Mr P******e

[Simontm]

I had a flat this morning and its the sixth one in a month or so since buying the bike.

I have checked everything on both wheels and at a loss apart from a hollow laugh at Evans Cycles and its claim that the bike could handle towpaths etc as well as the daily commute - it can't handle roads let along anything else!

They are Kenda Kwick Roller Sport K1029 28c

Anyway, can anyone recommend something a bit more p******e resistant but still with a bit of roll on it for the road?

At its six-weeker tempted to have a right go.

 

[ianrauk]

I run Armadillo All Conditions on my commute bike. Over 2 thousand miles of commuting on the mean streets of South East London with no PUNCTURES this year so far.

However, I am fastidious in checking the tyres after every ride for anything that may be sticking to the tyre and dig it out. Otherwise crap will work it's way in to the rubber and cause a PUNCTURE.

 

[Simontm]

Heh, point taken!

 

[Hop3y]

I was the same until I found a thorn that was stuck in the tyre but not visible from the outside. Run your fingers along the inside of the tyre, is their anything slowly deflating them?

 

[Paul99]

I had a flat this morning and its the sixth one in a month or so since buying the bike.

I have checked everything on both wheels and at a loss apart from a hollow laugh at Evans Cycles and its claim that the bike could handle towpaths etc as well as the daily commute - it can't handle roads let along anything else!

They are Kenda Kwick Roller Sport K1029 28c

Anyway, can anyone recommend something a bit more p******e resistant but still with a bit of roll on it for the road?

At its six-weeker tempted to have a right go.

Marathon plus.

Part of my commute is alongside a busy dual carriageway and I was averaging at least two punctures a week. My record was 3 separate punctures in one day.

I went from Conti 4 seasons to Durano Plus and had no better luck.

M+ fitted and I haven't had a single one this year.

 

[Simontm]

I was the same until I found a thorn that was stuck in the tyre but not visible from the outside. Run your fingers along the inside of the tyre, is their anything slowly deflating them?

Nope, used cotton wool as well as me digits - nothing. Just think that the tyres may be carp

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Marathon plus.

Part of my commute is alongside a busy dual carriageway and I was averaging at least two punctures a week. My record was 3 separate punctures in one day.

I went from Conti 4 seasons to Durano Plus and had no better luck.

M+ fitted and I haven't had a single one this year.

I use M+ and had two on the same day this week (think it was Monday) mind you I rarely check my tyres for stuff sticking in them as evidenced by the fact that the first puncture saw me remove two pieces of glass and a piece of flint from the tyre.

 

[jagman.2003]

I run Armadillo All Conditions on my commute bike. Over 2 thousand miles of commuting.....

Seconded, don't know if they are the best or the lightest, but they have worked very well for me.

 

[martinclive]

Take off tyres and tubes and clean inside the rim fully if you are not sure it is external factors (use tissue paper and see if it snags)

I had this last year with a new bike - punctures every couple of days - did this and been good since - could just be something from manufacturing

 

[raleighnut]

I run Armadillo All Conditions on my commute bike. Over 2 thousand miles of commuting on the mean streets of South East London with no PUNCTURES this year so far.

However, I am fastidious in checking the tyres after every ride for anything that may be sticking to the tyre and dig it out. Otherwise crap will work it's way in to the rubber and cause a PUNCTURE.

You do realise that you have invoked the fairy (demon) now, good luck

 

[ianrauk]

You do realise that you have invoked the fairy (demon) now, good luck

Really?
Oh well... I'm farked then.

 

[raleighnut]

Apparantly she can be calmed with cake left by the cycle and then crumbs scattered to the winds as you travel, so I've been told.

 

[GlenBen]

Just go with any tyre that says its got some protection, people will disagree no doubt, but theyre all very similar. Just got to remember that any tyre will puncture if you hit something sharp enough.

Of the 3 Ive tried, gatorskin, durano plus and marathon plus. The marathon gave me least punctures (one in its lifetime). But I would go for the gatorskin to replace my current tyres.

 

[I like Skol]

Are you sure it is the tyres at fault? There are a number of key factors that can affect the rate of punctures other than the in-built puncture resistance of the tyre.

• Fitting. Are you trapping the tube when fitting the tyres if using tyre levers to get the tyre on? Are you doing a satisfactory job of fixing the puncture or is it the repair/patch itself that is failing?
• Tyre pressures. Are your tyres pumped up to a suitable pressure? If you are rolling along on soggy tyres, bumping the rim onto the tarmac everytime you run over an undulation or defect in the surface you will get a lot of pinch-punctures. Do your punctures look like a snake bite (two small slits, side by side)?
• Where you ride. When I first started commuting I was getting a puncture on average about every other month. I now commute over the same route a lot more frequently but have far fewer punctures despite using the same tyres and the increased mileage. I realised that I was riding across quite a few gravelly bits of road to try and stay out of the way of or pass the traffic. These are the areas that don’t get driven on normally due to traffic islands and painted road markings etc. They always contain lots of debris thrown there by the tyres of the passing vehicles, glass/stones/screws/nails/bolts/thorns/Stanley knife blades, all the good stuff that the puncture fairy loves. I stopped riding in these no-mans-land zones and the puncture rate fell dramatically. I then realised that the remaining punctures were occurring more or less around the same place on the route, either side of a pleasant public park I was cutting through and these were restricted to being caused by glass fragments. My theory is that bored kids are smashing bottles late at night and although the park wardens are clearing it up quickly (I never saw any glass) the smaller fragments were still scattered across the path waiting for me to ride over. I now stay on the road around the park.

Since I became more aware of where/what I was riding on I have only suffer maybe one puncture a year during commuting, same tyres, same distance, same(ish) route. Still get the oddball incidents like the Stanley knife blade but otherwise punctures are not really a worry or consideration anymore (still always ride with a pump, 2 tubes and a repair kit ). In fact, I'm pretty sure the knife blade deflation was the last commute deflation I have experienced.

 

[raleighnut]

Are you sure it is the tyres at fault? There are a number of key factors that can affect the rate of punctures other than the in-built puncture resistance of the tyre.

• Fitting. Are you trapping the tube when fitting the tyres if using tyre levers to get the tyre on? Are you doing a satisfactory job of fixing the puncture or is it the repair/patch itself that is failing?
• Tyre pressures. Are your tyres pumped up to a suitable pressure? If you are rolling along on soggy tyres, bumping the rim onto the tarmac everytime you run over an undulation or defect in the surface you will get a lot of pinch-punctures. Do your punctures look like a snake bite (two small slits, side by side)?
• Where you ride. When I first started commuting I was getting a puncture on average about every other month. I now commute over the same route a lot more frequently but have far fewer punctures despite using the same tyres and the increased mileage. I realised that I was riding across quite a few gravelly bits of road to try and stay out of the way of or pass the traffic. These are the areas that don’t get driven on normally due to traffic islands and painted road markings etc. They always contain lots of debris thrown there by the tyres of the passing vehicles, glass/stones/screws/nails/bolts/thorns/Stanley knife blades, all the good stuff that the puncture fairy loves. I stopped riding in these no-mans-land zones and the puncture rate fell dramatically. I then realised that the remaining punctures were occurring more or less around the same place on the route, either side of a pleasant public park I was cutting through and these were restricted to being caused by glass fragments. My theory is that bored kids are smashing bottles late at night and although the park wardens are clearing it up quickly (I never saw any glass) the smaller fragments were still scattered across the path waiting for me to ride over. I now stay on the road around the park.

Since I became more aware of where/what I was riding on I have only suffer maybe one puncture a year during commuting, same tyres, same distance, same(ish) route. Still get the oddball incidents like the Stanley knife blade but otherwise punctures are not really a worry or consideration anymore (still always ride with a pump, 2 tubes and a repair kit ). In fact, I'm pretty sure the knife blade deflation was the last commute deflation I have experienced.

I've had an inch 'n' half wood screw, halfway round a roundabout (primary in middle lane, indicating left to leave on third exit) that was a bit instant but that's a real freaky one.