Toughest road bike tires?

While I really like Continental Gatorskins because of their tough
running surface and acceptable cost per mile they have one major
drawback that almost all "modern" tires have: Weak side walls. I have
tubes with 0.120" (3mm) wall thickness in there but on Tuesday I got a
thorn through a sidewall and it went all the way ... psheeeoooouuu ...
resulting in a nice long walk home because getting those Gatorskins off
a flat Mavic rim out on the street is next to impossible. Other
Gatorskins came to premature grief because a side wall failed and an
"aneurysm" developed. So once I am through with my stash of remaining
Gatorskins I want to buy something better.

Which 700c/25mm tire has high puncture resistance _and_ thick sturdy
sidewalls like they were in the good old days? Wishlist:

1. 25mm wide would be nice. 28mm could become a challenge.

2. Doesn't have to be a racing slick. A coarse tread might actually be
nice for dirt roads. A cyclocross tire would be good if it isn't
fast-wearing on the road (like MTB tires unfortunately are).

3. Cost: $0.02/mile is what Gatorskins cost and I find that ok for a
bicycle tire.

4. Weight: Does not matter at all. Wire bead is fine.

5. Rolling resistance: Does not matter. I don't need to win a race but I
do need it to withstand very ugly road surfaces. And it must handle
weight because I often schlepp stuff on the road bike (luggage rack).

6. Ideally, easier mounting on flat rims. The Gatorskins seem a bit
undersized and only go on or come off my Mavic Module 3 Argent D rims
with brute force. On Tuesday I even snapped a nice Topeak lever getting
it off to fix the flat.

Other question: Does anyone know where to buy those thick tubes? Not the
regular Sunlites but ones with thick walls all around (not just towards
the running surface). I bought mine at a LBS that now went out of
business so I can't buy any there or ask. I fixed the tube that blew
Tuesday but it's iffy, was a big gash.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Joerg wrote:
While I really like Continental Gatorskins because of their tough
running surface and acceptable cost per mile they have one major
drawback that almost all "modern" tires have: Weak side walls. I have
tubes with 0.120" (3mm) wall thickness in there but on Tuesday I got a
thorn through a sidewall and it went all the way ... psheeeoooouuu ...
resulting in a nice long walk home because getting those Gatorskins off
a flat Mavic rim out on the street is next to impossible. Other
Gatorskins came to premature grief because a side wall failed and an
"aneurysm" developed. So once I am through with my stash of remaining
Gatorskins I want to buy something better.

Which 700c/25mm tire has high puncture resistance _and_ thick sturdy
sidewalls like they were in the good old days? Wishlist:

1. 25mm wide would be nice. 28mm could become a challenge.

2. Doesn't have to be a racing slick. A coarse tread might actually be
nice for dirt roads. A cyclocross tire would be good if it isn't
fast-wearing on the road (like MTB tires unfortunately are).

3. Cost: $0.02/mile is what Gatorskins cost and I find that ok for a
bicycle tire.

4. Weight: Does not matter at all. Wire bead is fine.

5. Rolling resistance: Does not matter. I don't need to win a race but I
do need it to withstand very ugly road surfaces. And it must handle
weight because I often schlepp stuff on the road bike (luggage rack).

6. Ideally, easier mounting on flat rims. The Gatorskins seem a bit
undersized and only go on or come off my Mavic Module 3 Argent D rims
with brute force. On Tuesday I even snapped a nice Topeak lever getting
it off to fix the flat.

Other question: Does anyone know where to buy those thick tubes? Not the
regular Sunlites but ones with thick walls all around (not just towards
the running surface). I bought mine at a LBS that now went out of
business so I can't buy any there or ask. I fixed the tube that blew
Tuesday but it's iffy, was a big gash.


Get solid ones and done with it. Geezzzz....

--
Lou

While I really like Continental Gatorskins because of their tough
running surface and acceptable cost per mile they have one major
drawback that almost all "modern" tires have: Weak side walls. I have
tubes with 0.120" (3mm) wall thickness in there but on Tuesday I got a
thorn through a sidewall and it went all the way ... psheeeoooouuu ...
resulting in a nice long walk home because getting those Gatorskins off
a flat Mavic rim out on the street is next to impossible. Other
Gatorskins came to premature grief because a side wall failed and an
"aneurysm" developed. So once I am through with my stash of remaining
Gatorskins I want to buy something better.

Which 700c/25mm tire has high puncture resistance _and_ thick sturdy
sidewalls like they were in the good old days? Wishlist:

1. 25mm wide would be nice. 28mm could become a challenge.

2. Doesn't have to be a racing slick. A coarse tread might actually be
nice for dirt roads. A cyclocross tire would be good if it isn't
fast-wearing on the road (like MTB tires unfortunately are).

3. Cost: $0.02/mile is what Gatorskins cost and I find that ok for a
bicycle tire.

4. Weight: Does not matter at all. Wire bead is fine.

5. Rolling resistance: Does not matter. I don't need to win a race but I
do need it to withstand very ugly road surfaces. And it must handle
weight because I often schlepp stuff on the road bike (luggage rack).

6. Ideally, easier mounting on flat rims. The Gatorskins seem a bit
undersized and only go on or come off my Mavic Module 3 Argent D rims
with brute force. On Tuesday I even snapped a nice Topeak lever getting
it off to fix the flat.

I've never used them, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus seem to be the popular
tires for very tough conditions, and are available in 25mm:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...thon-plus-700c

They are supposed to be hard to mount, though.

On 2016-06-17 15:50, Bertrand wrote:
While I really like Continental Gatorskins because of their tough
running surface and acceptable cost per mile they have one major
drawback that almost all "modern" tires have: Weak side walls. I have
tubes with 0.120" (3mm) wall thickness in there but on Tuesday I got a
thorn through a sidewall and it went all the way ... psheeeoooouuu ...
resulting in a nice long walk home because getting those Gatorskins off
a flat Mavic rim out on the street is next to impossible. Other
Gatorskins came to premature grief because a side wall failed and an
"aneurysm" developed. So once I am through with my stash of remaining
Gatorskins I want to buy something better.

Which 700c/25mm tire has high puncture resistance _and_ thick sturdy
sidewalls like they were in the good old days? Wishlist:

1. 25mm wide would be nice. 28mm could become a challenge.

2. Doesn't have to be a racing slick. A coarse tread might actually be
nice for dirt roads. A cyclocross tire would be good if it isn't
fast-wearing on the road (like MTB tires unfortunately are).

3. Cost: $0.02/mile is what Gatorskins cost and I find that ok for a
bicycle tire.

4. Weight: Does not matter at all. Wire bead is fine.

5. Rolling resistance: Does not matter. I don't need to win a race but I
do need it to withstand very ugly road surfaces. And it must handle
weight because I often schlepp stuff on the road bike (luggage rack).

6. Ideally, easier mounting on flat rims. The Gatorskins seem a bit
undersized and only go on or come off my Mavic Module 3 Argent D rims
with brute force. On Tuesday I even snapped a nice Topeak lever getting
it off to fix the flat.

I've never used them, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus seem to be the
popular tires for very tough conditions, and are available in 25mm:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...thon-plus-700c

They are supposed to be hard to mount, though.


Thanks, that one goes on the list. The review on 8/28/2014 sounds like
the ticket, quote "was tired of flats and was getting sidewall blowouts
with Gator Skins. We were planning an 800 mile trip on the coast from
Washington back to the Bay Area. I needed a puncture proof tire. My
research turned up the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. I bought them
knowing they were difficult to install. And they were, but because they
are almost bullet proof they are very stiff".

That indicates that the side walls are better and the puncture
resistance is similar. Also hard to mount but one can't have it all.

The guy at review 11/27/2015 got 3000 miles out of them so the price of
$42.64 for the 25mm is actually better per mile than Gatorskins:

https://smile.amazon.com/Schwalbe-Ma.../dp/B0025XOWP4

In the picture it looks like it could be 2-ply which would be great.

Thanks, Bertrand.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Friday, June 17, 2016 at 4:07:13 PM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
While I really like Continental Gatorskins because of their tough
running surface and acceptable cost per mile they have one major
drawback that almost all "modern" tires have: Weak side walls. I have
tubes with 0.120" (3mm) wall thickness in there but on Tuesday I got a
thorn through a sidewall and it went all the way ... psheeeoooouuu ...
resulting in a nice long walk home because getting those Gatorskins off
a flat Mavic rim out on the street is next to impossible. Other
Gatorskins came to premature grief because a side wall failed and an
"aneurysm" developed. So once I am through with my stash of remaining
Gatorskins I want to buy something better.

Which 700c/25mm tire has high puncture resistance _and_ thick sturdy
sidewalls like they were in the good old days? Wishlist:

1. 25mm wide would be nice. 28mm could become a challenge.

2. Doesn't have to be a racing slick. A coarse tread might actually be
nice for dirt roads. A cyclocross tire would be good if it isn't
fast-wearing on the road (like MTB tires unfortunately are).

3. Cost: $0.02/mile is what Gatorskins cost and I find that ok for a
bicycle tire.

4. Weight: Does not matter at all. Wire bead is fine.

5. Rolling resistance: Does not matter. I don't need to win a race but I
do need it to withstand very ugly road surfaces. And it must handle
weight because I often schlepp stuff on the road bike (luggage rack).

6. Ideally, easier mounting on flat rims. The Gatorskins seem a bit
undersized and only go on or come off my Mavic Module 3 Argent D rims
with brute force. On Tuesday I even snapped a nice Topeak lever getting
it off to fix the flat.

Other question: Does anyone know where to buy those thick tubes? Not the
regular Sunlites but ones with thick walls all around (not just towards
the running surface). I bought mine at a LBS that now went out of
business so I can't buy any there or ask. I fixed the tube that blew
Tuesday but it's iffy, was a big gash.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

not all Conti have thinwalls. Thinwalls give handling. Lose the thinwall....move toward wood.

buy another Conti, doahn give your bucks to the Chinese

yawl doahn know how to mount n dismount tires..

On 6/17/2016 3:50 PM, Bertrand wrote:

I've never used them, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus seem to be the
popular tires for very tough conditions, and are available in 25mm:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...thon-plus-700c

They are supposed to be hard to mount, though.

I put the 20" x 1.35" on my Dahon folder. They were not exceptionally
hard to mount, though I did need to use tire irons.

On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 18:50:33 -0400, "Bertrand"
wrote:

....

I've never used them, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus seem to be the popular
tires for very tough conditions, and are available in 25mm:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...thon-plus-700c

They are supposed to be hard to mount, though.

It depends on the rim. Rims with a deep V section inside are easy
since there's somewhere for one side of the bead to go while you lift
the other side over and off. No levers needed.

But rims with a shallow/flat inside can be a real bear. But it's
manageable with cheap plastic tire levers. More work but doable.

I have dug stuff out of Marathon+ tires that would have flatted
anything else. My daily commute includes lots of crushed stone (with
flint mixed in) and other debris. Every now and then I dig the stuff
out of the tire just to see what it picked up.

I can count on 3 years use from a set and that keeps the cost
manageable.

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 18/06/16 00:50, Bertrand wrote:

snip

I've never used them, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus seem to be the
popular tires for very tough conditions, and are available in 25mm:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...thon-plus-700c

They are supposed to be hard to mount, though.

I'm no roady, but I commuted on them for a while. Puncture rate about
every 500kms. Rolled well, felt responsive[1], and were in no way hard
to mount on normal trekking box section rims. Wear was not up with
Marathon Tours, but again it looked like 2-3,000 kms would be on the
cards I'd still use them today, but for commuting the puncture rate was
unacceptable to me.

[1] I'm a commuter, my idea about rolling resistance and responsiveness
may not match yours!

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/co...ve-tube/106025

AAA photography

if thick rubber is on tube bottom then the thinwall thinwalls ?

On 2016-06-17 18:15, somebody wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jun 2016 18:50:33 -0400, "Bertrand"
wrote:

...

I've never used them, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus seem to be the popular
tires for very tough conditions, and are available in 25mm:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...thon-plus-700c

They are supposed to be hard to mount, though.

It depends on the rim. Rims with a deep V section inside are easy
since there's somewhere for one side of the bead to go while you lift
the other side over and off. No levers needed.

But rims with a shallow/flat inside can be a real bear. But it's
manageable with cheap plastic tire levers. More work but doable.


That's the kind of rim I have and on one fairly expensive lever the tip
broke off when I pried off teh Gatorskin on Tuesday.


I have dug stuff out of Marathon+ tires that would have flatted
anything else. My daily commute includes lots of crushed stone (with
flint mixed in) and other debris. Every now and then I dig the stuff
out of the tire just to see what it picked up.


Thanks, good to know. I don't commute but my weekly fun and errand runs
include similar turf and are quite long, up to 50 miles. Meaning an
unfixable flat such as a side wall blow-out far out there is a real
pain. So far I have dodged Murphy's law and they haven't happened at the
farthest point but I had to walk 5-10 miles.


I can count on 3 years use from a set and that keeps the cost
manageable.


Depends on the number of miles or kilometer in that time. One reviewer
said 3000 miles which included some offroad, so my kind of riding. That
is a good number.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/