Flat protectio

[Froze]

Tires get harder when they get cold and thus will lose traction pretty quickly and they feel rougher, Going to a wider tire helps to reduce some of the rough riding characteristics but won't do a darn thing for traction. Also, if you can find this information on any specific tire, a tire with less than 60 Duro will be more grippy due to the softer rubber on wet cold conditions but this does mean the tire will wear out faster.

After thinking about this for awhile I think if money is an issue I would seriously consider the Panaracer Ribmo in a 32, this tire is hard to beat till you get way up to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

 

[amazinmets73]

Tires get harder when they get cold and thus will lose traction pretty quickly and they feel rougher, Going to a wider tire helps to reduce some of the rough riding characteristics but won't do a darn thing for traction.  Also, if you can find this information on any specific tire, a tire with less than 60 Duro will be more grippy due to the softer rubber on wet cold conditions but this does mean the tire will wear out faster. After thinking about this for awhile I think if money is an issue I would seriously consider the Panaracer Ribmo in a 32, this tire is hard to beat till you get way up to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

The Marathon plus are in my budget and were actually the tires I was trying to decide between a 28 and 32 in...

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
'Tire Savers' aka 'Nail Pullers' are a classic solution to goatheads, glass, bits or wire, tacks, nails, sharp rocks and objects that like to penetrate tire & tube.

There used to be two styles of Tire Savers. One was made from round wire for the mount section and round wire for the scraper section that were coupled together with clear plastic tubing. The fancier type had a convex piece of sheet metal formed to the radius of the tire tread that was mounted on a hinge to the piece that attached to the brake caliper mounting bolt.

They worked in 1972 and I'm sure they will work well today. Faster than a gloved hand, for sure. Somewhere...in one of my boxes of pieces parts is a pair of the plastic tube style that protected the sew-ups on my old Peugeot PY-10.

You can still get those things and their cheap and light, but make sure you install them correctly or they can fold up under our fork or frame; see: http://www.compasscycle.com/tires_wipers.html.

I use to use these when I had tubulars and they did help but I stopped once I went to clinchers not sure why. They don't prevent all flats from happening, but if you catch something on the first tire rotation but it doesn't go through it will snag it out before the second rotation pushes it the rest of the way through, obviously if the offending object goes through on the first rotation then the Saver won't work which is typically the case. I would say I probably saved myself about 10% of all flats with the device (going on distant memory), but with tubulars 10% less flats was much better than nothing. They do exert a tiny bit of drag on the tire, they should be adjusted so that they barely skim the tire surface...at least that's how I set mine up, some guys had theirs set as tight as they could against the tire, when I raced I simply bent them out of the way a bit so they hovered about, read that roughly, .035mm off the tire (I used a feeler gauge for this at the highest point of the rim).

 

[urge2kill]

Originally Posted by amazinmets73

I have a cyclocross bike which I plan to use for commuting this winter. I was originally intending to use cyclocross tires for the commute, but I was advised against it because cyclocross tires wear quickly and knobbies aren't great for road riding. So, looks like I'll be needing some 28-32c road tires.

Froze, I looked for the Armadillo tires, but I could only find them in 23 and 25c. Does Specialized manufacture the tires in larger sizes? I found the Schwalbe Marathon's on sale at Chain Reaction for 37 plus an additional 10% off, pretty good deal.

The Schwalbe Plus never flats... ever. If it starts leaking, you check that the tube isn't tearing near the valve stem, because that's definitely what it is. It doesn't flat.

 

[Froze]

NO TIRE IS FLAT PROOF, lets repeat what we've learned, NO TIRE IS FLAT PROOF.

 

[Mb Quart]

I always wonder why more people don't put.. STAN'S sealant in their tubes. I had a good friend introduce e to the idea 3 yrs. Ago after moving to Idaho. Horrific roads!! Call it luck or whatever, but since then i have NEVER FLATTED! Yes i do get a puncturenow and then,but the sealant aways closes the hole and my ride continues! Last time i changed my tubes i had 3 holes in the front tube, and 2 in the back, but never ONCE did i have to stop riding! Give it a shot... It may surprise ya. Good Luck!

 

[dabac]

I always wonder why more people don't put.. STAN'S sealant in their tubes. I had a good friend introduce e to the idea 3 yrs. Ago after moving to Idaho. Horrific roads!! Call it luck or whatever, but since then i have NEVER FLATTED! Yes i do get a puncturenow and then,but the sealant aways closes the hole and my ride continues! Last time i changed my tubes i had 3 holes in the front tube, and 2 in the back, but never ONCE did i have to stop riding! Give it a shot... It may surprise ya. Good Luck!

Stan's dry out, and has to be topped up regularly. And doesn't do that well on skinny tire pressures.

 

[Mb Quart]

I run HED ARDENNES FR RIMS w/25mm tyres. Low pressure. I run 1oz per tire and it runs forever! A quart bottle can last WELL OVER A YEAR... OR LONGER. You live in Baltimore, not arizona! The humidity alone is a plus! When you hear about guys having... TO TOP UP, ITS THE DESERT AREAS.

 

[dabac]

I run HED ARDENNES FR RIMS w/25mm tyres. Low pressure. I run 1oz per tire and it runs forever! A quart bottle can last WELL OVER A YEAR... OR LONGER. You live in Baltimore, not arizona! The humidity alone is a plus! When you hear about guys having... TO TOP UP, ITS THE DESERT AREAS.

I'm in Sweden, far, far away from any deserts. And I most certainly need to top up.

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by dabac


Stan's dry out, and has to be topped up regularly. And doesn't do that well on skinny tire pressures.

I use to live in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California where goatheads bred faster than mosquitos in Louisiana in the summer! Goatheads I found out would penetrate almost anything even a combination of a Conti Gatorskin with a Mr Tuffy liner and a Slime tube, and what I found out is that Slime would not seal a leak unless the psi was below 70, and from what I heard at a local LBS none of the other sealants at the time would either.

The best tire I found at the time was the Specialized Armadillo All Condition tire, once I started using those tires I never had another flat in 15,000 miles...except once when I ran a rear tire down to the cords just to see what would happen.

Today there is a new liner on the market that beats Mr Tuffy hands down, it's called a Panaracer FlatAway. The FlatAway liner is so tough I actually tried to drive a tack through it and failed whereas with a piece of Mr Tuffy it went easily through; the FlatAway is so tough that it hurt my hands to try to cut it with scissors whereas the Mr Tuffy cut like butter. There are 2 downfalls to the FlatAway liner, one is it cost about $15 per tire, and the second is that you can't transfer from tire to tire because it has a self adhesive side that you peel and stick to the inside of the tire and that adhesiveness will not allow it to be transferred. The good news about the liner having the self adhesive is that you don't have to fight with the liner to keep in place while you attempt to install the tube then the tire which is a real pain and a guessing game with the Mr Tuffy. Also the FlatAway liner weighs just 25 grams vs 98 grams the Mr Tuffy weighs although Mr Tuffy has introduced lately a lighter version that weighs 57 grams but that just means it'll be less effective.

Today I no longer live in Goathead country and my streets aren't real trashy so I don't bother with using the Specialized Armadillo anymore, but I do use a FlatAway liner in just the rear tire of most of my bikes only because that's where most of the flats occur, but I also use tires that highly rated against flats just not as high as the Armadillo. The new Armadillo All Condition tire is about 30% lighter than the version I use to use.

 

[amazinmets73]

I've used the 4 seasons as a rear tire for about 1K miles and I'm satisfied with them so far. No flats or any other issues. Does anyone have experience with the Grand Prix tire? Thinking of purchasing them in 28c

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by amazinmets73

I've used the 4 seasons as a rear tire for about 1K miles and I'm satisfied with them so far. No flats or any other issues.


Does anyone have experience with the Grand Prix tire? Thinking of purchasing them in 28c

Which Grand Prix? They make 8 different clincher models of the Grand Prix and 1 tubular. I tried several of the Conti's including the 4000S but not the newer 4000S II. I was not impressed with the 4000S, as with all Conti's I've tried they're too fragile especially the sidewalls, and tread life was only so so, and for the amount of money I spent on Conti's I've found better tires for almost half the cost. I tried several different Conti's about 20 years ago and was not impressed, tried several models again like the fool that I am about 8 or so years ago and again was not impressed. Based on my personal experience with them I will never buy Conti's again.

 

[amazinmets73]

Which Grand Prix? They make 8 different clincher models of the Grand Prix and 1 tubular.  I tried several of the Conti's including the 4000S but not the newer 4000S II.  I was not impressed with the 4000S, as with all Conti's I've tried they're too fragile especially the sidewalls, and tread life was only so so, and for the amount of money I spent on Conti's I've found better tires for almost half the cost.  I tried several different Conti's about 20 years ago and was not impressed, tried several models again like the fool that I am about 8 or so years ago and again was not impressed.  Based on my personal experience with them I will never buy Conti's again.

These: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/continental-grand-prix-road-bike-tyre/rp-prod78421

 

[Froze]

Originally Posted by amazinmets73


These: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/continental-grand-prix-road-bike-tyre/rp-prod78421

That tire has their basic flat protection belt which is heavier then the better Vectron belt and not as good, it is also their lowest price point tire.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by Froze
I tried several of the Conti's including the 4000S but not the newer 4000S II. I was not impressed with the 4000S, as with all Conti's I've tried they're too fragile especially the sidewalls,

They are the same, but they are now available with colored sidewalls and in a few more ETRTO's...

+1 on the sidewalls...

 

[Froze]

There are better tires on the market then those Conti's you're looking at. Find closeout sales and you can save a lot of money on a far superior tire, see Performance Bike deals right now; see: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10052&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&orderBy=8&searchTerm=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=12&parent_category_rn=400904&top_category=400013&categoryId=400235&metaData= The first 7 tires (if placed in order of percentage off) are really good tires, the Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick is a superb tire that I use on a bike now, just look at the reviews of these tires and that will give you an idea how good they are. Take a look at Nashbar and others as well. I only buy tires (and all my biking gear and clothing) that are discounted highly, something that Conti never does, and tires that are highly reviewed with at least 4 stars. I never pay more than $30 for a tire and I get tires that sold regularly for $50 and up, I just got a set of Hutchinson Intensive tires for $24 a piece that sold for $68 each.

All I'm saying is look around, you can get a better tire for the same money as those Conti's.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by Froze

All I'm saying is look around, you can get a better tire for the same money as those Conti's.

+1. I paid something like 90euro (120+USD?) and one got a cut at the sidewall at 2000km...

But... I still use it with a tire boot on the rear wheel, so they have something like 4000km on them now.

Another option is to use lots of cheap tires, but that is not only not as nice but also very wasteful.

Getting a discount on things is never bad... But I just can't be bothered with online shopping anymore. The waiting period, the mail, the email, the phonecalls!

 

[Froze]

No one needs to buy cheap tires if they look for end of the year closeouts which for road tires is happening now. Like I said before you can get super nice tires that would have cost you $50 or more for less than $30, just go hunting.

 

[Bigbananabike]

I buy secondhand tyres from a national auction here.
I've picked them up from $8 up

I haven't got a dud yet - some are more worn than others and some are like new - people have only sold them because the tyres didn't match their new bike or some precious reason like that.

It gives me a chance to try out a wide range too.