Very true. I watched my friend once check a tire for damage following a flat at the beginning of a 150-mile ride; he literally spun the tire over his fingers. It was a piece of glass which cleanly but bloodily sliced three fingertips about 2mm deep...
After the thorn I am careful as well. It stuck well into the interior of the casing.
That's the only flat that I have gotten on the fat bike. The tires are Bontrager Gnarwhal's. I have studdded (winter) and un-studded pairs.
My regular bike is a gravel or cross bike. It came with Clement MXP tires (700 X 33). Once the tread nubs wear off of those kinds of tires I find that they become quite susceptible to puncture. The Maxxis Raze tires that I tried for a bit were very poor wrt puncture resistance.
I now mostly ride on Vittoria Terreno Mix but If I know that I am going on a longer road ride I will use Continental Gatorskins. I don't think that I have ever gotten a flat on those two tires yet.
That's the only flat that I have gotten on the fat bike. The tires are Bontrager Gnarwhal's. I have studdded (winter) and un-studded pairs.
My regular bike is a gravel or cross bike. It came with Clement MXP tires (700 X 33). Once the tread nubs wear off of those kinds of tires I find that they become quite susceptible to puncture. The Maxxis Raze tires that I tried for a bit were very poor wrt puncture resistance.
I now mostly ride on Vittoria Terreno Mix but If I know that I am going on a longer road ride I will use Continental Gatorskins. I don't think that I have ever gotten a flat on those two tires yet.
Say one thing about gator skins, they're easy to get back on the rim; I was once on a ride with a lady (marriage material), she slipped a gator skin back on effortlessly, and she even lined up the writing with the valve stem (this helps both locating a thorn in a tyre (from where the hole is in the innertube) and find the valve). Sadly, she was well out of my league.
It happens even with car tires:
This rusty blade was assaulting our tire in the middle of the road.
This rusty blade was assaulting our tire in the middle of the road.
Twice I managed to wear down my bicycle tires like this:
This happened after roughly 15000km. The rear tire went first.
This happened after roughly 15000km. The rear tire went first.
About ten years ago I was doing a 24 mile commute to or from work about half of the time so about 24 miles 5 times a week.
I was riding on 700cx23mm and wondered why the tires did not last as long as they when I was younger.
I had to accept it has something to do with how much I weigh as an older person.
I was riding on 700cx23mm and wondered why the tires did not last as long as they when I was younger.
I had to accept it has something to do with how much I weigh as an older person.
No seriously, I can't complain about durability of the tires. The tires are optimized for weight and rolling resistance so there must be a trade-off somewhere.
When I had a flat one day leaving the office (apparently I picked up a glass shard in the morning), I went to the nearby bike store for repair and saw something interesting:
https://www.schwalbetires.com/press/schwalbes-world-first-airless-system-never-pump-again/
Does anybody have practical experience with such tires?
When I had a flat one day leaving the office (apparently I picked up a glass shard in the morning), I went to the nearby bike store for repair and saw something interesting:
https://www.schwalbetires.com/press/schwalbes-world-first-airless-system-never-pump-again/
Does anybody have practical experience with such tires?
Be careful. It is not a myth. Snakes with fangs can puncture the tire and you can get bit. It happens in the TX, AZ, NM, CA deserts. They know to drag a cloth on the inside of a tire, NEVER use your hand. I've fixed tires with rebar through both sides of the tire. With no tire available you fix what you have. This tire was 5 or 6k and a week away. I hate flat tires, main reason for most van wrecks. Low tire pressure.
Over the years, I have used several tire plugs on my cars with no problems. The first one was done by a service station person without removing the wheel from the car, without any jack. But Bicycle tires are twice the pressure and use a tube. I don't cycle much anymore but when I was young, I fixed bicycle flats often.
I have experience with "NO FLAT" designs. You still have to keep air in them. Many boom lifts require a foam filled tire in the event of a sliced tire. You could topple a boom if it didn't have "NO FLAT" tires. You see the issue? Those booms move while
you are in the air. You don't want to slice a tire open when you're 40ft in the air. The same goes for tires worn until they blow.
Very unsafe for everyone. Especially the one you wreck into sipping their morning tea.
Regards
Just talking about me here. I just knew those tires lasted longer back when I was a 16 year old kid for some reason. Oddly, the wider tires lasted longer once I tried them.
I don't think so. In those days, a year was a long time. And I remember bias ply tires that lasted maybe 10K miles. Going back to model T's, tire repair was a weekly task because they used natural rubber. IE not very strong. We forget the negative for the sake of our sanity, but damn little about the "ol' days" was good compared to the present, except our own youth.
Nah, everything was better those days, the grass was greener, the belly was slender and tires lasted longer. 😉