Puncture Resistant Tires.

[cyclintom]

I have been cycling roughly forever. I remember LeMond first entering the sport. I had already been cycling for ten years.

During this time the California roads have been getting progressively worse and the numbers of illegals who are throwing whiskey bottles out on the roads has been steadily increasing.

The tires that I've used that best cope with this are the Specialized Armadillo which appears to have the traction of a racing tire and the flat resistance of the Continental Gatorskin which is by far the easiest to obtain. Performance makes a flat-resistant tire but there is something wrong with it's construction: the center tread immediately flattens so that although it is flat resistant it feels like you're riding through molasses.

Are there any other tires in this group since competition would drive the prices down from "Oh My GOD!" to "Ouch!"?

 

[AtlantaSports]

I personally have not seen any tires that would belong in the "ouch" group, but maybe someone else has.

 

[Corzhens]

I have been wishing since some decades back that puncture-resistant tires will be a reality. Not really for bikes but for cars. When a bike suffers a flat, it's not much of a problem since you can walk with it for miles. But a car needs a vulcanizing shop right there so you have to take off the tire and search for a vulcanizing shop. There was the wheel that Michelin had invented but it's still in the demo phase and has no intention of coming out in the market.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by cyclintom:
"During this time the California roads have been getting progressively worse and the numbers of illegals who are throwing whiskey bottles out on the roads has been steadily increasing."

Elections have consequences.


Since shooting illegals is...illegal...I suggest you shop the English websites. Tires are cheaper, shipping is free. You'll buy what you want for way less than the LBS and most of the American web resellers.

And in passing, I really don't think most Cali roads are that bad. You want 'bad'? Come to Ohio. We don't need to import illegals because our native hillbilly slobs do profeshnul grade littering and we have genuine Winters to help destroy our roads. Drinking and Driving is a State sport and Ohio driver's have the fatal statistics and repeat DUI offenders to back up our claims. Our roads are really nothing more than linear landfills. To add to all that, real paving has been replaced by chip & seal (spray & sprinkle) ever since the Great Recession reduced road budgets to the 'We only have enough taxpayer cash to line our own pockets with!' state.

Edit:

Just a quick Google has Gatorskins around $30-$33 at four websites. Buy enough to get free shipping.

 

[BobCochran]

CampyBob, that is hilarious! The way you put it, I mean, and not the trashing of your roads, which is sad.

Some years ago I broguht my niece to a well known School of Art somewhere in Ohio...I forget the city just at the moment...she was in high school and my sister asked me to look after her during the trip so I did. I drove from here to the vast plains of Ohio for the event. I thought the road I was on was pretty good and the airport where I met the young lady was okay, too. The school she was staying at for a week was really nice. I fed her really well each night, made sure she had all the art supplies she pointed me at, and spent a lot of time on the school campus myself. She had a rather austere dorm room...worse than my own dorm room of eons ago...it made me think a little of a cave dwelling. That may have decided her not to go to the school, plus it was rather far from her home.

The students I met there were very imaginative and taught me a few lessons about expanding my too small window on the world.

For me, Ohio was great!

Thanks a ton

Bob

 

[CAMPYBOB]

A degree in art usually results in a lifetime of debt and poverty.

Ohio is a spectacularly beautiful state from March through October. The rest of the year is much like Siberia or perhaps Lapland.

Our roads range from billiard table flat in the North Western corner of the state to downright semi-mountainous in the South Eastern portion of our little chunk of America.

Some folks think "Ohio" is Indian-speak for "Land Between The Waters", but in reality it translates to "I'm ****ing freezing and headed for Bradenton, Florida until this white stuff stops!".

 

[mpre53]

Lapland has the Northern Lights going for it. And they don't use salt on the roads, so come spring, they haven't fallen to ****.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Yeah...and dodging Reindeer is a high art form there.

Our road budgets were released from the statehouse last month. The contractors are lined up (What? You thought our lazy ass state road crews were going to do the job, themselves???!!!) and a few of the 'orange barrel' projects are underway. Our roads should be about 75% kinda/sorta repaired by...the time the salt trucks are running and the freeze/thaw cycle starts tearing them apart again.

 

[welshdude3]

...I suggest you shop the English websites. Tires are cheaper, shipping is free...

+1 Just received 2 sets of Schwalbe Marathon Plus. 33.00USD ea. Chainreactioncycles. Free shipping and 4.00 currency exchange charge.

My experience with UK cycling suppliers has always been successful.

Afa puncture resistance the SMPs have been very good for me. Averaged over 8gs per year for 10 years using them. Total flats? 1

Selected them after a ton of online checking and cross-checking. Vittoria Randonneers, Specialized Armadillos, Continental Gatorskins and the aforementioned SMPs. The four most highly recommended make/models. Read many reviews, blogs, forums, etc. The tire most consistently ranked highest overall were the SMPs.

The ONLY knock was the level of rolling resistance. As that's WAY down my list of priorities in a utility, commuting, touring tire I purchased a set. The single best decision made in my entire cycling life. Doing the TransAm next year. My tires are 700x32mm SMPs. Knock on wood, but I like my odds on not getting a flat.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by Welshdude:
"My experience with UK cycling suppliers has always been successful."

This.

ChainReaction...Wiggle...Evans...Merlin...Halfords...ProBikeKit...PlanetCyclery...etc.

Every now and then there's Jenson...Competitive Cyclist...WesternBikeWorks / BikeTiresDirect (one and the same, I believe)...Nashbar clearance stuff...etc.

The last Pro4 Service Course tires I bought actually came right off Amazon...from ChainReaction IIRC.

Google and The Frugal Rouleur (or however the Frenchies spell 'roller') and 30 seconds later you'll be at the deal you seek.

I'm all for dealing with the LBS, but I'll be damned if my skinny white capitalist ass is forking over $65-$75 for something I can get for $32. That's the very definition of insanity.

 

[Froze]

I use to live in So California and between the broken glass, shards of steel wire from people letting their tires wear down to the steel belt, thorns and the hellish Goatheads I had a difficult time finding a tire that would fend off that stuff. The best combo I found was a Conti Gatorskin, with a Mr Tuffy liner and a thorn resistant tube but with that combo I still got an average of 3 flats a week not to mention fragile sidewalls...that was until an LBS turned me onto Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires, from that time onward I got just 1 flat in over 13,000 miles and that flat only happened because I let the tire wear down to the cords. I used the Armadillo with no liner and an ultralight tube!

Since then Specialized changed their Armadillo All Condition tire to a lighter construction, I'm not sure how good those are now since I moved from Calif and no longer live on trashy streets and thus no wanting to try a heavier tire for no reason.

I do think the ultimate flat resistant tire is the Schwalbe Marathon tires, but they're heavy and expensive but will last a long time. I also think that today there are decent tires out there you can find that will work for less than Specialized or Conti. Bontrager makes the Hardcase which is very capable against flats as is the Maxxis Re-Fuse. But all around for a tire that isn't too heavy, lasts a long time, cost is reasonable I think is the Specialized Armadillo All Condition, this tire even has a tough puncture resistant sidewall, this sidewall is so tough I rode the one tire that I flatted which was on the rear for 5 miles FLAT, it did nothing to the sidewalls nor did any damage to the rim, whereas the Conti's sidewalls are paper thin and ripped with ease, plus the Armadillo wears better than all the tires except for the Schwalbe Marathons.

If you want a lighter tire you can do that but add a Panaracer FlatAway liner, this is the toughest liner of any on the market, I tried to drive a tack through a piece and couldn't do it but I could with relative ease with a Mr Tuffy, and my hands ached after trying to cut a piece of the FlatAway liner but cut the Mr Tuffy like butter.

 

[BikeBikeBikeBike]

I bought tires in the 90's that had this "goo" in them.
You know the type, it's supposed to seal the hole for you.
Well back in those days I had no issue using a patch kit. I had patchy tubes.
But this goo junk actually pushed my patches off and never sealed the tire!

 

[Froze]

I bought tires in the 90's that had this "goo" in them.
You know the type, it's supposed to seal the hole for you.
Well back in those days I had no issue using a patch kit. I had patchy tubes.
But this goo junk actually pushed my patches off and never sealed the tire!

Not only that but even the goo today like Slime will not self seal even the smallest of holes once the PSI exceeds about 70, it seals than when the psi reaches 70 to 75 it spews out of the hole and your flat. Then of course you have all this green gunk you have to clean off the inside of the tire and rim.

 

[BikeBikeBikeBike]

Not only that but even the goo today like Slime will not self seal even the smallest of holes once the PSI exceeds about 70, it seals than when the psi reaches 70 to 75 it spews out of the hole and your flat. Then of course you have all this green gunk you have to clean off the inside of the tire and rim.

It's funny now that you guys got me thinking about that goo, I happen to notice it out in the real world!
There was a half-assed looking landscaping vehicle parked in a lot of an awesome microbrewery I was at last night.
I happen to look at the trailer tire and something bright green caught my eye.
Looked closer and the guy clearly used that stuff to seal a leak in a trailer tire.
Went inside and noticed the work crew at the bar drinking, started talking to the one guy and he was saying they have been running that tire like that all season... Gone though 2 bottles of that sealant goo so far.
I thought I was cheap!

 

[Froze]

The Slime does work with low pressure MTB type of tires, and yes car tires, just isn't suited for higher pressures found in road bike tires.

 

[joshposh]

This is what I found on youtube. I hope this helps you guys. In Hawaii I carry a can of fix a flat if I am way out in the bush and it is getting late. But to each his own.


https://youtu.be/EEcFMnuJzsQ?t=3m45s