Punctures..glass

Chartsengrafs

I've been commuting to work for three years or so by bike.
Until three months ago I have had two punctures but I moved job
and am now getting one a week, all in Dublin 2, all caused by glass. I have Continental
tyres that often get mentioned here as being puncture resistant so I'm wondering is there any tyre even vaguely glassproof?! I have no such trouble on weekend club spins.

Planet X

Schwalbe Marathon or Marathon Plus.

dermo1990

I've had Schwalbe Durano Plus tyres on my bike for some time without any puncture related problems. There isn't even any glass stuck in the tyre that I've found so far. As far as they go as tyres, they're a pretty good balance between puncture resistance and speed

Chartsengrafs

Thanks, will check them out. Are they reasonable grip-wise?

Wishbone Ash

I've never had a puncture with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres. I've had plenty with other brands.

dermo1990

Basster wrote: »

Thanks, will check them out. Are they reasonable grip-wise?

Durano plus are fairly grippy given I've found their handling on wet surfaces much better than the stock tyres the bike came with, and still better than gatorskins (never used gatorskins myself, but have heard some horror stories about them on wet surfaces)

Wishbone Ash

dermo1990 wrote: »

(never used gatorskins myself, but have heard some horror stories about them on wet surfaces)

Yes, in my experience they are quite good puncture wise but a disaster in the wet.

Beasty

Check your tyres regularly. It often takes glass a while to work its way through the tyre - I regularly remove small fragments of glass from my tyres (but rarely puncture)

kenmc

dermo1990 wrote: »

much better than the stock tyres the bike came with, and still better than gatorskins (never used gatorskins myself,

I'm curious as to how you can make the above statement, having never used gators yourself?

dermo1990

kenmc wrote: »

I'm curious as to how you can make the above statement, having never used gators yourself?

I only bought the durano plus tyres on the advice of a friend who rode gatorskins for some time, but after a few wet spins where he crashed on one of them and had handling difficulties on others (all while descending), he switched to durano plus. After switching, he found the bike easier to handle in the wet.

The gators may have been the culprit, or they may not have been, I just wasn't willing to take the risk.

smacl

+1 on the Durano plus, been riding them all year now with no punctures. Note that the 'plus' refers to the puncture resistant belt. AFAIK, regular Duranos are not the same in this regard.

Lumen

Marathon Plus have crap ride quality due to super stiff sidewalls. Overkill if you're only getting punctures in the tread.

ROK ON

Accept punctures.

Cycling in the city I think they are a simple fact of life.

I get punctures with greater frequency around the city centre than I do on long rural spins.

The key for me is to have a tyre with good grip, that rolls well and most importantly is VERY EASY to get off the rim.

jimmycrackcorm

There are two types of gatorskins. Since I put on the more expensive hardshell version, I've never punctured. However as another poster put it you need to regularly take out bits of glass.

Zorba

smacl wrote: »

Note that the 'plus' refers to the puncture resistant belt. AFAIK, regular Duranos are not the same in this regard.

Am i right in thinking this applies to the marathons too, the plus means it has the puncture resistant belt ?

Lumen

Zorba wrote: »

Am i right in thinking this applies to the marathons too, the plus means it has the puncture resistant belt ?

The Marathon Plus has enhanced sidewall protection, which is only useful if you get sidewall punctures. AFAIK.

glennbhoy

+1 on teh duranos

Never punctured with them

seve65

I get punctures very frequently with my gp4000s, but its nearly always when its wet and small shard of glass or other crap are in the small cuts in the tyre that occur so easily with the gp4000s. So a bit of vigilance, which I dont have, would probably go a long way.

cdaly_

dermo1990 wrote: »

Durano plus are fairly grippy given I've found their handling on wet surfaces much better than the stock tyres the bike came with, and still better than gatorskins (never used gatorskins myself, but have heard some horror stories about them on wet surfaces)

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Yes, in my experience they are quite good puncture wise but a disaster in the wet.

dermo1990 wrote: »

I only bought the durano plus tyres on the advice of a friend who rode gatorskins for some time, but after a few wet spins where he crashed on one of them and had handling difficulties on others (all while descending), he switched to durano plus. After switching, he found the bike easier to handle in the wet.

The gators may have been the culprit, or they may not have been, I just wasn't willing to take the risk.

I don't understand all the gator-hating. I've been riding them for the last 2-3 years with few punctures (there'll always be one or two) and the only skids I've had on them have been on ice...

smacl

Zorba wrote: »

Am i right in thinking this applies to the marathons too, the plus means it has the puncture resistant belt ?

Not sure, as marathons come in a number of different flavours. I run marathon supremes on my hybrid which are the lighter, slicker version, yet still have high puncture resistance. More expensive though. One puncture over 2 years, mixture of town and rural riding.

Wishbone Ash

cdaly_ wrote: »

the only skids I've had on them have been on ice...

Perhaps you cycle quite slowly!

I had them on the bike for a few months but changed them following several incidents in the wet. Compared to other brands, one has to reduce speed significantly on bends, roundabouts or on any slightly uneven surface. It's just not worth it when there are other brands available which behave themselves in similar circumstances. I've even had rear Gators step out of line when cycling in a straight line on a wet road.

Andy Magic

I have continental on my racer and I find them quite bad for punctures.

Beasty

Andy Magic wrote: »

I have continental on my racer and I find them quite bad for punctures.

What type of Continental? I had Gatorskins on for well over 10,000km over 3 winters and think I had only a couple of punctures (but I did check them for any embedded foreign objects regularly)

seamus

Avoid riding in the gutter in the city and on dry days (particularly Monday and Friday mornings) watch out for glass on the road and get to know the hotspots for broken glass. Harcourt St outside Copper's for example is always quite bad for it, so I make a point of cycling to the right of the lane there.

In general I've found continental tyres more puncture resistant than schwalbe, but much slippier in the wet.

Andy Magic

Beasty wrote: »

What type of Continental? I had Gatorskins on for well over 10,000km over 3 winters and think I had only a couple of punctures (but I did check them for any embedded foreign objects regularly)

I've no idea of the exact ones but I got them in Halfords as the Kenda tyres that came with the bike were even worse.

Comparing them to what I'm using now Michelin Lithion 2 and I've either been extremely lucky or else there very good as I've only had one puncture in 3 or 4 months and that was my own fault for failing to see a pothole.

Beasty

Andy Magic wrote: »

I've no idea of the exact ones but I got them in Halfords as the Kenda tyres that came with the bike were even worse.

Continental make numerous different tyres with varying degrees of puncture protection, and to simply say you found one particular variety which punctured easily without identifying which one is a completely meaningless statement

Chartsengrafs

ROK ON wrote: »

Accept punctures.

No.

Thought it was worth dropping back to say I bought Durano Plus tyres the day of my original post. I have had no punctures since. Tempting fate perhaps, but thanks all for the comments.
Perfect for commuting but wouldn't be putting them on the weekend bike.

mistermatthew

I think its all a lot of luck. U can puncture on the best tyres and never puncture on the cheapest, it all depends how lucky u are. Keep and eye out for obstacles and bunny hop any glass is the best you can do.

Check ur tyre regularly and pick out any embedded glass and thorns, tweezers are good. This is about the best u can do to aoid punctures.

Plutonium Kun

This might seem obvious, but if you are getting a lot more punctures check to make sure you have your tyres inflated enough. Generally I find glass punctures are only a problem if the tyres are a bit soft. Oh, and do check and clean the tyres regularly, you'd be surprised how much glass you can find in your tyres which have only partly worked their way through. Check under good light with something small enough to price the glass out of the rubber.