass or flint. There’s less pushback from tyre pressure, too, so it’s much easier for sharp things to become embedded.

Soft tyres are also more susceptible to snakebite punctures. This is where the innertube is pinched by the rim when the tyre bottoms out on a pothole. It creates a pair of holes that look like they were made by a snake’s fangs, hence the name.

Keeping your tyres firm will cut down on punctures. They don’t need to be rock hard but you will need to pump them up now and then, especially narrow tyres. A floor pump, also known as a track pump, makes this job a moment’s work.

Ride with care

Stay out of the gutter. Good road positioning, where you’re always at least 50-100cm from the kerb and sometimes in the centre of the lane, does more than make you visible to drivers. It keeps you away from the worst of the puncture hazards. Car tyres wash debris towards the edge of the road, so you’ll encounter less broken glass and the like when you ride further out.

Roadside hedge cutting in the UK takes place from September to February. While those doing it are obliged to clear up afterwards, it’s not uncommon to find hawthorn scattered across the road. Unless you have extremely tough or sealant-filled tyres, choose a different route. Report the incident if you have time.

Avoid crashing through potholes and over square-edged bumps, particularly on narrow tyres. Even firm tyres can pinch puncture if you hit the lip of a pothole hard enough. If you’re unable to avoid a crater in the tarmac, stand up on the pedals and unweight the bike’s wheels as you roll through the hole.

Fit tougher tyres

The only way to guarantee that you won’t puncture is to fit solid, airless tyres. Tannus makes a wide range. Although such tyres sound like an ideal choice for commuting, there are trade-offs for that bombproof reliability. Rolling performance, bike handling and comfort are significantly worse than air-filled tyres. For very short commutes that are littered with broken glass, these might be compromises you’re prepared to make. For most cyclists, however, there are better options: puncture-resistant tyres.

The toughest of these use a thick layer of springy rubber under the tread. Schwalbe's Marathon Plus is the best known. It’s available in a huge range of sizes, all with a 5mm-thick puncture protection layer. You can ride over a drawing pin and not get a flat! Rival tough tyres include the Continental Contact Plus, Goodyear Transit Tour Plus and Pirelli Angel GT Urban. They’ll all heavy, due to that extra rubber, and they don’t roll as well or feel as nice as more fragile tyres – although they’re way better than airless tyres. For cycle commuters who aren’t performance minded, tyres like these are typically the best choice.

If you want to ride faster or further, there are still plenty of reasonably tough tyres to choose from. To keep the weight down, they tend to use breaker strips under the tread made from Kevlar or other synthetic fibres. Good examples of tougher tyres you could put on a road bike or fast hybrid include the Schwalbe One Plus, Continental Grand Prix 4-Season and the Michelin Power Protection TLR.

Use sealant

There are three broad types of tyre sealant: tubeless sealant, designed solely for tubeless tyres and rims; sealant like Slime that’s intended for use in innertubes; and puncture repair sprays, which can work with either type of tyre. While most sealants stay in the tyre or tube 24/7 and spray is only added after a puncture, they all do basically the same job. Escaping air takes the sealant to the hole, where it solidifies into a plug. Only a smallish amount of sealant – perhaps 75ml – is used; the sealant doesn’t fill the tyre.

Sealant is intended to stop small holes and cuts. Bigger holes and tears are beyond it; air and sealant will continue to escape. If you’re using sealant in an innertube when this happens, remove it and fit your spare tube. If you have tubeless tyres, you have a couple of options. You can fit an innertube or, if you have a tubeless repair kit with you, you can use a tyre plug. Essentially, you stab a sticky ‘worm’ into the hole in the tyre. This doesn’t make a perfect seal but clogs the hole so the sealant can (usually but not always) fill the smaller gap. Note that you can’t use tyre plugs with innertubes as air can escape between tube and tyre.

Tyre sealants don’t always work but they’ll prevent (or, rather, instantly repair) many punctures you weren’t even aware of. You carry on riding with a slightly softer tyre, topping it up with more air if necessary. Sealant can be messy, both during installation and when it does its job. Do you need it? If you use tubeless tyres, yes; most tubeless setups require sealant during installation. Sealant is also a good option for cyclists who use innertubes and only moderately tough tyres.