Originally Posted by
dmusicant
I suppose there are thorns. Maybe I'm thinking wrong. I figured a "thorn proof" tube will be harder for a variety of objects to penetrate, including staples, glass shards, what have you. There's a fair amount of broken glass around here. I sometimes spot a patch and try to avoid it, often don't see it in time. I always ride with gloves, and many a time I've passed a gloved hand over my front wheel while riding after riding over a patch of broken glass thinking that removing slightly embedded shards might prevent them from penetrating deeper into the tire, eventually leading to a flat. Gets my gloves dirty! Of course, that does nothing for the back tire. To get that one, I'd have to stop and inspect, not something I do. I have suffered a number of staple and even nail punctures in the past. I just figure a "thorn proof" tube is going to have a significantly lower incidence of flats than a "normal" tube. Am I wrong about that? I have ridden a lot, but I'm not very knowledgeable about a lot of bike things.
Fair enough. Sounds like there are a lot of road hazards in your area. That's unfortunate.
Still, a tube that weighs nearly a pound is freaking heavy. A normal tube in that width should weigh roughly 1/4 that. I have tires that weigh half what your tube weighs! But they're light racing tires and would not survive many road hazards. My point is, if you can get away with puncture resistant tires and tire liners (assuming they're lighter) I would definitely do it.
BTW do you ride in the gutter? Riding in the lane traveled by cars and not as far into the curb as possible not only makes you safer but is also a much cleaner place to ride. Less gravel, glass, etc.