Bicycle Mechanics - Puncture resistance options for light bike

Hello,

I just purchased a bike for my fiancee. All carbon and pretty light since she is small (the bike is small). I had Conti GatorSkins put on it and have considered also using some puncture-resistant tubes. My question is this; I would like to keep her bike as light as possible so that she can stay with me on rides and have comfortable rides. Will the addition weight from the Conti and the tubes add noticeable weight to the bike (which kinda defeats my purpose if i wanted a really light bike)? Could I get the same puncture protection and decrease the added weight if I used the Conti and a Mr. Tuffy Liner instead? I am sorry, I get alot of flats in my area and they just suck...but I dont want her ride too.

Please share your thoughts, thank you.

What do you use on your bike? I have good luck with gatorskins only ( no punctures in over 3000 miles on various bikes). I have not used tire liners but have heard they are heavy. What type of punctures are you getting and where do you ride?

I have never used the Conti b4. I was riding on Maxxis and kept getting punctures with staple fragments, tacks, etc...I just bought the Conti and put them on my bike. I also use a puncture resistant tube. The ride is different, but I am pretty big and dont mind. My fiancee is not and I am thinking this will add noticeable weight to her carbon bike. My bike is not carbon btw. I guess I just wanted to know will this Conti stand up with a regular ultralight tube and no liner for her.

She is also only 130 pounds so of course I at 215 am likely more susceptible to punctures...

Hello,

I just purchased a bike for my fiancee. All carbon and pretty light since she is small (the bike is small). I had Conti GatorSkins put on it and have considered also using some puncture-resistant tubes. My question is this; I would like to keep her bike as light as possible so that she can stay with me on rides and have comfortable rides. Will the addition weight from the Conti and the tubes add noticeable weight to the bike (which kinda defeats my purpose if i wanted a really light bike)? Could I get the same puncture protection and decrease the added weight if I used the Conti and a Mr. Tuffy Liner instead? I am sorry, I get alot of flats in my area and they just suck...but I dont want her ride too.

Please share your thoughts, thank you.

Tuffys for narrow tires aren't that heavy. I doubt that she would notice them. They are lighter than a thorn-proof tube and much lighter than Slime.

I have a wheelset with gatorskins and a wheelset with conti contacts and recently added tuffyliners. The gatorskins got frequent flats and were so torn up in 2000 miles of riding that I had to throw the rear one out, they are pretty fast though. The contacts are semi-slicks, which makes em pretty slow, but I had fewer punctures than with the gatorskins. Adding tuffyliners made the contacts roll even slower, but I've only had one flat in 1000 miles. I'd say my bike has a 1mph difference between gatorskins and the contacts and another .5mph with tuffyliners. Weight doesn't make a difference but the rolling resistance is definitely different.

If you want your girlfriends bike to stay light and fast, stick with properly inflated gatorskins and deal with the occasional flats.

Well, the extra weight from adding puncture-resistance to your bike isn't that much. Unless you're racing or doing TT with a clock as an objective-judge, you won't notice much of a difference at all. It's well worth the extra 0.5lbs to have fewer flats and more peace of mind on a ride. To minimize flats, I recommend taking ALL the precautions possible:

1. use kevlar-reinforced tyres

2. use thorn-resistant tubes with thicker section on the outside edge

3. use slime in the tubes

4. use Tuffy tyre-liners, they work better than the fabric liners

5. inflate to high enough pressure to prevent pinched flats on rocks and potholes. Your fiancee probably needs 90-95psi on 23mm tyres. You'll want 110-120psi on 26mm tyres.

6. keep your head down on rides and look at 50-75ft ahead of you to spot debris. Most people ride like they drive a car and look WAY ahead at the horizon. You won't reach that spot for another 30-minutes, but just 5-10 seconds ahead of you can be glass, rocks, nails, potholes, etc. that can be spotted and ridden around instead of over.

"I would like to keep her bike as light as possible so that she can stay with me on rides"

I do not think knocking every last gram off the bike will change much. I would also suggest inspecting the tires for glass every 5 mi would be a good idea. You will not find much until the tires get older and less subtle.

Slime goo that you place inside the tire might also help.

1) Don't use slime
2) Don't use tuffies
3) Don't use "thorn proof" tubes

Stick with the conti gatorskins. Or pick up the GP4000's w/vectran. Spare tubes, patch kit and you're ready to go.

What exactly are the source of these flats? Riding too close to the gutter? Glass? You can't have it both ways, light and puncture resistance. It's either or.

Don't get hung up on the weight issue. 99.99% of the riders can drop a pound of bodyweight which will make more of a difference. A properly inflated tire should be fairly durable unless you are riding in seriously crappy road conditions. Only time I use something like a Specialized Armadillo is on a trainer since they have a tendency to burn through tires.

LOL, you will almost certainly more than negate any perceived advantage of the light "all carbon" bike (marketing euphemism for "all plastic") if you find and use any kind of extra flat resistance solution. Along with the light road bike comes the responsibility to ride the damned thing intelligently. This means don't ride it like you're a big deadweight lug on the saddle, and watch what you ride over.