Road Cycling - Carrying a spare tire on long rides.

I'm thinking I should be carrying a foldable tire on a couple of long rides I'm doing soon. (75M each day)

My ride came with Mich. 1000 - I have two questions.

What's the quality of the 1000. And would you suggest I buy two better quality tires and take the 1000 as the back-up or just buy one more 1000?

Colorado has pretty good roads and bike paths, except for early season when there is a ton or sand & gravel from the winter and the thorns along the path... hence I think a more durable tire would be the choice.

Any suggestions?

R

Correction - they are Continental not Michelin.
R

I usually carry a spare on any ride on my road bike since the time I was ordering new tires, and they gave me a deal on three, so I ended up with a spare.

My feeling is that I'd feel pretty stupid if I had to walk home after having a ruined tire and I had a foldable sitting at home instead of with me on the bike.

I've only once ruined a tire on a ride and I was able to ride that home before I realised that the tube was sticking out through a hole. I would advise taking spare tubes and maybe a piece of old tire that can be put in behind any rips. Other people suggest power bar wrappers and even dollar bills are good in a pinch. For a 75 mile ride I don't feel its worth taking a tire, they are too big and bulky for my liking. Maybe if I was touring I would feel it was worthwhile but otherwise it's not likely enough an incident to make it worth my while,

If I were to bring repair kit to fix everything that might go wrong I'd end up needing to take an entire spare bike.

I agree with streners. In 45 years of riding I have never had a tire failure. Several flats, but no tires gave out.
Having said that, I must say that the Continental Sport 1000 are "entry level" tires with little puncture protection built in. I would suggest the Continental Ultra Gatorskins for good puncture protection but they have poor rolling resistance. For the best all around tire from Conti, the Grand Prix 4-Season is the best in all conditions. They aren't cheap, but what is?

Nice firts bike.

Saying you don't want to ride those wheels because they are too nice is like saying you don't eat your favorite food because it is too tasty.

Personally I do not flat often. I carry a tube and a patch kit and co2 or pump. Tire levers may be needed also.

Have fun on the new bike.

The first day I had my new road bike I managed to hit some jagged metal from a car wreck. This trashed my rear tire to the point that it was unrideable. After carrying my bike home I went to the bike shop and put a set of Gatorskins on my bike. While there I also bought a fold up GP 4 Seasons. I keep that in my Camelback when I ride. That one walk taught me that I never wanted to have to do that again. As the saying goes better safe than sorry.

This is interesting. I never realized *anybody* carried spare tires on local rides. Unsupported tours, sure, but local rides? That's a new one on me.

I guess we react to our own expreiences. If I'd had georgesnatcher's experience I might feel differently.

But in many tens of thousands of miles of riding, I've never damaged a tire to the point of unridability. I do always carry a tube and boot material, and I have had to do temporary repairs to tire casings more than once, but I've never needed a complete tire replacement just to get home.

So I don't carry a spare tire on local rides. I worry more about spokes than I do about tires. Of course, if I used anything smaller than a 28 I might feel differently.

RichC

Great timing. I was about to inquire about the same issue. Thanks for the tips/suggestions and experiences.

What is a good material to use for a boot, preferably something with an adhesive to hold it in place while reassembling the tire? I know you can use various things in a pinch (wrappers, bills, etc.) but what about if you're not in a pinch and trying to plan ahead?

Parktools actualy makes a emergency tire boot that you can buy.

Go to the post office and get one of those fiber envelopes and use strips cut from it. You can't tear this stuff, it's light and if you have to have adhesive you could use the strip from the closure.

Originally posted by Kev
Parktools actualy makes a emergency tire boot that you can buy.

The park product is nice, although I haven't had to install one yet. I believe there are three to a pack or something. Enough to collect and trade with your friends! I've experimented with plactic metal can tops but they seem to crack easily bending with the side wall.

I will carry a folded tire on any ride nearing a century. I've never had to use it. Why tempt fate.

Ive had 2 tyres split on me. Both would have been repairable with a boot or suitable material.
These days I keep a Park Tools tyre boot in my kit, as well as 1 spare inner.
I dont take spare tyres even on 2 week tours in bike-shop country.

I use the Park boot also. The current one seems to be the same as the one I used successfully years ago, but I haven't had to open my current pack yet. I hear that a dollar bill works in a pinch (and it's usually a good idea to have some money with you anyway).

RichC

Originally posted by Kev
Parktools actualy makes a emergency tire boot that you can buy.

True, OR buy a roll of packing tape. Cut off three equal sections, and stick them one on top of the others. Presto! Cheap boots for you and all your friends!

Originally posted by Raedeke
I'm thinking I should be carrying a foldable tire on a couple of long rides I'm doing soon. (75M each day)

My ride came with Mich. 1000 - I have two questions.
R

Personally, I hate Contis. Their sidewalls puncture too easily for me. Vittoria Open Corsas (albeit expensive, are the creme de la creme).

I would suggest the Vittoria Rubino or the Michelin Axial Sport or Axial Pros.

I would only carry an extra tire if I rode tubulars.

The GP 4 Seasons are good tires from Conti. I've ridden Contis almost from day one, and the GP 4 Season is the only one I'll ride these days. Much better in the durability department.

At any rate, I take the money I'd spend on a boot kit and keep in in the saddle bag. Works well for such a situation. Oh, and at least one spare tube, usually two. Whatever gets your sail up, though.

Well, I have ridden quite a few unsupported rides of 70+ miles. And I always managed to get home. I have had a few sidewall tears over the years. I used a dollar bill as a boot. You don't need any adhesive really because the pressure from the tube will hold the boot in place just fine. I did have problems with repeated failures from certain tires but I don't ride them anymore.

I have seen and heard of people wearing completely through their tire on a panic stop. It has never happened to me. In that case, you need a new tire.

Personally, I have never really had to resort to replacing a tire on the road (except for a couple times when I had a brand that split along the sidewall and I don't ride that brand now). I figure that you will probably give up on lugging around a spare tire long before you have the opportunity to use one. But if it makes you feel better, bring it along. It is good training.

I always carry a spare tire (2 if the ride is 200 miles +) and spare tubes.

When its raining, all the sharp flinty gravel gets washed onto the road, this combined with the softening of the tire in the wet increases the chance of a puncture. If you get a flat in the wet you have to find the cause of the flat, else it will just happen again if the sharp is still in the tire.

In the dark and in the wet I can't be arsed to fiddle about trying to find the cause of the flat and make a repair. I'd rather change tire and tube, and then do a fix later at home in a warm kitchen.

I use Conti GP3000 folders

The god of punctures has been smiling on me of late over 1200 miles with only one flat (and that was a slow leak discovered after having a coke at a cafe. so I got to sit on a nice sunny pavement and do the fix)

Stew

I carry a Park boot as well but I have destroyed tires enough where the boot would have been useless. Because I ride in remote areas unsupported, I take along a spare folding Torelli racing tire that is very compact and light (180grms) and fits in the saddle bag no problem. I also take a ultralight spare tube, but I always try to fix the tube first before resorting to replacing it because I don't want to deal with having to get every ounce of air out of the old tube so I can pack it back into the bag if I don't have to. Just lazy, so shoot me. And besides with glueless patches I can have the tube patched in reinstalled almost -if not as fast as putting in the new tube.

By the way just about anything can be used as a boot, old powerbar wrappers, currency (in this case the more you spend you get the same protection!), you may be able to find suitable trash along the roadside to work, tape-packing or duct; but I use the Park boot because it's a tad stronger.