Schwalbe Lugano puncture protection

Turbulent Bill

I've had two punctures in as many days with my rear Schwalbe Lugano (700x23c). Starting pressure was c. 100psi on both occasions, found a piece of wire through the tyre for the first one and just a pinprick hole for the second. Used a different tube each time, punctures in different places, found nothing inside the tyre.

Am I just unlucky or are the Luganos not cut out for commuting? I used Conti Gatorskins on my previous bike (which were great), and I'd prefer not to buy new tyres as the Luganos are almost new.

irishmotorist

I got these on my Focus Cayo when I got it and I had about 4 front wheel punctures in as many months so ditched them. All the punctures were in different spots and I don't really recall having a front wheel puncture any other time previously.
I put on gatorskins front and back a few weeks back and have had nothing yet and, imo, the tyres handle better too.

ednwireland

got them on my cayo no punctures yet (i think are roads might be rougher but less cr*p on them

damoz

Have them on my bike too - 3 months so far and no punctures..

Wonder if i have just cursed myself now !

ednwireland

damoz wrote: »

Wonder if i have just cursed myself now !

had the same thought myself

Turbulent Bill

irishmotorist wrote: »

I got these on my Focus Cayo when I got it and I had about 4 front wheel punctures in as many months so ditched them. All the punctures were in different spots and I don't really recall having a front wheel puncture any other time previously.
I put on gatorskins front and back a few weeks back and have had nothing yet and, imo, the tyres handle better too.

Coming from an MTB (with front suspension), and the because more of your weight is over the front wheel on a road bike, I thought that the front would be more likely to puncture but this hasn't happened to me.

The Luganos already have a few nicks in the rolling surface from glass etc. (which didn't cause punctures), but they're comfy and grippy so I think I'll hold onto them for the moment. Any more problems though and and I'll get Gatorskins.

Thanks for all the comments.

damoz

ednwireland wrote: »

had the same thought myself

will keep you posted !...... touches wood

irishmotorist

Maybe I was just unlucky, but it was a tiny sliver of glass each time for me.
"I didn't expect something that small to cause the puncture!", I thought as I was cursing the bottle-breaker to the depths of hell!

irishmotorist

As an unfortunate update to this, little did I know that while I was singing the praises of my new Gatorskins, their air....their very lifeblood was seeping out of my back tube. Replaced the tube last night and headed home cursing my luck. The cursing went an octave or two higher this morning when it was flat again. Either I'm very unlucky or I made a balls of removing my shard of glass.

Mods - please lock, delete and exorcise this thread. There's some voodoo lark knocking around or something.

blorg

Very very small things can penetrate a tyre, it's not the size but how sharp it is. No tyre is immune, I have had my fair share on Gatorskins, including 4 in a 24-hour period in Sicily (all different.) One of these was truly minute.

irishmotorist

I found a small shard on the outside of the tyre that corresponded to the tube hole but stupidly never checked the inside properly in my haste to get going
Damn, I hate learning the same lesson more than once.

Turbulent Bill

irishmotorist wrote: »

As an unfortunate update to this, little did I know that while I was singing the praises of my new Gatorskins, their air....their very lifeblood was seeping out of my back tube. Replaced the tube last night and headed home cursing my luck. The cursing went an octave or two higher this morning when it was flat again. Either I'm very unlucky or I made a balls of removing my shard of glass.

Mods - please lock, delete and exorcise this thread. There's some voodoo lark knocking around or something.

Sorry irishmotorist, didn't mean to curse your tyres . I've gotten into the habit of aligning the graphics (or something recognisable) on the tyre with the valve, helps to show if there's something left in the tyre. If anyone else has something they want broken just post it to this thread...

blorg wrote: »

Very very small things can penetrate a tyre, it's not the size but how sharp it is. No tyre is immune, I have had my fair share on Gatorskins, including 4 in a 24-hour period in Sicily (all different.) One of these was truly minute.

The soft(ish) rolling surface on the Gatorskins seems to gobble up small bits of glass - I've pulled out some pieces which didn't cause punctures but had to be dug out of the rubber.