Punctures

[SkipdiverJohn]

I don't buy into the double tube thing, that will weigh as much as a Rhinodillo liner and be far less effective. I guess the only advantage of the double tube thing is the cost, used tube is virtually free, so if money is a problem then ok but it won't work near as good as a liner.

I'm not suggesting the use of scrap inner tubes as a barrier to penetration punctures. What I am suggesting is that if you use the Mr Tuffy type of tyre liner, which is what I use (although they are not called Mr Tuffy over here) that the use of a second inner tube barrier reduces the risk of the tyre liner itself being the cause of an abrasion puncture. I've rounded off the ends of the liner and sanded them as smooth as I can, but they are still quite stiff material especially in low temperatures, which tyres will see in cold weather.

 

[froze]

I'm not suggesting the use of scrap inner tubes as a barrier to penetration punctures. What I am suggesting is that if you use the Mr Tuffy type of tyre liner, which is what I use (although they are not called Mr Tuffy over here) that the use of a second inner tube barrier reduces the risk of the tyre liner itself being the cause of an abrasion puncture. I've rounded off the ends of the liner and sanded them as smooth as I can, but they are still quite stiff material especially in low temperatures, which tyres will see in cold weather.

Ok, now I understand you, for the reason you mentioned if you use the Rhinodillo liner you don't need to add the weight of nor the bulk of a second inner tube to protect the main tube, the Rhinodillo comes with a anti abrasion edge on one edge of the liner, the other edge won't make contact with the tube if you install it correctly.

 

[Quadratica]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres pumped up to near the max rating and you be very unlucky to get a puncture. I have used these for 10 years and had one puncture. They are expensive but if you ride far from home they are necessary.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres pumped up to near the max rating and you be very unlucky to get a puncture. I have used these for 10 years and had one puncture. They are expensive but if you ride far from home they are necessary.

But if you work out how many miles you can expect to get from a M or M+ tyre, before it's down to the protection layer, they will cost out to less pennies per mile than the cheapest unprotected tyres. There are also plenty of speed-oriented roadie tyres on the market that cost the same or more, than M/M+, but might give 25% of the mileage.
If you buy two tyres @ £20 a pop and you get 5k miles out of them (averaged front/rear wear life), your bike is costing you 0.4P to run a mile in tyres. Even I think that's cheap!

 

[overmind]

Seconded for Tyre liners. Somebody has already mentioned but they are bloody brilliant for dealing with problems like this.

I put tyre liners in some crappy old tyres and did not get a puncture for 2 years. They were some generic brand. I will link an earlier post tomorrow. The tyres were so worn I had a 1/2 cm hole in my tyres and I still did not get a puncture.

edit: Here is the link mentioned above.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/in-praise-of-tyre-liners.230726/#post-5154363

Get some tyre liners. You know it makes sense. :-)

 

[froze]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres pumped up to near the max rating and you be very unlucky to get a puncture. I have used these for 10 years and had one puncture. They are expensive but if you ride far from home they are necessary.

This is not entirely true. You don't just blindly put in the max amount of PSI written on the sidewall of a tire to ward off flats, if you put max psi in and don't weigh much you will wear out the tire down the center fast, not to mention inability to stop as quickly and skittish handling. A bicycle correct tire psi is the same principle as a car tire psi, with a car tire you don't put in the max rated psi on the tire, instead you open the drivers door and look at the label and it will tell you the correct tire psi to use because they have calculated the weight of the car into the psi for the tire size on the car, the same is true with bicycle you need to calculate the weight of the rider and bike plus the tire size to determine the correct psi for the tire.

There are two such psi calculators to help you do that. The first one is for road bikes, use the second calculator that says weight of fully dressed rider and bike (if touring you need to know how much all of your gear weighs and add that into the rider and bike weight): http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html

The next one is for mountain bikes: http://mtb.ubiqyou.com/

The only time what you said is correct is if your weight figures happens to come out close to what the max psi rating is on the tire; if your weight is such that it makes the psi level higher than the max psi on the tire that tells you that you need to get the next size up tire.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I put tyre liners in some crappy old tyres and did not get a puncture for 2 years. They were some generic brand. I will link an earlier post tomorrow. The tyres were so worn I had a 1/2 cm hole in my tyres and I still did not get a puncture.

I've got a whole load of used crappy non-protected tyres that have come from secondhand bikes that I've either bought or salvaged. I refuse to throw tyres away if they still have some mileage left in them, which is why I have a couple of sets of tyre liners in use currently on my hack bikes. I can simply move the liner from tyre to tyre as I wear out my old stock. As well as saving cash, using a pair of mismatched and scruffy old tyres adds to the general effect of shabbiness that features on my hack bikes - which is exactly what I want as it acts as a theft deterrent. Luckily, I'm not one of the OCD types who have a funny turn if everything is not perfectly matching and spotless on their bikes.

 

[overmind]

I've got a whole load of used crappy non-protected tyres that have come from secondhand bikes that I've either bought or salvaged. I refuse to throw tyres away if they still have some mileage left in them, which is why I have a couple of sets of tyre liners in use currently on my hack bikes. I can simply move the liner from tyre to tyre as I wear out my old stock. As well as saving cash, using a pair of mismatched and scruffy old tyres adds to the general effect of shabbiness that features on my hack bikes - which is exactly what I want as it acts as a theft deterrent. Luckily, I'm not one of the OCD types who have a funny turn if everything is not perfectly matching and spotless on their bikes.

Here is the link. My tyres were seriously worn out and the tyre liners still held.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/in-praise-of-tyre-liners.230726/#post-5154363

 

[boydj]

I've used Continental GP 4 Seasons for years, averaging less then one puncture a year. They are light, fast, and have good protection. I've got Hutchison tubeless on one bike and yet to have a puncture on them (that I'm aware of).

 

[geocycle]

I get very few punctures, except in November. It is hedge cutting season and the farmers around here do not clear up very well. By the time we get to December the thorns have softened a bit. I’ve had two punctures this year in marathon supremes on my commuter, both thorns in the last three weeks.

 

[Ian H]

Apart from all the above there's also how you ride. Try to stay within vehicle wheel-tracks. Cars will pick-up or flatten a lot of the cuttings. Actively avoid any debris if possible, it's easy to see the bigger stuff. Don't brake or accelerate over debris if you can help it, ride as smoothly as possible.