Commuting - tires with stronger sidewalls

Anyone had trouble with tires getting flats through the sidewalls? I just replaced my back tire, so I thought I would spend a little extra and get a continental 2000. Only problem is I have gotten 4 flats in the last three days. The cheap tire I replaced had only 3 flats in nearly 1000 miles. I noticed the cheap tire had thicker sidewalls. Is there a good tire out there with thicker sidewalls so I am not figuring a flat fix into every commute?

I have Continental Grand Prix 3000 on my road bike. Excellent tire!

I have Vittoria Rubino Intrepid PRB Kevlar on my commuter. Another Excellent tire!

I can't mention when I had my last flat. That will jinx me for sure. :( :)
But the number of flats I've had with these tires is shown below.





0

I forgot to mention that before I got the above mentioned tires, I went through 2 sets of Conti Ultra 2000s with very few problems.

Are you sure you have the tires inflated to the correct pressure?

I'm with Ron on this. I've really had great luck with Conti's. Some say they are too soft, but I'm really hard on stuff, so I've been very pleased.

I have no first hand experience, but you might try Conti Ultra Gatorskins (http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/race/ultra_gatorskin/ultra_gatorskin_en.html). (And if you do, let us know how they work out.)

Originally posted by Paul L.
Anyone had trouble with tires getting flats through the sidewalls? I just replaced my back tire, so I thought I would spend a little extra and get a continental 2000. Only problem is I have gotten 4 flats in the last three days.
In my case, sidewall flats came from the tube bulging through a separation between the bead and the tire. So far, I've had good success with my Continentals.

Maybe it was a fluke, but I had terrible luck with my Contis. I switched from Michelins to Contis with Kevlar (forget exact model tire). I got more flats in less time than ever before. Worse still, I had a massive sidewall blowout -- something I've NEVER had before. Scared the &*$%#(#&^@#$ out of me.

I am anal about my tires ... so it wasn't that they were over- or under-inflated.

I'm willing to chalk this up to a fluke. But I'm back to Michelins.

Do you mean you're getting glass or thorns or something penetrating the sidewalls?

My last 10,000 miles were divided between two bikes, one with Conti TopTouring 2000 and one with Avocet CrossK, both 700x32c. Nary a flat on either bike. I believe that it's a combination of 1) good tires; 2) keeping them inflated to maximum pressure; 3) situational awareness while riding; 4) developing the technique of shifting weight when going over bumps.

With some trepidation I recently replaced the Conti's, after 6k miles, with Panaracer Pasela TG's, mostly because I had them and I didn't want to let them get any older. They've been fine so far -- fun to ride as they're very light and quiet -- but they do have thin sidewalls, so I guess we'll see.

RichC

Originally posted by Paul L.
Only problem is I have gotten 4 flats in the last three days
Some post mortem is in order. Were all the flats on the same tire? After the first sidewall failure? Were there multiple sidewall failures? In another tire thread, it's been mentioned that the tires need to be somewhat wider than the rims. With a narrow tire your sidewalls exposed to gravel, etc. If that's the case, maybe going to the next larger tire size will help.

And on a related note, does anybody have suggestions for ways to adequately patch sidewall failures?

My Ultra2000s only have about 1000 miles on them and a gaping tear in the side of one of the sidewalls. I had a wreck with these and it may have happened then. My roadie has some Sport1000s and I got an unusual flat last night: sort of a gash in the tire - aargh. I love the [lack of] tread on the Ultra2000s and think it would be the ideal tire if only the sidewalls were stronger. The Sport 1000s are mediocre but get the job done. I may try the Gatorskins and give Conti a last chance or maybe even an Armadillo.

roadbuzz, they make regular sidewall patches; but a thread a couple days ago --I forget by whom-- said he used inner tubes and strapping tape which worked quite well for him.

Personally, I don't think patching sidewalls is a good idea.

Originally posted by ljbike
Personally, I don't think patching sidewalls is a good idea.
How come? Torn casings subject to further damage?

A week after getting a set of Panaracer Paselas, I shredded the rear sidewall. The tyre was a writeoff, a 1cm slash from some glass.
The front one is still fine after 2 years of daily use on rough roads.

I had some bad luck with my conti Top Touring. I had just finsihed repairing a normal puncture by the side of the road, and managed to entangle the wheel in some brambles. The thorns went right through the sidewall and punctured the tyre again. Grrr

I think it is a combination of a wide rim (need to replace that thing) and weak sidewalls. Everytime I caught a small rock (1-2 cm diameter I would go flat. This probably happens once every 20 miles or so as there is no end to the garbage on the side of the road. Perhaps if I had watched tire inflation more that would have averted the first flat. But the three after were on a definitely fully inflated tire. I had the skins that go around the tread but not that protect the sidewalls. I did temporarily patch the gashed sidewall with a still packaged patch from the tire patch kit successfuly but I wouldn't have wanted to put many more miles on the tire with it like that. I do have another wheel at home that has a skinnier wheel on it and the hub is not quick release so I was meaning to take it all apart anyway. Maybe this would be a good time to practice the ancient art of wheelbuilding. Thanks for all the input. I think for now I will give up on tires with light sidewalls. Here in the desert there is a lot of stuff that just rakes on the sidewalls, even my first rear tire that went 1000 miles had scratches and cuts in the sidewall but none that went all the way through.. Oh and yes the flats were all on the same tire, but happened obviously from encounters with rocks (ie, I felt a bump or heard a ping and then heard a hiss and felt the rim hit ground).

i recently bought a new cyclocross bike, and the salesperson convinced me that conti ultra gators are as flat resistant as specialized armadillos (which i've been favoring for years).

one thing for sure ... the contis certainly are a lot faster and smoother. but my first time out i flatted BOTH tires on my morning commute (the first from the road, the second while wheeling off the road and into a patch of goat-head brambles).

so i'm back to the armadillos, which are a bit heavy, but rarely puncture. it's a small price to pay, if you ask me.