The tyre isn't affected by cuts and holes, you would have to cut it to a depth of several inches, across the entire radius, or lose a chunk the size of a golf ball, to have a problem. If you hit something that caused that much damage, a tyre would be the least of your worries.
They've thought about that. There are two 'virtual pressures' available. 100 psi and 130 psi. I'm running the softer 100 psi 28s. I did a 30 mile test ride on back roads and nasty surfaces last night. Not only are they pretty much indistinguishable from a pumped up pneumatic tyre, as far as handling and grip go, but I deliberately rode over all sorts of spikey pointy stuff, and, didn't have to stop to sort out any punctures. Fancy that.
You can pop a spare one of these in your jersey pocket, they fold up nicely. You'd have to be doing something suicidely stupid to ever need the spare though. That's one of the best things about them, I went out on a ride last night, and packed a tube, levers and gas inflator. Then realised I didn't need to. I also brought a mini pump, again, no need. Not needing all that crap is going to take a bit of getting used to.
But, of course, you wouldn't need to, as you say.
Do you get many pinch flats? I don't, running about 100 psi in all my pneumatic tyres, on road bikes ( 23, 25, and 28 ). I certainly won't get them on the solid tyres, and they don't feel drastically different. The only downside is the cost, but I'll limit the mileage, by running them on the commuter road bike ( which was the original idea anyway ). It's tempting to put them on all my road bikes, but the cost would be a bit
.
I've given them a good workout, including cornering on a gravelly surface on a steep downhill, poor surfaces, and hills. They have taken no more getting used to than clipless pedals, or anything else that's new to anyone.
Oh dear.
