Mountain Biking - Tire liners?

When I bought my Trek 6500 the LBS put in tire liners. I've noticed a funny vibration when I'm pushing my bike, don't really notice much when I'm riding. Could it be the liners? Also, are liners a good or bad idea? How much do they affect performance. I've started racing and don't know which is worse, the liners or having to stop and fix a flat.

Are you sure the vibration is coming from the wheels? I got liners after riding a really rocky area, for extra protection. If you do ride without, just check your repair kit, I had found that the glue leaked out and glued all the stuff together. At least it didn't get out of the box.

When I bought my Trek 6500 the LBS put in tire liners. I've noticed a funny vibration when I'm pushing my bike, don't really notice much when I'm riding. Could it be the liners? Also, are liners a good or bad idea? How much do they affect performance. I've started racing and don't know which is worse, the liners or having to stop and fix a flat.

I would suspect that the vibration is from the tires, not the liners. Assuming you are using knobbies, the vibration may be from feeling each knob hitting the ground as it comes around. When you load the tire with your weight, the knobs don't interact with the ground the same way. If you feel a "bump" at only only one location, then it might be the liner. That would be more annoying than a problem.

I'm not a racer but which takes longer, fixing a puncture or not fixing it?

Thanks, it does have knobbies, which my previous bike did not, so that is probably the problem.





I'm not a racer but which takes longer, fixing a puncture or not fixing it?


Yeah, I understand, but I was wondering if the negative affect on performance (if any) is outweighed by the chance of not having to fix a flat.

If there is an affect of using tire liners, it must micorscopic. I never noticed a difference in performance.