Puncture-resistant tyres with thin walls

tomasrojo

I've been using Specialized Armadillos for the guts of the last ten years, but I'm going to have to give them up. Since I switched from a hybrid to a touring bike, it's become extremely hard to get armadillos onto the wheel. I broke a tyre lever a few months ago, and yesterday it took me nearly half an hour to get an armadillo on, and I had to use so much force that I pulled the bead away from the tyre wall.

I didn't have any trouble with the hybrid wheels. I think the touring wheels must have a deeper channel between the rims.

Anyway, what's a reasonably puncture-resistant tyre with thinner walls? I would have gone for Specialized Nimbus, but I read that they've discontinued that product.

tomasrojo

Anyone?

blorg

Continental Gatorskins, they aren't as puncture proof as Armadillos but the ride quality is a lot better. What size are you looking for? I use Schwalbe Marathon Racers on my commuter for a larger tyre (700x35) and they also seem good.

tomasrojo

I've been using 700x28. I tend to use that size because I have a lot of spare tubes in that size and I've always found it ok. The tyres that came with the bike were 700x35, I think.

Gatorskins seem to be a favourite here. Are the sidewalls a little less rigid than armadillos? It seemed to be the extreme rigidity of the armadillos that were giving me the trouble in getting the last bit of the wall over the rim.

ROK ON

tomasrojo wrote: »

I've been using 700x28. I tend to use that size because I have a lot of spare tubes in that size and I've always found it ok. The tyres that came with the bike were 700x35, I think.

Gatorskins seem to be a favourite here. Are the sidewalls a little less rigid than armadillos? It seemed to be the extreme rigidity of the armadillos that were giving me the trouble in getting the last bit of the wall over the rim.

Gatorskins are easier to get on the the armadillos, which are close to impossible IMO. It may not be all about the tyre, for example I have fulcrum 5's on one bike and it is so difficult to get tyres on compared to other wheels that I have (Shimano RS20's and Alexrims). FWIW, Conti GP4000s are easier to get on than the Gatorskins, but probably not as puncture resistant. They tend to have good grip in the wet however.

blorg

Gatorskins go up to 28 so you will be fine with them.

As ROK_ON says it's not just the tyre but the tyre/rim combo, I have found it very difficult to get GP4000s on to Mavic rims for example while Schwalbe Ultremos just slide on. Fulcrum are notorious for having issues with Conti tyres.

Gatorskins are not the absolute easiest to get on but they are certainly OK.

tomasrojo

Thanks, blorg and ROK_ON. I'll try one of the Continentals you mention. I don't mind it being a little tricky to get on, so long as it isn't half an hour of herculean labour, like yesterday was for me.

cdaly_

I wasn't too impressed with the Schwalbe Marathons. Got a few sidewall punctures and a front-wheel blowout which left me minus 10cm of forearm skin for a few months. Mind you, I suspect I had managed to slit the sidewall the previous day.

tomasrojo

My wheels are WTB Dual Duty XC. I don't know whether there are any issues with them and Continentals, but I guess I'll take a risk on it.

tomasrojo

Got the gatorskins today and put them on. They went on without any difficulty. So now I just need to see how many punctures I get in the next few months.

Thanks, all.