Brompton Tyres

[CopperBrompton]

A cautionary tale for anyone thinking of putting Marathon + on a Brommie.
The + tyre has a slightly higher profile which means it can just foul the frame when you tuck the rear wheel under for folding.

Never ever had that problem, and I don't ever use anything else.

The closest thing to a bombproof tyre you'll ever get, same rolling-resistance as standard Marathons and you don't notice the weight. They also last about 3000 miles. :-)

 

[ufkacbln]

You will lose seconds a day on your commute due to the extra rolling resistance

Now compare that with the time taken to repair a rear wheel p*nct*re on a wet cold dark winters night

Your choice

 

[Tom Miller]

I've had my Brompton for about six years now and reading this, I must be the unluckiest in terms of punctures. I ride 15 miles a day, 4 days a week in central and south London and I've been plagued with punctures over the years particularly in the last year.

I use Marathon tyres and I've had so many flats I've considered selling the bike many times out of pure frustration. My local dealer just shrugged his shoulders and said 'you do a high mileage, its winter time ' when I told him I'd had so many and wanted to know why. I think I had 3 a week at one point. Some days I'd go out on the bike the morning after repairing a flat and suffer a puncture minutes into the journey to work. I've been through at LEAST one tyre a year on both wheels so its not as if they're too worn. On at least two occasions the damage so was bad to the tyre it had to be replaced. The number of punctures has made me totally paranoid about running over ANYTHING and I was never gung-ho at all. One night there was an enormous explosion in my house. I quickly realised that the Marathon, having been idle on the folded up Brompton and inflated to the correct pressure had spontaneously exploded!

I just had a £200 service on the bike including a brand new Marathon. If that wasn't hard enough to swallow, the first morning back on it today and I've got another puncture although not on the new tyre. I'm totally at the end of my tether with it. Would welcome any suggestions at all but honestly can't think of anything that I haven't heard before.

ps: Despite watching the Brompton guide videos over and over and with two decent tyre levers, I find the Marathon tyres super hard to get off and on again, taking all the skin off both thumbs on numerous occasions.

 

[annedonnelly]

That's a scary story Tom. Almost enough to put me off my lovely Brompton! I've only had mine since November and the only problem I've had is that I damaged the valve pumping the tyre and so had to replace the tube. I did it in the comfort and warmth of my living room but I didn't have much trouble getting the Marathon tyre off and back on again. I'd consider myself fairly weak and reasonably inept at mechanical stuff

I run Marathon Plus on my hybrid too and love them.

Do you have particularly bad roads where you commute? What sort of distances are you doing? If I had your problems I'd probably be thinking of giving up too! Actually the woman in my LBS rides a Brompton regularly and she recommends using Slime in the tubes. Maybe you should try that.

 

[T4tomo]

I've had my Brompton for about six years now and reading this, I must be the unluckiest in terms of punctures. I ride 15 miles a day, 4 days a week in central and south London and I've been plagued with punctures over the years particularly in the last year.

I use Marathon tyres and I've had so many flats I've considered selling the bike many times out of pure frustration. My local dealer just shrugged his shoulders and said 'you do a high mileage, its winter time ' when I told him I'd had so many and wanted to know why. I think I had 3 a week at one point. Some days I'd go out on the bike the morning after repairing a flat and suffer a puncture minutes into the journey to work. I've been through at LEAST one tyre a year on both wheels so its not as if they're too worn. On at least two occasions the damage so was bad to the tyre it had to be replaced. The number of punctures has made me totally paranoid about running over ANYTHING and I was never gung-ho at all. One night there was an enormous explosion in my house. I quickly realised that the Marathon, having been idle on the folded up Brompton and inflated to the correct pressure had spontaneously exploded!

I just had a £200 service on the bike including a brand new Marathon. If that wasn't hard enough to swallow, the first morning back on it today and I've got another puncture although not on the new tyre. I'm totally at the end of my tether with it. Would welcome any suggestions at all but honestly can't think of anything that I haven't heard before.

ps: Despite watching the Brompton guide videos over and over and with two decent tyre levers, I find the Marathon tyres super hard to get off and on again, taking all the skin off both thumbs on numerous occasions.

On marathons you shouldnt be having that trouble, they are almost as bombproof and marathon pluses, so something is badly wrong.
are you running them too soft and getting pinch flats as you go over bumps / potholes. they should be at leats 80psi if not 100psi.
Have you got some daamage to the rim tape or rim so that there is a sharp spot that puncturing the inside of the tube?
have you got some galss embedded in the tyre?
are south london roads that bad ? (I never go south of the river for obvious reasons

 

[Tom Miller]

That's a scary story Tom. Almost enough to put me off my lovely Brompton! I've only had mine since November and the only problem I've had is that I damaged the valve pumping the tyre and so had to replace the tube. I did it in the comfort and warmth of my living room but I didn't have much trouble getting the Marathon tyre off and back on again. I'd consider myself fairly weak and reasonably inept at mechanical stuff

I run Marathon Plus on my hybrid too and love them.

Do you have particularly bad roads where you commute? What sort of distances are you doing? If I had your problems I'd probably be thinking of giving up too! Actually the woman in my LBS rides a Brompton regularly and she recommends using Slime in the tubes. Maybe you should try that.

Thanks for the tip on the Slime I will investigate. I probably won't give up just when you spent that amount of money you expect your problems to be over for a while!

 

[Tom Miller]

On marathons you shouldnt be having that trouble, they are almost as bombproof and marathon pluses, so something is badly wrong.
are you running them too soft and getting pinch flats as you go over bumps / potholes. they should be at leats 80psi if not 100psi.
Have you got some daamage to the rim tape or rim so that there is a sharp spot that puncturing the inside of the tube?
have you got some galss embedded in the tyre?
are south london roads that bad ? (I never go south of the river for obvious reasons

Rim tape I will have to investigate as I will the tyre pressure, but days after a full service I'd fully expect the tyres inflated at the right pressure and before then I'd be an absolute stickler for always keeping them at 85psi to help avoid flats. I'll need to inspect the tyre too but everyone's telling me these things can take everything you throw at em so surely a bit of glass isn't a problem!

 

[T4tomo]

Glass if left sat in teh tyre can work its way in after a time. Check your tyres over every now and again and if here is glass emebedded i the tyre then pick it out

 

[TheDoctor]

I've been using Marathons for about three years.
No visitations since I swapped out the shockingly bad standard rim tape for some Velox.
They roll pretty well provided they're inflated to 100psi or so.

 

[Pale Rider]

I damaged the valve pumping the tyre and so had to replace the tube. I.

Less likely to cause damage if you use a pump with a short connector hose, rather than the 'clamp on' Brommie one.

If you are careful, it's possible to hold a connector hose pump steady so there's no stress on the valve.

It's also a bit cleaner because you don't have to wrap your fingers around the valve and tyre.

I prefer tubes with a thread and locator ring on the valve which holds it in place.

 

[annedonnelly]

Less likely to cause damage if you use a pump with a short connector hose, rather than the 'clamp on' Brommie one.

If you are careful, it's possible to hold a connector hose pump steady so there's no stress on the valve.

It's also a bit cleaner because you don't have to wrap your fingers around the valve and tyre.

I prefer tubes with a thread and locator ring on the valve which holds it in place.

The damaged one now has a presta valve on so I'm using the sort of pump you describe.

And this thread has obviously jinxed me 'cos now the back is flat. Guess what I'm doing tonight.....


... off to Google removing Brompton back wheels.

 

[srw]

The best purchase I made in my early days of Bromptoneering was a cheap track pump. It's lasted over 15 years and kept the tyres up to full pressure. Marathon pluses at full pressure (100psi) roll quite easily and just don't puncture - the only time I've checked my tyres (before riding 50 miles overnight to Southend) I extracted a dozen flints and 4 bits of glass, any one of which would have killed a stock Brompton tyre.

@Tom Miller - if you're in a commuting centre it would be worth meeting up with an experienced and technically minded Bromptonaut for a second opinion. I have a reasonably low opinion of the way that non-specialist LBSs deal with specialist bikes after both tandem and Brompton hiccups.

 

[Pale Rider]

The damaged one now has a presta valve on so I'm using the sort of pump you describe.

I don't 'do' presta, but my understanding is a presta rim has a smaller hole for the valve.

It may not be a good idea to fit a presta tube in a rim with a larger schrader hole.

 

[CopperBrompton]

+1 for Marathon Plus at 100psi, it's as near puncture-proof as you can get.

 

[annedonnelly]

I don't 'do' presta, but my understanding is a presta rim has a smaller hole for the valve.

It may not be a good idea to fit a presta tube in a rim with a larger schrader hole.

I think you may be right - I've read that somewhere before - probably on here.

Unfortunately I was in a hurry to get a replacement, plus the online description said "schrader" in one place, and "presta" in another, so I didn't know what I was buying until they arrived. They were listed as "Brompton tubes" by the online part of the Brompton LBS I got the bike from so I hope they will be ok.