Best no punchers city tire?

abceire · 05-04-2014 7:52am #1

Just wondered what tire I could get if I wanted less punchers, I get one every two or three weeks, I do about 90 miles a week in from Tallaght village to Trinity 5 days a week. I don't care so much about how hard or comfortable a tire is or how heavy, if I purely cared about less punchers which would you lovely people recommend?

05-04-2014 8:07am

That's alot of punctures for your tyres.

How old are the tyres, are they in good condition?

What size tyres have you?

Try to ensure that the tyre and tube are installed correctly. Inflate to recommended pressure.

Check that there is no debris inside the tyre.

desertcircus · 05-04-2014 8:28am

Either Panaracer Ribmos or Continental Gatorskins. That said, though, almost any new set of tyres and tubes should be unlikely to get punctures more often than once every few months if they're properly inflated.

Orion · 05-04-2014 8:42am

I use Schwalbe on the road bike as well as Gatorskins on the hybrid. Only had one puncture on the roadbike. Not sure what caused it but another guy pulled in right beside me with a puncture 20 seconds later so we must have gone over something.

machiavellianme · 05-04-2014 8:47am

Schwable. It's nice to have some grip in the rain and they seem to be indestructible.

H.E. Pennypacker · 05-04-2014 9:34am

If you don't care about weight then Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are probably as puncture resistant as you'll get.

thebikeman.ie · 05-04-2014 9:44am

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

If you don't care about weight then Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are probably as puncture resistant as you'll get.

+1. Great tyres, I've used them for the last two years, ridden over lots of glass strewn surfaces, only ever got one puncture with them and that was caused by a white thorn on a rural road.

Type 17 · 05-04-2014 9:47am

Marathon Plus are the best for puncture-resistance - IIRC, they are used on the Dublin City Bikes, which is a good recommendation in itself.

I ride an old 27"-wheel bike around town, so the best tyre I could find in the right size is the Marathon (non-Plus), which is a bit cheaper and lighter, but still has excellent puncture resistance.

Unknown Soldier · 05-04-2014 10:36am

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

If you don't care about weight then Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are probably as puncture resistant as you'll get.

+1

So good you stop worrying about punctures.

No tyre is puncture proof but these go a long way to preventing them occurring regularly. I've had two in about 5/6 months but the pieces of glass involved would have given a car a puncture nevermind a bike.

Raam · 05-04-2014 1:00pm

No punchers? Not when Hinault is around.

sonandheir · 05-04-2014 2:19pm

found I was getting a lot of flats on my commute a while back:

1st check your tube is the right size for your tire. if it's too small I found it would hug the rim and the tire will be loose around edges and debris will get inside the tire without puncturing it and puncture tube only. This is very frustrating as you may get several flats without any tire punctures.

2nd Before each ride I check the tires for small embedded shards of glass. I find at least one small piece each morning. Since doing this I get very few flats, been 7 months since I got a puncture(100 mile commute per week).

Using gatorskins as well for my commute.

Also use max tire pressure 120psi.

Colonel Panic · 05-04-2014 3:27pm

I've got Gatorskins and do a lot of runs in and out of the city center as well as my work commute and see a lot of glass but have only had two punctures in 6 months.

I keep them at 100PSI and like the poster above me, I check for glass in the tires regularly.

Ironlungs · 05-04-2014 8:23pm

I avoid urban cycling, but I had Bontrager hardcase on my Trek hybrid for 1000km with no punctures, and a further 2000km on Gatorskins with no punctures. Touch wood. Mostly rural cycling though. I have GP 4 seasons on my new steed, which are supposed to offer similar performance to Gatorskins in terms of puncture performance.

abceire · 06-04-2014 7:04pm

I really should check the tire for glass etc daily. I never do that. I keep them at about 60psi, mainly because that's as high as most garage pumps let me go to. But I found to garages were the skies the limit so I'll go for higher psi.
I'll be cycling less now for summer but might invest in one of them tires the city bikes have, it's really on one I need as the front never really has a flat. I have a pannier bag on there too so this might add to punchers.
I get most of them in one place I can't really avoid, when on the Tallaght bypass going over the m50. The tunnel for walkers and cyclists is full of glass. Also Rathmines Hardcourt St and Camden St are other places.
Thanks for advice guys, it I make it back into college next year I might go all out and buy a new bike. A scooter is tempting, but then I'm getting near 40 so I might end up with a scooter and a belly if I ditch the bike.

Colonel Panic · 07-04-2014 9:57am

You should really buy a track pump.

mirv · 07-04-2014 11:32am

What tires are you running?

I've got a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus in 700 x 25c that need a good home. They have about 500km on them, and have about 14,500km or so wear left in them. They are the reference tank/urban warzone tyre and they are a bit too heavy/bulletproof for my needs, will also throw in a cheap lidl track pump if you collect.

€30 for the pair if you're interested, give me a PM.

abceire · 08-04-2014 10:55am

I have had a lidl track pump but gave it back as it was so bad, I also have two other pumps I got for presents, neither is a track pump, so still need to buy that too.
I think I'll probably buy a new tire, only the back seems to get punchers, I think my wheels are 26 inch.
How skinny a tire can I put on my mountain bike wheel? Guessing skinnier helps lower rolling resistance a little? I've fairly big balloon ones on it now.

rubadub · 08-04-2014 11:31am

My marathon plus 35c are over 2 years old and no punctures in that time commuting daily, and very little wear. I am very careless about avoiding glass etc, used to get loads of punctures, had the gatorskins before but still got punctures, I also had tyre liners and still got punctures.

I would definitely get them again, got mine on amazon.

abceire · 08-04-2014 1:09pm

OK cool, I'll order one up so. punchers be gone!

Inquitus · 08-04-2014 1:31pm

abceire wrote: »

OK cool, I'll order one up so. punchers be gone!

Make sure you can fit 35c on your bike.

rubadub · 08-04-2014 4:07pm

abceire wrote: »

How skinny a tire can I put on my mountain bike wheel?

It would depend on the wheel. I have one mountainbike with really narrow rims that I was able to put narrow tyres on, my previous one had far wider rims.

Do you know the model of your bike or wheel? someone might know what it can take or you might find it online.

Type 17 · 08-04-2014 9:12pm

If the MTB rim takes 26 x n.nn (ie: decimal, rather than fraction) sizes (559 in ETRTO), then you can put any tyre on it that has the 559 size - I have Specialized 26 x 1 tyres on mine (559-25) which take 8 Bar (~125PSI) and really fly, but note that tyres this narrow will alter the bike's gearing, so you might want to choose a fatter slick tyre.

mr spuckler · 08-04-2014 10:02pm

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

If you don't care about weight then Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are probably as puncture resistant as you'll get.

+1

neither myself nor the missus have had a single puncture in over 2 years of 5 day a week commuting and multiple training rides by me when i had them on my road bike over a couple of winters

spyderski · 08-04-2014 10:35pm

I hate being a pedant, but I've been looking at this thread title for 3 days now and my eyes hurt.

It's PUNCTURES.

That is all.

Unknown Soldier · 08-04-2014 10:57pm

abceire wrote: »

OK cool, I'll order one up so. punchers be gone!

They are good, so it should work out well for you.

I have been testing an Aldi Cam I have against another one and you might find this useful

The first is from today, after the event (Chilli Tech action cam 3 HD) You can see the amount of glass I went over

It didn't look like glass yesterday. You can see that in the second video (using the Aldi Cam, which I didn't bother setting the timestamp on) I went straight over all of it. At the end I pull over to check for glass in the tyres it was that bad.

A few slashes but no punctures.

Both cams are not fit for purpose btw

You can't see number plates....

abceire · 12-04-2014 1:04pm

I've seen people with cameras on their heads, I don't see the point? Is it in case they hit you? I like to focus on not getting hit at all rather then who is at fault. I think the car always wins as it's bigger. The only bad crash was when a lady went to cross the road and walked out in front of a stopped Dublin Bus in traffic. I now try look through the windows of the buses to see if someone is coming and I slow down. Cars wise I seem fine, not hit really, I just try make eye contact if I can to make sure they've seen me.

Darkglasses · 12-04-2014 1:48pm

abceire wrote: »

I've seen people with cameras on their heads, I don't see the point? Is it in case they hit you? I like to focus on not getting hit at all rather then who is at fault.

Wearing a helmet cam in no way makes it harder to stay safe on the road. You can easily do both.

abceire · 13-04-2014 1:34pm

I'm not saying it does, I just don't see the point in them. It's not the same, but them baby on board stickers on cars, I don't see the point either, it's not like I was going to drag race you or crash into you until I spotted you might have a baby in the car.
I'd just come from the point of, don't worry who is at fault, just try avoid the accidents as much as possible. Are there many good courses for people who cycle a lot, I've driven for past 20 yrs but I'm new enough to cycling in town as a means of getting around regularly.

Unknown Soldier · 13-04-2014 9:20pm

abceire wrote: »

I've seen people with cameras on their heads, I don't see the point? Is it in case they hit you? I like to focus on not getting hit at all rather then who is at fault. I think the car always wins as it's bigger. The only bad crash was when a lady went to cross the road and walked out in front of a stopped Dublin Bus in traffic. I now try look through the windows of the buses to see if someone is coming and I slow down. Cars wise I seem fine, not hit really, I just try make eye contact if I can to make sure they've seen me.

I wear a camera because I can and the technology is there to be used. I have one in my car too.

Because I can.

I note the part where you mention learning to look through windows...
I have been driving for about 25 years and cycling 9 months and it is standard to look for kids feet under cars, rear lights "on" on parked cars, exhaust fumes from parked cars etc

You do have to be "aware" when driving or cycling.

Quite frankly I have would have no "guilt" issues causing serious harm to anyone if they make a mistake but I would have serious issues if I felt I was at fault

abceire · 24-04-2014 12:12pm

Finally went all out and got a marathon plus on the back, and decided to avoid that one spot that over 50% of my punchers seemed to have happened in.
Fingers crossed.

spyderski · 24-04-2014 12:16pm

IT'S P-U-N-C-T-U-R-E-S FFS.

abceire · 25-04-2014 11:03am

Sorry. Punctures.

couerdelion · 25-04-2014 12:22pm

abceire wrote: »

I just don't see the point in them. It's not the same, but them baby on board stickers on cars, I don't see the point either, it's not like I was going to drag race you or crash into you until I spotted you might have a baby in the car.

Those stickers are more to do with letting the emergency services know you have a child on board in the case of an accident so they know to look in the back if it's dark or they are evacuating the vehicle for a fire or it's about to sink in a lake.

Now - I'm not saying they are used like that...

abceire · 25-04-2014 2:13pm

I don't want any punchers, that would be a funny statement actually, someone following me around in that little 100m part of my journey who tries to box me.

abceire · 25-04-2014 2:15pm

couerdelion wrote: »

Those stickers are more to do with letting the emergency services know you have a child on board in the case of an accident so they know to look in the back if it's dark or they are evacuating the vehicle for a fire or it's about to sink in a lake.

Now - I'm not saying they are used like that...

Good thinking, never thought if that. But then it's not like you've the stickers on then them people are actually in the car or not.
Say a lady with a dog, husband and 4 kids is on way to work, it's only herself in the car.
Sorry I over think things.
Just wondered the general idea of them?

12 element · 25-04-2014 11:49pm

Not true!

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/babysign.asp

Best no punchers city tire?

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