2 punctures on commute today, which tyres to change to?

romperstomper

never having a day like today again. 7km into commute and get a puncture at a disaster of a place to change a tube so have no choice but to jog the 3km remaining into work. on the commute on the way home with 6km left to go, got another puncture in the same wheel! likely there is something in the tube causing this, but too dark to check now.

so which tyres do people recommend to reduce punctures? I have been running 700c X 23mm

Unknown Soldier

romperstomper wrote: »

never having a day like today again. 7km into commute and get a puncture at a disaster of a place to change a tube so have no choice but to jog the 3km remaining into work. on the commute on the way home with 6km left to go, got another puncture in the same wheel! likely there is something in the tube causing this, but too dark to check now.

so which tyres do people recommend to reduce punctures? I have been running 700c X 23mm

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/schwalbe-marathon-plus-road-tyre-smart-guard/rp-prod24544

Only go to 25 though. But they are bomb proof, in my experience.

kingoffifa

conti gatorskin
panaracer ribmo
schwalbe durano

any of the above - i like ribmo but they are heavy

Inspector Coptoor

I have Continental Gatorskins.
Have about 1000kms on them & got two punctures 2km Spart on way home yesterday.

Was raging

RobFowl

New ones.....

Cee-Jay-Cee

I've got roughly 2500km from Schwalbe Luganos with zero punctures.

Jocry

I covered 4250km exactly on Conti Gatorskins (700x23) and got my first puncture on Monday, they were coming to the end of the road so its my own fault for not changing them sooner!!

Luckily I'd just bought two more brand new ones (700x25 for the winter) off here on Saturday, HOWEVER, its the first time I've had to change these tyres and they're an absolute b@stid My fingers are in bits, they're bullet proof but my god, they're not easy to put on!!!

Max_Charger

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/panaracer-flataway-tyre-liner/
Pulled a large chunk of glass out of my relatively new conti gp front tyre few days ago that went straight through it and stopped at the liner I have in the tyres, wasn't sure about them at first but after seeing it myself I def would have punctured only for it.

Wishbone Ash

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/schwalbe-marathon-plus-road-tyre-smart-guard/rp-prod24544

Only go to 25 though. But they are bomb proof, in my experience.

+1

I've put up 16,000kms on my commuter/beater on a pair of these (700x25) without puncturing. Bombproof indeed. (I inspect them regularly and remove glass/flint etc. and maintain them at 115psi)

slideshow bob

25mm Continental 4 seasons doing very well for me. Keep them pumped.

del_boy13

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/schwalbe-marathon-plus-road-tyre-smart-guard/rp-prod24544

Only go to 25 though. But they are bomb proof, in my experience.

+1 have a set of these on my heavy commuter with panniers over 1500km only 1 puncture and that was a from a metal shard hiding in the leaves and gutter. Check them occasionally for glass etc that gets stuck in them.

Only downside is they can be a bugger to get on and off. They take a while to get rolling but once they do they keep moving along nicely.

Joff

Swear by Gatorskins myself, have the hardshell on the commuter, normal Gators on the road bike.

Chips Lovell

No tyre is completely puncture proof. There are just varying degrees of protection.

By the sounds of it, you didn't find the cause of the first puncture and it caused the second.

Wishbone Ash

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

...By the sounds of it, you didn't find the cause of the first puncture and it caused the second.

...or it wasn't fully inflated (mini pump?) following the initial puncture leaving it more susceptible to puncturing again.

donal7

I'm on to my second set of Specialized Armadillo's and not a single puncture

rollingscone

In my humble opinion Gatorskins are not worth the benefits. They're horrible in the wet and just horrible in general.

Had good experiences with Bontrager Hardcase and Marathon Plus (Fugly though!).

Currently running standard unprotected 28mm Rubinos on my commuter without problems, just keep the psi up.

NeedMoreGears

^^ what he said.

I had 23mm rubinos for 7000km commutes - no punctures (I hope I don't regret saying that) but plenty of cuts. Have done another 1000 on 28mm zaffiro (I think) with no problems. I keep front at 105psi and rear at 110 on the 23s and maybe 5 psi less on the 28s (I am 73kg). I check the tyres for embedded glass etc about once a month.

Koobcam

Gatorskins are ok, but I agree that they're not the best in terms of grip-not terrible but not as good as you would want on what is essentially a winter tyre. They are pretty puncture-resistant though. I got a set of continental grand prix 4 seasons a few weeks ago and so far so good. Hard to tell puncture wise, though I have done probably over 1000km on them on some pretty bad roads and they are grand so far. Great grip, though this probably has as much to do with them being new tyres as anything else. I have the 25mm which actually look a bit narrower than the previous GP 4000s 25mms I had before, and I reckon 28mm would be ideal for commuting/winter tyre. My set of gp 4000s tyres were great as well puncture-wise. I had one puncture in January last year, which caused two further punctures the same week, but after that, I reckon I put up about 9,000+km on them without a puncture…until I got one on the way back from the cycle superstore a couple of days ago-glass everywhere plus worn tyres.

Zorba

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

+1

I've put up 16,000kms on my commuter/beater on a pair of these (700x25) without puncturing. Bombproof indeed. (I inspect them regularly and remove glass/flint etc. and maintain them at 115psi)

I've 25mm GP 4 seasons on my bike and there's just about enough clearance for them between the tyre and the seat tube, would i be right in thinking the Marathons would be too thick for my bike ? Have them on the mountain bike and first thing i noticed was how thick they were.

slideshow bob wrote: »

25mm Continental 4 seasons doing very well for me. Keep them pumped.

+1

25mm for a nice comfy ride

Ironlungs

On a trek hybrid I got;

1000km on bontrager hardcase at 32mm - puncture free, roll quite nicely.
1000km and counting on gatorskins at 28mm - puncture free and are faster, more responsive.

I am 90kg, so I am reasonably hard on tires. I keep them inflated to around 100psi.

I am purchasing a new bike and will be putting 4seasons on this, at 25mm, as I have heard good things and trust the brand so far. Seems to be best of gatorskin puncture protection with better ride quality, but they are expensive.

Puggy

Done 13,000km on 2 sets of Conti Gatorskin 23, bike came with Schwable Ultremo Zx. Got 6 punctures in the first week.

On the gators I've got 4 punctures in a year. The first 2 were on a broken manhole cover, nearly ripped the tyre off the back wheel. The most recent were pinch or snakebite punctures where the tyre was underf inflated.

Can't say much bad about them, and as for their performance in the wet, they are the only tyre I've used for a while, so I'm used to them. But they are almost puncture proof, so long as you keep them at the correct pressure for your weight.

Wishbone Ash

Zorba wrote: »

I've 25mm GP 4 seasons on my bike and there's just about enough clearance for them between the tyre and the seat tube, would i be right in thinking the Marathons would be too thick for my bike ?....

Probably!

Here's a pic of mine when they went on first. Less than 1mm clearance! :pac:

Inquitus

I haven't had a puncture yet on my 23mm GP4000s, and they are good for about 3,000km at this stage.

Roadtoad

got 25km from a Gatorskin before a puncture. Huge staple, 2 holes like a snakebite. No complaints really though.

krissovo

Inquitus wrote: »

I haven't had a puncture yet on my 23mm GP4000s, and they are good for about 3,000km at this stage.

I use nothing but 25mm GP4000's for the past year! great comfy tyre and not one puncture @ riding some crapy roads 110 psi

instinct

6000km of commuting done on gp4000s and can count the number of punctures on one hand.

They are getting a bit worn out at this stage mind you.

I think they key is to maintain good pressure and check every few days. A Super fast rolling tyre. I have a brand new set waiting to go on when the current set have had it.

Zorba

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Probably!

Here's a pic of mine when they went on first. Less than 1mm clearance! :pac:

Thanks for that. Think judging by that I'll have to give them a miss, I'd never get the mudguards on the bike with them.

seamus

The GP 4000s is a great tyre, I've had no puncture on the road bike. I don't commute on them though, expensive tyres to be fitting to a commuter!

Another vote for the Marathons here. 7,000km on my pair now and not a single puncture. (cue three on a row on Monday morning).

conorpass

+1 for Bontrager Hardcase
been commuting year round on these for the past 2 years - no punctures
get between 7,000-9,000 kms per tyre

MediaMan

This is very much a case of personal preference, but having had a spate of punctures, I tried puncture resistant types (Ribmos) and hated them. I went back to my GP 4000s's and am happy again.

IMHO there are too many variables in the puncture experience to justify using puncture resistant tyres. People can say they got 3k on whatever tyre without a puncture, but unless you pull a piece of something out one of those tyres which you know would have definitely punctured a regular tyre (which some people have, so fair enough in those cases) then you just don't know if it's worth it.

If all other things were equal then it would be fine to go for the Ribmos, Gatorskins etc., but the fact is they tend to be heavy, dead, and have poor grip. So for me it's the GP 4000s all the way. Plus I got a puncture on the Ribmos anyway so that put a tin hat on it.