Are Bromptons more prone to punctures?

[Pale Rider]

A shiny new six speed Brompton in my local bike shop got me thinking again about my next bike purchase.

One thing causing me to hesitate is that when I had a Brompton I got quite a few punctures.

Given that I only do short journeys on any pushbike, my puncture to miles travelled ratio was poor.

My Brompton had ordinary Marathon tyres.

I replaced the rear in the hope a barely worn tyre would puncture less, but it didn't seem to make much difference.

So the question is are Bromptons more prone to punctures than big wheel bikes?

 

[annedonnelly]

Mine seemed to be when I was using it regularly. I have Marathon Plus on the Brompton & the same on the hybrid. I do the same commute on both & have more punctures on the Brompton. I run the Brompton with slime to get me home.

And, of course, the Brompton can fold and get on the bus if it has a puncture.

 

[Kell]

Not had one in 4 and half years and almost 9,000 miles.

Had several on my old bike in a couple of weeks.

I've got Marathon Plusses though.

Logically, the tyres should wear faster and get thinner more quickly, so the answer should be yes.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I have Marathon Plus on my Orange Brommie, and use Schwalbe inner tubes as according to the info on the Schwalbe Web site, each inner tube is inflated and left on test for a period of time to help ensure its integrity.

I've been following the discussions/ Holy war about the benefits/ drawbacks of running tubeless tyres and I've wondered if adding something like " Stans Sealant" to a Schwalbe inner tube inside a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre might be the ultimate "belt and braces" approach.

 

[Rocky]

I've got Marathon Pluses on mine. I've had it for five years, done three reasonable tours (Way of the Roses, Hook to Hamburg and back, Lille to Nancy via Brussels) and never had a puncture. They seem to roll well and are showing little sign of wear too. So in answer to Paley's question - no, my Brommie isn't more prone to puncture than my other bikes.

 

[Pale Rider]

Three good votes for Marathon Pluses - all of you do more miles than I ever will.

On t'other hand, @annedonnelly didn't do so well with those tyres.

I've wondered if adding something like " Stans Sealant" to a Schwalbe inner tube inside a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre might be the ultimate "belt and braces" approach.

No reason not to.

I think there are Brommie size Slime tubes available, which is something else I'm considering.

 

[12boy]

I haven't had a flat on mine for years with regular Marathons, but they can be hard to get off for repair. My LBS recommended tubeless sealant in lieu of Slime and none of the four bikes with this have had flats. Easy to put in the tubes, but I have Schraders.
My technique for reinstalling tires:
I use slender steel tire irons to get the tire off since it can be hard to insert thick plastic ones, and I've broken some.
I put the tire next to the stem on last since it allows pushing the tire into the rim channel and freeing up a little slack which helps a lot. I now can push on a Marathon using just my arthritic old thumbs. Not using a tire iron to get the tire back on has eliminate the tire iron punctures I sometimes feel got before.

 

[roley poley]

running a THIN yellow flash on rear and find that punctures more in the rain but that is how you would cut rubber with a wet knife but other than that no

 

[rogerzilla]

M+ only just fit (but they do).

A lot of B punctures are due to the rim tape, which doesn't really fit the well of the rim. Unless they've found a better supplier now.

 

[Fab Foodie]

M+ here and no particular P*ncture issues. Mixed surface usage.

 

[oldwheels]

I have had 2 punctures. One caused by faulty fitting of rim tape and the other by a shard of glass. No idea of mileage as I do not keep records but I have been using standard Brompton tyres on a great variety of surfaces from smooth tarmac to mountain bike stuff.

 

[Cycleops]

I've got Marathon pluses on my kiddie wheeler and they are almost worn out but still give excellent puncture protection

 

[Schwinnsta]

As was noted here already, tires wear out faster as their diameters decreases. As they wear they get more prone to flats. I used to run Stan's in my inner tubes, but I hit something sharp on the road, slashed the tire and tube open. The Stan's went all over. It made a mess. More trouble than its worth.

 

[annedonnelly]

Three good votes for Marathon Pluses - all of you do more miles than I ever will.

On t'other hand, @annedonnelly didn't do so well with those tyres.

Maybe I'm just unlucky.


Actually if you're looking to buy I've a friend who is planning to Ebay one - it's a few years old, but virtually unused - maybe 50 miles in total.

 

[doginabag]

~3 years on the standard Brompton tyres and the last ~1 year on kojaks and not had a puncture yet.

Approx 3000 miles per year split evenly between London and more rural roads.