tired of getting flats
 

We have had an abnormal amount of rain this spring and early summer. I
have gotten just about every kind of flat but pinch flat from all the
road junk that floats out of the gutter during rains.

I have just invested in Gatorskin and Armadillo tires for my bikes and
am going to see which brand gives me the best results. I have one
Gatorskin on the ground already and will put the others on as I do more
stuff.

I'd been running Specialized Mondo and Mondo Pro till they got so chewed
up from the road debris. Had great experiences with them till his
spring. It has been like their "flack jacket" lining is made of toilet
paper for me.

tired of getting flats
 

On Jun 28, 12:22 pm, catzz66 wrote:
I have just invested in Gatorskin and Armadillo tires for my bikes and
am going to see which brand gives me the best results. I have one
Gatorskin on the ground already and will put the others on as I do more
stuff.

I had no luck with Armadillos in urban conditions, myself. I now use
Schwalb Marathon Plus tires - I've had tire-wire flats and one sheet
metal screw flat, but not a single normal urban (glass, tacks, etc)
flat for 18 months. (Knock wood.)

tired of getting flats
 

On Jun 28, 12:09 pm, Brian Huntley wrote:
On Jun 28, 12:22 pm, catzz66 wrote:

I have just invested in Gatorskin and Armadillo tires for my bikes and
am going to see which brand gives me the best results. I have one
Gatorskin on the ground already and will put the others on as I do more
stuff.

I had no luck with Armadillos in urban conditions, myself. I now use
Schwalb Marathon Plus tires - I've had tire-wire flats and one sheet
metal screw flat, but not a single normal urban (glass, tacks, etc)
flat for 18 months. (Knock wood.)

I've ridden what I consider to be the cheap alternative to Marathons
the past six months, the IRC Tandem. ~2K miles on that bike. No flats,
and it gets used for everything from urban exploring to fire roads.
Nada. The all rounder bike before that had some WTB tires which
flatted at least weekly. Shame the Tandems won't fit in most stupidly
tight road bike clearances. They're pretty light at ~350g, supple, and
the slightly annoying tread will be forgiven the first time you take
them off road.

I'm pretty certain that rain flats are caused by two things, this
after getting a rash of them last year on my skinny tire bike, rain
making glass shards stand up on the roadway, and the water acting as
lubricant. The only totally reliable solution seems to be tread
thickness, thus my love affair with the very utilitarian IRC tires.
The gatorskins and armadillos don't appeal to me at all, as they're
quite heavy for their size, with limited volume and stiff sidewalls,
the worst of all worlds.

tired of getting flats
 

On Jun 28, 9:22 am, catzz66 wrote:
We have had an abnormal amount of rain this spring and early summer. I
have gotten just about every kind of flat but pinch flat from all the
road junk that floats out of the gutter during rains.

I have just invested in Gatorskin and Armadillo tires for my bikes and
am going to see which brand gives me the best results. I have one
Gatorskin on the ground already and will put the others on as I do more
stuff.

I'd been running Specialized Mondo and Mondo Pro till they got so chewed
up from the road debris. Had great experiences with them till his
spring. It has been like their "flack jacket" lining is made of toilet
paper for me.

My solution, being the victim of many, many flats have never found
tires that really prevent them. I've gone another route. I simply got
proficient at changing tubes. I can change a front out in ~ 3 minutes
and a rear in ~5. I also buy tubes in bulk at a big discount and just
live with the flats.

tired of getting flats
 

In article , catzz66
@threeletterservice.com says...
We have had an abnormal amount of rain this spring and early summer. I
have gotten just about every kind of flat but pinch flat from all the
road junk that floats out of the gutter during rains.

I was having a similar problem a couple years ago. Tried slime, but
found that pretty much sucked.


Now I have the following combo:


1. Michelin Carbon tires
2. Tuffy strips
3. Performance 'thorn-proof' tubes

Not at all light, but I guess I'll just give that up for the lack of
flats.



My $00.02


-Bob

tired of getting flats
 

gds wrote:

My solution, being the victim of many, many flats have never found
tires that really prevent them. I've gone another route. I simply got
proficient at changing tubes. I can change a front out in ~ 3 minutes
and a rear in ~5. I also buy tubes in bulk at a big discount and just
live with the flats.


That's going to have to be my Plan B. It is not too much fun fixing
flats in this slop, but I am going to have to bite the bullet and start
doing it. I am used to being able to have my floor pump and tools handy
and have room to spread out.

Part of the problem has probably been the compound used in the Mondos.
When it was pretty dry around here (last several years) it was fine, but
with more rainy weather they get cut and gouged up. I am looking for a
little bit tougher exterior compound. Maybe that will cut down on some
of the punctures. It was time to change anyway. I got 2100 and 2400
miles out of the OEM tires, so I can't complain that much.

tired of getting flats
 

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:22:13 -0500, catzz66 wrote:

I'd been running Specialized Mondo and Mondo Pro till they got so chewed
up from the road debris. Had great experiences with them till his
spring. It has been like their "flack jacket" lining is made of toilet
paper for me.

I haven't tried them, but you can get thick plastic strips which sit
between your tyre and tube. They look as though they'd stop almost
anything getting through, although they'd slow you down a bit.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

tired of getting flats
 

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:22:13 -0500, catzz66
wrote:
We have had an abnormal amount of rain this spring and early summer. I
have gotten just about every kind of flat but pinch flat from all the
road junk that floats out of the gutter during rains.

Send us some of that rain! Please??

I have just invested in Gatorskin and Armadillo tires for my bikes and
am going to see which brand gives me the best results. I have one
Gatorskin on the ground already and will put the others on as I do more
stuff.

I'd been running Specialized Mondo and Mondo Pro till they got so chewed
up from the road debris. Had great experiences with them till his
spring. It has been like their "flack jacket" lining is made of toilet
paper for me.

You got me to thinking. I don't like flats, either. Beauty in the
eye of this beholder is not having to stop for flats; I care about
rolling resistance more than flat resistance probably less that 2% of
my rides.

That said, I got a new bike last year that came with Vittoria
Randonneurs (32 labeled width). They felt faster than the Panaracers
and Avocet Cross tires I'd been riding[1], and lasted 4000 miles on
the back. I got some more.

Pat

[1] Strangely enough, though, I couldn't tell a difference in average
speed or ride time on identical commuting trips.
Email address works as is.

tired of getting flats
 

SCHWALBE MARATHON PLUS

PERIOD

"catzz66" wrote in message
...
We have had an abnormal amount of rain this spring and early summer. I
have gotten just about every kind of flat but pinch flat from all the road
junk that floats out of the gutter during rains.

I have just invested in Gatorskin and Armadillo tires for my bikes and am
going to see which brand gives me the best results. I have one Gatorskin
on the ground already and will put the others on as I do more stuff.

I'd been running Specialized Mondo and Mondo Pro till they got so chewed
up from the road debris. Had great experiences with them till his spring.
It has been like their "flack jacket" lining is made of toilet paper for
me.

tired of getting flats
 

On Jun 30, 11:56 am, "Grand Poobah" wrote:
SCHWALBE MARATHON PLUS

I'm no weight weenie--but nearly a kg each at 32mm! No thanks. I'll
stick with my 350g flat free IRC Tandems.