Recommendation for Commuting Tyres

On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:55:04 -0700 (PDT)
Duncan Smith wrote:

After practice it gets so you can fit any 'orrible combination without
levers.

Most, but not any.

In news:20080730003632.0bb5071a@bluemoon,
Rob Morley tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us:
On Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:55:04 -0700 (PDT)
Duncan Smith wrote:

After practice it gets so you can fit any 'orrible combination
without levers.

Most, but not any.

+1. Schwalbes - I've had experience of Stelvios, Marathon Slicks and
Marathon Racers - will not go on the Alex rims on my Trice without a
prolonged battle, a VAR tyre lever and a lot of swearing. Even getting the
buggers off is something not approached lightly.

--
Dave Larrington
http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk
You can't have ham!

Dave Larrington wrote:

+1. Schwalbes - I've had experience of Stelvios, Marathon Slicks and
Marathon Racers - will not go on the Alex rims on my Trice without a
prolonged battle, a VAR tyre lever and a lot of swearing. Even getting the
buggers off is something not approached lightly.

First couple of times I put Marathons on/off my Brom was an exercise in
blue air in the immediate neighbourhood. Last time I had to do it the
new one went on with thumbs alone so the muscle-building steak dinner
with accompanying glass of steroid-laced testosterone was completely
wasted... Maybe they've loosened them up a little (it's the same rim)
or there is some variation?

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:31:37 +0100, Peter Clinch
said in
:

First couple of times I put Marathons on/off my Brom was an exercise in
blue air in the immediate neighbourhood.

aol /

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Kevlar cloth isn't perfect for puncture proofing. A small sliver of
glass can get between the kevlar threads, and when it does so the
resulting puncture has both a hole, and a piece of glass, that are
more difficult to find than normal.

Thicker tyres or inner tubes probably lessen the number of punctures,
but make the bike feel more obnoxious to ride.

Slime, or similar hole blocking compounds reputedly work on small
holes, but make fixing large holes impossible.

So maybe the answer - I've never tried the combination - is slime
inside the inner tube, plus a kevlar belted tyre.

Jeremy Parker

Paul Boyd wrote:

said the following on 29/07/2008 14:40:

People seem to speak very highly of the Marathon Pluses ... I just had
a boatload of problems fitting one & gave up in the end.

Look on the bright side - once it's on, it's not likely to need to come
off again until worn :-)

Some people, myself included, are not happy with the increased rolling
resistance of Marathon Pluses over, say, Schwalbe Speed Cruisers, for
instance.

i used to have the land cruisers but they really counldn't cope with the
weight of stuff i carry, and even pumped up high, they would pinch flat
really easyly, where as the heavy, leaden feeling marathon pluses don't
even if i let the pressures fall to 40 PSI or so.

the bike or rather that one is a great big heavy lump so it's never
going to be fast. certinaly not uphill thats for sure.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Jeremy Parker wrote:
Kevlar cloth isn't perfect for puncture proofing. A small sliver of
glass can get between the kevlar threads, and when it does so the
resulting puncture has both a hole, and a piece of glass, that are
more difficult to find than normal.

Thicker tyres or inner tubes probably lessen the number of punctures,
but make the bike feel more obnoxious to ride.

Slime, or similar hole blocking compounds reputedly work on small
holes,

sometimes,

but make fixing large holes impossible.

Slime doesn't seal large holes, but you can still patch the tube in the
traditional way.

Don't bother with Slime, is my advice, and just simply use tyres with a
reasonably thick layer of rubber*, whether or not they also have Kevlar
belts. Rolling resistance may be higher than that of more flexible tyres,
slightly slowing you down, but the ride won't be obnoxious as long as the
tyres are not too knobbly and you don't pump them up too hard.

If you are concerned about speed and weight much, though, don't go to the
extreme of using the most puncture resistant tyres available if you are
prepared to fix the /occasional/ puncture. It's not that difficult. You
shouldn't puncture very often even with average tyres unless you ride on
foot/cycle paths or exceptionally bad roads. Stay away from the gutter on
roads because that's where most of the glass and debris collects. Pay extra
attention to where you're going when it's wet because water makes objects
penetrate more easily.

* Or with a special /thick/ layer under the rubber, like Marathon Plus have.

~PB

wrote:
On Jul 29, 12:51 pm, Tosspot wrote:

6,500+ miles on Marathon Pluses without a puncture, look good for
another 1,000.

People seem to speak very highly of the Marathon Pluses ... I just had
a boatload of problems fitting one & gave up in the end.

I'm not sure if it was incompetence on my part, if it's a known
problem or I just got a duff one.

M+ are known for being difficult to fit, but you should get them on anything
OK in the end. With the help of two tyre levers, I've managed to fit them
to Mavic MA2s. That is a combination from hell.

~PB

First couple of times I put Marathons on/off my Brom was an exercise in
blue air in the immediate neighbourhood. *Last time I had to do it the
new one went on with thumbs alone so the muscle-building steak dinner
with accompanying glass of steroid-laced testosterone was completely
wasted... *Maybe they've loosened them up a little (it's the same rim)
or there is some variation?


No they're still buggers to fit - and very good at spoke hole
punctures too. Mine came from the factory with some pretty /raw/brash/
crude spoke work in the hollow coupled with some mediocre rim strip -
many punctures later in a short period of time I got hold of some
Velox tape and M+s - not expecting any punctures any more...

Regards,

Duncan

Duncan Smith wrote:


First couple of times I put Marathons on/off my Brom was an exercise in
blue air in the immediate neighbourhood. Last time I had to do it the
new one went on with thumbs alone so the muscle-building steak dinner
with accompanying glass of steroid-laced testosterone was completely
wasted... Maybe they've loosened them up a little (it's the same rim)
or there is some variation?


No they're still buggers to fit - and very good at spoke hole
punctures too. Mine came from the factory with some pretty /raw/brash/
crude spoke work in the hollow coupled with some mediocre rim strip -
many punctures later in a short period of time I got hold of some
Velox tape and M+s - not expecting any punctures any more...

i've had them on the city bike since early winter, and they have coped
with my more agressive riding, glass "short cuts" though forgotten
rights of ways around south west london ish area etc.

they aren't fast but i have had zero puntures, they are surefooted be
that road, park or even a touch of nipping though a wet wood, they do
well.

Regards,

Duncan

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com