Commuting - Would your tire survive this?

I just posted an early review of my new Panaracer Ribmo tires. I'm kinda bumming right now because after only 191 miles I've already gotten a flat. I'm trying to decide if this was just an irresistible force, or if these tires aren't all that they're cracked up to be.

So, to figure this out as unscientifically as possible, I'm posting pictures of the staple that flatted me, and I'm asking you, my fellow Bike Forum participants, to say (a) what kind of tire you ride, and (b) do you think this would have flatted your tire.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3523/3464868114_b3fb50d888.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3505/3464051923_beba4ccd83.jpg

If it hits it just right, it will cause a flat. I just got some Marathon Supremes and got a flat at less than 100 miles by a similar piece of metal.

Yep, they would give me a flat. I've pulled out smaller things from my tires that cause me flats.

In their stock form, the Bontrager Hank's I run might've been punctured by that staple. However, with the tire liners I now use, it's unlikely that the staple would have been a concern. In fact, I just spent several minutes digging random sharp objects out of my tires with a house key the other day.

Superstition be damned!

I ran over a nail similar size to that staple with my Specialized Nimbus tyres, stopped because i heard a weird noise. Pulled the bent nail out and continued on my 3 mile ride no puncture (was in the centre of the tyre as well). Perhaps i've been lucky but so far over 3000 miles puncture free :)

Road debris doesn't seem to bother my tires. The only flat I got last year was from a staple in my apartment. Then I went to the LBS to get a tube and came home with a bike. Be careful if you go to your LBS for a replacement tube for your staple-flatted tire.

I *expect* that that would cause a puncture. If I see debris on the roadway, I avoid it. Can't see everything... so someday something will get my poor tires.

About the only tire that has positive protection against something like that are the Schwalbe Marathon Plus (http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/flatless) lineup

I'm running a Schwalbe Marathon Plus (26x1.75) on my rear wheel, and a Conti Contact on the front. (I had Contis on both wheels until there was a mishap with a screwdriver). I run over crap like that all the time on my commute through a industrial part of town, and I've never had a flat with either of these tires. The rolling resistence is insane, but it's worth it to not change tubes twice a day.

If it punctures the tube your going to get a flat. I have installed a kevlar strip on my road bike front tire and have not had a puncture in three years. I have pulled glass out of the tire on a few occasions. I highly recommend this.
read about it here (http://mywheelsandmore.com/bicycleWheels/bicycleTireLiner.htm)

I check the tires on my commuter once a week - the front is Kenda something or other, the rear is an ancient IRC grip-glide. They came on the bike. On more than a couple times I've found shards of metal imbedded into the tires. In the six months and a thousand miles that I've put on the bike the only flat is from a valve stem core that loosened itself. No problems whatsoever coming from punctures.

I use Vittoria Randonneurs and have not had a flat in over 3K miles. That said, if I hit a construction staple right, I know I'm getting a flat.

Flats are as much about luck as they are about your tires.

No, I suspect my marathon plus tires would be much less likely to pick a staple up but if it hit right there is not stopping those things.

I can't tell how long the business end of that thing is. It might be shallower than the debris barrier on my Marathon Pluses.

So, to figure this out as unscientifically as possible, I'm posting pictures of the staple that flatted me, and I'm asking you, my fellow Bike Forum participants, to say (a) what kind of tire you ride, and (b) do you think this would have flatted your tire.


How much air do you have in those tires? I'm thinkin maybe they're underinflated. While I agree that hit just right that staple turns into a puncture-making machine, I don't think it should have caused the flat.

The worst part of this was, by spare tube exploded for some unknown reason after I changed it, so I had to patch the tube. Two miles later it was flat again. :cry: I thought I had just done a crappy patch job. It turns out, this staple made not two, as I thought, but three (at least) holes in my tube. At least one side of it went through both sides of the tube.

maybe, that's the kind of staple I've had in Marathon Racers 26x1.5, Continental Sports Contact 26.1.6and Specialized Bourough 700x32.

I haven't got that kind of staple in a Marathon Supreme, Armored Specialized Borough of the same sizes.

All this is totally anecdotal. I remember 15yrs ago a nail going through a Continental 700x28 tire and straight THROUGH the super champion rim between two spoke nipples.

Maybe you got bad luck, maybe that tire doesn't have exceptional puncture resistance. I'd reserve judgement and chalk it as a new data bit.

While I agree that hit just right that staple turns into a puncture-making machine, I don't think it should have caused the flat.

Huh?

Huh?

I don't think that staple should have caused the flat. I'm thinking the tires were underinflated, increasing the contact patch and thus the chances of rolling the staple on end and then getting stabbed by it. I mean, the OP said this was an unscientific poll, so I'm playing along.

How much air do you have in those tires? I'm thinkin maybe they're underinflated. While I agree that hit just right that staple turns into a puncture-making machine, I don't think it should have caused the flat.

I was running them somewhere in the ballpark of 105 PSI (assuming I can trust the gauge on my cheapo Hurricane floor pump). The recommended max on these tires is 110.

Jobst Brandt says tire manufacturers test their tires up to twice the recommended pressure. You don't have to worry about a blowout from overinflation. You should use more than the recommended pressure if you put a lot of weight on a tire.

I've pulled tacks and roofing nails both out my Bontrager Hardcase without a flat. The last flat I got with those I ran through a patch of stickers to see what would happen. I got a flat, but it took over two dozen spines and other sticker out of the tire.

I just posted an early review of my new Panaracer Ribmo tires. I'm kinda bumming right now because after only 191 miles I've already gotten a flat. I'm trying to decide if this was just an irresistible force, or if these tires aren't all that they're cracked up to be.

So, to figure this out as unscientifically as possible, I'm posting pictures of the staple that flatted me, and I'm asking you, my fellow Bike Forum participants, to say (a) what kind of tire you ride, and (b) do you think this would have flatted your tire.



Would my tire survive this? Yes. It would. It'd be flat but the tire would be undamaged:thumb::rolleyes:

Honestly, a staple like that would have a very good chance of causing a flat to a steel belted automobile tire. A bike tire, being several inches thinner, has no chance...even with flat protection devices installed...of taking that kind of puncture without flatting. Flats happen even to the best of tires. Just deal with it. Don't blame the tire.

Got two staple flats within the last year first one on specializeed fat boys the other on some cheap bontragers

A bike tire, being several inches thinner, has no chance...even with flat protection devices installed...of taking that kind of puncture without flatting. Flats happen even to the best of tires. Just deal with it. Don't blame the tire.

You know, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Obviously if this makes it through the tire the flat is done.

I'm just having a hard time reconciling my idea of reality with people pulling roofing nails out of their non-flat tires. I could at least imagine hitting a roofing nail and having it not stick or puncture, but how does it stick in the tire and no puncture it? Would you have two inches of nail sticking out of the tire? That could really up your rolling resistance. :twitchy:

You know, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Obviously if this makes it through the tire the flat is done.

I'm just having a hard time reconciling my idea of reality with people pulling roofing nails out of their non-flat tires. I could at least imagine hitting a roofing nail and having it not stick or puncture, but how does it stick in the tire and no puncture it? Would you have two inches of nail sticking out of the tire? That could really up your rolling resistance. :twitchy:

I put a 16 penny nail through a mountain bike tire on the east side of Boreas Pass once. Kinda stops you in your tracks. Nail went in one side and came out the other. The bad part? It was at the bottom of a valley. I had enough momentum to carry me up the other side...if the tire wasn't flat:notamused:

Staples are probably the most common cause of punctures after glass. I've observed this working in a bike shop that fixes half-a-dozen flats a day.

Yes, tyres do survive them. Tubes will need to be patched or replaced.

There is a decent chance that a relatively new Marathon Plus could have survived the staple. The puncture protection belt is 5mm thick and the tread on a new Marathon Plus is another couple of mm thick, providing 7-9 mm of puncture protection (.25-.32 inches).


http://www.schwalbetires.com/files/l_img_marathon_plus_cut.gif

well yeah, at near twice the weight, the Marathon plus better be bombproof! (580g vs 340g per 700x25)

I won't argue about the weight, the Marathon Plus tires are heavy. But.... if puncture protection is what you're after, this is a pretty good option. The question posed was; "Would your tire survive this?", I'm merely pointing out that there are tires on the market that may well get you to work or back home without consequence. As for the additional weight; most things in life require some compromise.

There is a decent chance that a relatively new Marathon Plus could have survived the staple. The puncture protection belt is 5mm thick and the tread on a new Marathon Plus is another couple of mm thick, providing 7-9 mm of puncture protection (.25-.32 inches).

That's a refreshingly honest and direct answer. The prongs of the staple are just over 8 mm, so maybe the Marathon Plus would have come out smelling like a rose.

BTW, which size are you thinking of when you say it's 7-9 mm thick? Is the 700x28 that thick?

I ride Bontrager Hard Case and while I don't purposely ride through debris, I got a flat within 100 miles from a 3" finish nail. The next 2500, nary a flat. I guess it could flat it if everything aligned perfectly however. Nothing is flat proof.

28mm Gatorskins, and I know for a fact that could flat them. I got a flat from a staple this weekend. The tire survived just fine, aside from the puncture. The tube needed patched.

Jobst Brandt says tire manufacturers test their tires up to twice the recommended pressure. You don't have to worry about a blowout from overinflation. You should use more than the recommended pressure if you put a lot of weight on a tire.

Test fixtures don't tend to be as weak as half worn clincher rims.

That's a refreshingly honest and direct answer. The prongs of the staple are just over 8 mm, so maybe the Marathon Plus would have come out smelling like a rose.

BTW, which size are you thinking of when you say it's 7-9 mm thick? Is the 700x28 that thick?

Good question; the specs I have are a range, and the 700x28 should fall into that range. Common sense might dictate that the 700x28 would be on the lower end of that spectrum. The blue protection belt will definitely be 5mm at its thickest point, although the taper as it rolls to the shoulder would get thin quickly; more so than on a wider tire.

...do you think this would have flatted your tire.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3523/3464868114_b3fb50d888.jpg


Yes, that staple would give me a flat for sure, if I hit it right.

But the question in the title of the thread is "would my tire survive?" is different. Sure it would; the tube would need a patch, the tire would be fine. No big deal.