I use to buy those strips you place inside the tire to make it more puncture resistant. It works. On
a long trip, it provided the added peace of mind. I didn't really want to deal with a flat on a 100
mile trip out in the middle of nowhere. You want as little to go wrong as possible when doing such
distances.
On Sun, 2 Mar 2003 01:48:38 -0800 (PST),
[email protected] (Steve McDonald) wrote:
>
> An alternative suggestion: Use thorn-resistant tubes. I've had them on all my bikes and
> trailers for the last 5 years. I recently fixed the 2nd flat tire I've had in all that time.
> Before that, I averaged 3 flats a week. Of course, they all came when either 1. I had to be
> somewhere at a certaIn time. 2. It was raining and cold. 3. I found that the tube was beyond
> repair and my spare tube had a defective valve.
>
> Thorn-resistant tubes cost a little more and are 2 to 3 times as heavy as standard tubes. But,
> I don't notice the extra weight and once you get rolling, I don't think you would be able to
> measure any added effort that was needed to maintain speed. The assurance that I won't likely
> have a flat and be delayed, is worth a lot to me and it makes bicycle travel much more
> dependable and feasible for me. Another benefit is that they ooze air more slowly and I have to
> reinflate my tires less often. I also speculate that the added sturdiness of them increases the
> overall strength of the wheel assembly and the tires and rims may have less strain and last
> longer.
>
>Steve McDonald