A cheap folding tyre

xxamr_corpxx

Anyone know of any medium quality folding training tyres? I'm looking for something that will strictly be for emergency use only for a inter-city tour next month. (By emergency use I mean if I do tear my good training tyre, all it has to do is to ride to the nearest LBD). I've been looking online at Torpedo7 but they seem to be 3 - 4 times the cost of my training tires. Any suggestions? Any good brands?

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2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

Aussie Steve

get onto ProbikeKit's website- they are in the UK and deliver to Australia within about 5 days or less, so NZ should be similar turnaround...their prices are great...can't remember their address but just Google it...

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I have never had a problem with Premature Ejac... it's my partners that had the problem

Stanners77

www.probikekit.com

It works out roughly half price for most tyres, even at the top end of the spectrum. If you can get something like a lower end Continental tyre cheaply there, you may as well do so and leave the nasty cheap stuff on the lbs shelf...

All the best,

Stanners

xxamr_corpxx

Well, I've just gone for a look. Those prices make my LBS look like a High Street fashion store.

Has anyone heard of Michelin Speediums? They look like nice and cheap trainers. Else, for a more quality tire, should I go with Vittoria Rubino Pro or Conti Gatorskins? I'm primarily looking for puncture resistance, but I don't want anything too heavy.

__________________
2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

Stanners77

It's a good thing for lbs's that they don't rely solely on tyre sales to stay afloat these days, huh?

In my experience, Rubinos are poor - they get cuts quite easily. Michelins (I have not tried the Speedium variety) are generally v light but not very puncture resistant.

My pick would be the Gatorskins. I've had two sets, which both did tonnes of kms, and NOT ONE SINGLE PUNCTURE. You'll probably find they're not absolutely featherlight, but they won't be lead weights either and anyway, a little bit of extra weight is the trade off for the puncture resistance.

Good luck!

P.S. I'm currently running Conti GP4000's that I've had on for a year and no punctures!

Albert 50

I want the roads you ride on!!!!!......I have the same tyres, with the rear full of cuts, & a puncture every 200 / 300 ks or there abouts

sideshow_bob

If you ride in Sydney you'll cut your tires. I almost exclusively use Rubinos and will typically get 3,000k on a tire without them cutting up to badly. At $23 a tire it's more than I'm looking for. Michelins used to have the 'Carbon' series which are absolutely bullet proof. They've been replaced by Krylions which are similarly tough. Both these tires are good all rounders for both training and racing. Gatorskins are very tough but all in my opinion are heavy and handle like crap in the wet.

--brett

Stanners77

I don't think it's so much the roads - I'm just uber anal about maintaining them.

I check the pressure 2-3 times a week and keep them at max. (120psi). I check them for glass and debris after most rides. You'd be surprised how much you find that doesn't constitute an immediate puncture threat but that will cause grief in time as it works its way deeper into the tyre.

No denying gators aren't superlight but I don't agree they handle poorly in the wet...

I think the moral of the story is each to their own but in any case, most people will buy online!

Albert 50

Well, not the road so much as the crap littering them.......mainly glass, 1/4 minus, & metal "bits".
Check after every ride for cuts & debris
If I use max pressure I puncture more often.

TLW

By a process of elimination we (my 2 riding mates and I) use Vittoria Rubino Pros from Probikekit. They are about $28NZ plus postage, or nearly $80 in local bike shops, and about $60 at Torpedo7.
They are a folding tyre, and we have found them really durable - we have only had one puncture between us in the last 6 months or so (av 200km/week each), and we do all our riding on Auckland suburban roads, with all the glass and crap that entails!
As a bonus, they come in different colours as well as just black, so you can match them up to your bike (if you are really sad like we are!)

11ring

We have Hutchinson Excel's for $29.00 each in a folding bead. Not light, but grippy and durable.

http://www.cellbikes.com.au/product.php?id=193

xxamr_corpxx

Bah! I got a puncture the second time I used my gatorskins. It was a snakebite :

Moral of the story - A nice tyre means nothing if you still have that crappy plastic rim tape.

__________________
2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

slyrider

I'm with you Stanners, go the Gatorskins!

thomas_cho

Arent snakebites due to the tube getting pinched between tyre and rim, rather than due to a crappy rim tape?

I had a bad spate of luck with Rubino pros oevr a period of 2 weeks, where I had 3 punctures. But I have ridden about 500km on it since then, and no punctures, plus they seem to wear rather well ... no obvious signs of wear. In fact if I were to wash the tyres with soap, they would look like new.

Currently using GP4000s, and to me they seem to handle better(than the Rubinos, and Micheline Pro2s). No punctures so far, but its only been abt 250km old.

Michelin Pro2 grip really well, but they seem to want to pick up embedded little stones, and a bit of glass, but no punctures on them either. I inspect them when it occurs to me, and pick out the embedded stones, and glass.

So perhaps like other posters have mentioned, maintenance might be the key to unecessary punctures. But on the road, there just is no certain gaurantee against flats.