Touring - Touring tires w/flat protection?

I am getting very frustrated averaging about a flat a week on my touring/commuter bike. I currently have IRC Duro-Tour 700X35c tires. I've looked at a few local shops, and haven't found any of the flat protection tires in a 35 size. Are there any like the Armadillos in a 35c? Or are there some better kevlar type tires I should be looking at?

I was going through many tubes myself until I installed tire liners. I tried stronger tires which helped at first but it wasn't until I installed the liners that I stopped getting so many flats.

Are you riding on particularly rough roads or through lots of glass? What seems to be causing your flats?

It seems a little strange that you should be flatting so often even with bad roads.

The Turbo Armadillos are available up to 700x28. If you want to go wider, the Nimbus Armadillo is available in 700x28 and 700x38.

Both Turbo and Nimbus are minimal tread tires.

Check www.specialized.com for details on the different tires.

I can highly recomend Performance ST Cross/K tires. They are reasonably priced ($12.99), and have a Kevlar belt. I have 3000 mi on one set with only two punctures. www.performancebike.com

Your rims can undoubtedly mount a 32 or a 37 as well as a 35, and indeed the way tires sizes vary you could find three tires with those labels that all measure the same.

The Continental Top Touring 2000 is very well regarded as being durable and smooth riding.

Also, there are some pretty beefy cyclocross tires out there. I put over 6000 puncture-free miles on a set of Avocet Cross K's.

RichC

Originally posted by MediaCreations
Are you riding on particularly rough roads or through lots of glass? What seems to be causing your flats?

It seems a little strange that you should be flatting so often even with bad roads.

Thanks for the help, I'll have to check out those tires recommended.

MediaCreations: The roads here are actually in good shape. And it's not really that there's broken glass everywhere, but it seems like any little shard of glass in the vicinity of my route ends up in my tire and puncturing my tube. Hopefully one of these other tires will help a bit....

Conti top touing 2000 here

Same thing with me-

Something's up with the route I like the most- I've been getting flats once a week. I know there's glass around, and they recently did construction on some buildings at the halfway point, but somehow, I just keep getting the flats. I've cut that particular route out of my routine until I get the better tires. :( I miss that ride, it was sooooooooo cooooooool!

I will pick up those Specialized tires this weekend.

Koff

I had a similar problem and getting a flat on the front and rear at the same time 75km's from home was the final straw. (plus my pump broke) I brought strong tyres (not sure of the brand but they were on the bike shop owners recommendation), tyre liners and thorn-proof tubes. No punctures since :)

Best of luck with your ride to Hobart Rodney....

The simplest and most reliable solution I've found is Specialized Airlock inner tubes. They can be a little bit hard to find, but well worth the search. Not one flat in seven years of hard daily riding and long distance touring! They're a little heavy, but they're totally bombproof. Also, they maintain pressure for weeks (almost no porosity leakage).