Puncture proof tyres?? Any good??

[oldfatfool]

I've not tried incest either. Don't think I'm missing out much.

Depends on your relatives i suppose.

 

[Vegan1]

Having ridden long distance events on both I'm going to say no. Yes Marathon Pluses are puncture proof, and are really good for commuting, and if this is what you are using your hybrid for then go for it. But if you are talking about riding overall, day rides at the weekend, evening rides etc then it's a no. When I first fitted a race worthy tyre after riding a Marathon plus, for the same rate of perceived exertion I was going about 8-10kph quicker and that's not taking into account the lovely hum that a road tyre makes and the ride quality. Yes you run the risk of getting a puncture, but the overall speed and ride gain make up for it in my opinion.

 

[Vegan1]

Have you tried them? No, thought not.

And I would not want to, for speeds around the 38-40kph mark you are looking at another 70-90 watts extra compared to a Schwalbe 1.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Having ridden long distance events on both I'm going to say no. Yes Marathon Pluses are puncture proof, and are really good for commuting, and if this is what you are using your hybrid for then go for it. But if you are talking about riding overall, day rides at the weekend, evening rides etc then it's a no. When I first fitted a race worthy tyre after riding a Marathon plus, for the same rate of perceived exertion I was going about 8-10kph quicker and that's not taking into account the lovely hum that a road tyre makes and the ride quality. Yes you run the risk of getting a puncture, but the overall speed and ride gain make up for it in my opinion.

Says more about perceived exertion than it does about rolling resistance I suspect.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

All my rides are done on Marathon Plus, I think they are a great tyre

 

[Pat "5mph"]

All my rides are done on Marathon Plus, I think they are a great tyre

You must be awfully fit, riding all those miles on M+!
I tried them once, felt like cycling on sand to me.
I use mostly Marathon originals, because I don't fancy punctures on the commute, when I'm pushed for time and the weather is usually awful, but the feeling of more bouncy if less puncture resistant tyres is much nicer imo.

 

[Wobblers]

Having ridden long distance events on both I'm going to say no. Yes Marathon Pluses are puncture proof, and are really good for commuting, and if this is what you are using your hybrid for then go for it. But if you are talking about riding overall, day rides at the weekend, evening rides etc then it's a no. When I first fitted a race worthy tyre after riding a Marathon plus, for the same rate of perceived exertion I was going about 8-10kph quicker and that's not taking into account the lovely hum that a road tyre makes and the ride quality. Yes you run the risk of getting a puncture, but the overall speed and ride gain make up for it in my opinion.

!

There is a 1 kph speed difference between my Planet X London Road and my Cannondale Caad 10 - the Dale is faster. The London Road is shod with 32 mm Marathon Pluses, the Caad with 23 mm Durano Pluses. There is also a difference in weight and (rather more importantly) geometry and hence position between the two - the latter which almost certainly explains the lion's share of the speed difference. An 8-10 kph difference seems unfeasibly high.

I have ridden century rides on both bikes. The London Road's more comfortable - and much of that's down to the wider tyres with greater air volume. (It also must be said that the Caad 10's just as comfortable on long rides as my titanium Van Nicholas Yukon - a testament to just how good the Dales really are.)

 

[Wobblers]

So puncture proof tyres for a hybrid/trekking bike? Are they worth it? Expensive or not? Which are the good ones? Thanks

As this thread proves, the first tyre anyone ever mentions is the Marathon Plus. For good reason: it's the nearest thing to bomb proof you'll get. I no longer worry too much about potholes or glass on my M+ shod commute bike. The down side is that they're heavy and give a ride usually described as "wooden". You can actually improve that by just running them at lower pressure: I run my 32 mm marathon pluses at 50-60 psi which improves things immensely. That's probably still a little on the high side, too.

Ordinary Marathons compromise on the robustness and protection so are lighter and give a nicer ride. I've got them on my Glasgow pub bike, and as @Pat "5mph" will tell you, the craters masquerading as roads in Glasgow are a tough test for any tyre! The marathons have had no issues at all. The best of the bunch that I've tried are the Durano Pluses, which are light, fast and give a very nice ride. I've done many thousands of miles on them without problems.

There is one weakness though: the inner tubes. Get good inner tubes! I went through a spate of punctures at the start of the year which it turned out were due to a dodgy batch of Nuu Trak tubes which had a habit of failing at the seams. No more problems when I switched over to Vittoria tubes. On the up side, I'm now very good at getting M+'s back on without needing tyre levers...

 

[Roadhump]

The Marathon Plus is undoubtedly a very good tyre if you want puncture protection, but puncture proof does not exist. I put M+ tyres on my hybrid after a spate of punctures, and sure enough went about 6,000 miles without a puncture, then I had 3 within the next 3,000 miles, one of which was to an almost new 6 week old M+ that had done about 300 or so miles. After the last one, the LBS had none in stock but recommended the Marathon, which the bloke said was more or less the same as the M+ except from about 1mm less thickness. I posted on CC about it and after reading responses about the slower, sluggish ride on M+, I decided to try something else and went for Specialized all condition armadillos. I have done about 1,00o miles on them now and they have been great, I do notice a slightly smoother, swifter ride, but now having said that, I guess I should prepare for my next puncture.

 

[Shaun]

Marathon Plus on the folder (back wheel was prone to puntures and a pain to get on/off so went for bomb-proof over weight/speed) - Specialized All Condition Armadillo on the Sirrus because they work well and are lighter than the Marathon's (run them at 100psi+ which I think helps).

 

[fossyant]

I was quite anal about differences in feel and grip on tyres. You do notice a switch, but it's more feel, rather than out and out speed.

The biggest protection tyre I used on my commute was Schwalbe Durano Performance (hah hah). They actually kept punctures at bay where the shared path had shredded Michelin Pro4 Endurance and the Conti 4 Seasons. The Durano wasn't as quick, but it stopped the glass killing the tyre. That was just for a 3 mile part of a 12 mile commute. They wee horribly hard at first to get used to, but you do !

Since my accident I'm now in the world of off road cycling - can I tell one MTB tyre from another.... no ! Wet/mud etc, can't say.

 

[Ajax Bay]

If you are unlucky enough to get a thorn well embedded in a puncture resistant tyre it's a pig of a job getting it out especially at the side of the road on a pouring wet dark night in November.

Carry a robust safety pin - but I agree: not easy, even once you've found the culprit.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Having ridden long distance events on both I'm going to say no [to "Puncture proof tyres - are they any good?]. Yes Marathon Pluses are puncture proof, and are really good for commuting, . . . But if you are talking about riding overall, day rides at the weekend, evening rides etc then it's a no. When I first fitted a race worthy tyre after riding a Marathon plus, for the same rate of perceived exertion I was going about 8-10kph quicker

I think your perceptions may have deceived you.
The Marathon Plus comes in at 25.5w rolling resistance and the Conti GP4000SII (taken as a benchmark example of a 'race worthy tyre') at 12.2w, per tyre. So 26.6w difference. Entering that in 'Bike Calculator' (by looking at the speed achieved/predicted at 201w and at 175w) suggests a reduction in speed of about 1.6kph around 200w/30kph. I know that there are testing modalities to argue with/against, and you may also take issue with the algorithm used, but while tyres make a difference, they don't make the difference (when objective metrics are used, as opposed to perception) that you've suggested.
I'm with @GrumpyGregry and @McWobble here.

Says more about perceived exertion than it does about rolling resistance I suspect.

An 8-10 kph difference seems unfeasibly high.

Every little helps though, so a reduction in rolling resistance is welcome, provided the tyre used stays above an individual's 'risk of puncture' threshold. Also worth remembering that a M+ in 28 is 750g whereas the 'race worthy tyre' is likely <250g, so that's a kilogram less (per two tyres).

 

[jowwy]

Wouldnt put a marathon plus tyre anywhere near any of my bikes......i'll stick to conti 4 seasons or gp4000s II thanks.

Only 1 puncture in last 18mths and that was on a gp4000s II rolling over some pretty rough, old ripped up tarmac

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Wouldnt put a marathon plus tyre anywhere near any of my bikes......i'll stick to conti 4 seasons or gp4000s II thanks.

Only 1 puncture in last 18mths and that was on a gp4000s II rolling over some pretty rough, old ripped up tarmac

Gatorskin Hardshells ftw. And it is spelt p******e.