Flint catchers are back...
- Thread starter T4tomo
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
a.twiddler
Veteran
The next big thing? I can see the endless thread pages now...sticky side up, or sticky side down, how often to change it, best place to locate it, who makes the best tape, Campag or Shimano, manufacturers pumping up the price 'cos its what the top riders use innit, weight weenies stressing about the extra weight, is it aero etc etc. Dearie me!
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
Crikey. I had forgotten about such things - had them on my bikes back in the 70's.
A lot more substantial than the OP hack.
A lot more substantial than the OP hack.
OP
OP
T4tomo
Legendary Member
Ian H
Ancient randonneur
But not, I suspect, any more effective.
Poacher
Gravitationally challenged member
- Location
- Nottingham
The original flint catchers followed the curvature of the tyre, unlike this reinvention.
OP
OP
T4tomo
Legendary Member
You could cut a curve into the leccy tape. It only need to cover the bit of the tyre in contact with the road, as that is where
a) likely to pick up a bit of flint and
b) at risk of it working into the tyre on subsequent revolutions.
@Dadam the theory is sound, as you do get punctures from sharp debris gradually working through the tyre, whether its works in practice is anyone's guess. A decent kelvar belted layer in the tyre (which a lightweight race tyre won't afford) , and regular inspection and removal is probably more effective for a leisure cyclist.
and just off the surface, rubbing will cost valuable watts!
Profpointy
Legendary Member
Whilst they were certainly a thing, though I'd not seen one in real life I did see a picture in a book I had as a kid - one of those splendid "Stuff for boys" type books with a mixture of chapters on looking after bikes, collecting butterflies, making a shelter out of branches, chemistry experiments and so forth.
Anyhow, whilst I accept they probably work to a degree as people had them, I'd be worried about them jamming up the wheel if you caught a bit of stick, or even if it moved a bit from its setting.
presta
Legendary Member
If I spotted something on the front tyre I used to push the mudguard down so that it scraped the tyre. Sometimes it knocked the debris off, sometimes it didn't.
youngoldbloke
The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
I used them in the early 60s - 'tub savers', mine had a single arm attached to the curved business end. They could become razor sharp if you let them actually touch the tyre.
Last edited:
