Touring - Good foldable (or non) touring tires

I have the bike, I'm getting the racks and bags, I want to go- somewhere. But before I set off I should probably have a spare tire, right? What have you all found are the best, most durable, lightest, least rolling resistance, etc. tires out there. If there is one that fits all that criteria I will be shocked. I'd love to have it foldable because my bike is brand new and I will just bring the tire with me rather than putting it now but if there is a phenomenal that does not fold I would love to hear that too. Oh, and I need it for a 54 LHT so it's gotta be 26". Thanks.

I don't carry a spare but, if you choose to it doesn't have to be foldable. The trick of folding a regular tire into three rings works well and will allow it to fit into a small pannier.
http://home.comcast.net/~mandmlj/tirefolding/fig5.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mandmlj/tirefolding/index.html

Schwalbe (http://www.schwalbetires.com) makes a wide range of folding and wire bead tires for touring and every other application imaginable, in more sizes than you knew existed (including 26"). Schwalbes are very high quality, but nobody has ever called them cheap or lightweight.

Do you really need a spare tire? Unless you're really out at the ends of the earth, some dollar bills, duct tape or Tyvek will patch a damaged tire together long enough to get to a bike shop or have a tire mailed to you. Since you're using 26" wheels, you should be able to get a tire at Target or Wal-Mart if you have to.

FWIW, I've used the Schwalbe Marathon Cross in a 26 x 1.75 and the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme in a 26 x 1.6. The Marathon Cross seems indestructable, but 26 x 1.75 is a little wider than I like and those tires weigh a ton. The Marathon Supreme is lighter and 26 x 1.6 is a better size for how I tour (mostly paved roads, rarely off pavement) but I don't think it's quite as indestructible as the Marathon Cross.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVrCAJMr_Y

Don't forget that you can only use the red toe strap. Any other color will not work.

I want to go- somewhere. But before I set off I should probably have a spare tire, right? .


wrong

Carrying a spare tube and patch kit is sufficient for heading out the door to "somewhere". The need for a spare tire is when you'll be too far from a replacement when it's worn out, given that you have new tires it's safe to say you'll be riding by bike shops for awhile.

It would be more worthwhile to practice changing tubes a dozen times than getting a spare tire. What are the stock tires? If they are the stock WTB Slickasaurus (according to Surly site) there are more durable or puncture proof tires around but I'd suggest knowing how to keep the tires pumped up to a particular pressure and knowing if you've got a leaky tube (it happens).

On the average you'll get more flats on the rear than the front, you'll go through changing tubes and repairing tubes a few times before you'll change a tire so carrying a spare tire is kind of like expecting to go through a dozen tube repairs before you need the tire. That's why I suggested practicing changing tubes.

The WTB slickasaurus is a $20tire and there are better ones but there's no reason you can't ride 1000's of miles on a $20tire. That said if you have to spend more money I'd suggest checking out the 26"x1.6" Schwalbe Supreme for a rear tire. It's only $70 otherwise there's the Pasela TG that I think will have better puncture resistance than the WTB.

"a really good folding tire" depends on your use. There are a lot out there. I've used a 26" Schwalbe Marathon Racer, it's a wonderfully light folding tire, expensive and not very puncture resistant. Schwalbe has all kinds of very durable and expensive folding tires, if you want to spend a lot of money they're the way to go.

Regarding "durable, lightest, least rolling resistance" you could be setting up irrelevant criteria for your riding use. If you're carrying lots of weight the lightest tire isn't a good idea. If you want all those criteria satisfied then you should probably change the stock tires instead of carrying around a spare that has those criteria but isn't on the bike. What's the use of having this "perfect tire" as a spare with average tires on the bike? When you're riding around on an unladen bike you'll immediately notice differences in tire weight and rolling resistance but once you load the bike up slight differences will dissapear under the mass of gear and rider.

wrong

Carrying a spare tube and patch kit is sufficient for heading out the door to "somewhere". The need for a spare tire is when you'll be too far from a replacement when it's worn out, given that you have new tires it's safe to say you'll be riding by bike shops for awhile.

I think that leaving without a spare tire is a mistake. I say this mostly because I recently had a defective tire where the bead decided to separate from the sidewall without any warning. No patch kit, spare tube, or tire boot would have fixed the problem. Pushed the bike for about 1-1.5 miles before getting a ride back into cell phone range, then had to wait around for another hour or so before I got a ride back home. If I'd been on tour, I would have chewed up a significant amount of time trying to obtain a new tire and get back on-route.

For me, the extra cost and weight of a spare tire is well worth it for the peace of mind in knowing my bike won't be completely disabled in the event of a tire problem.

I think that leaving without a spare tire is a mistake. I say this mostly because I recently had a defective tire where the bead decided to separate from the sidewall without any warning. No patch kit, spare tube, or tire boot would have fixed the problem. Pushed the bike for about 1-1.5 miles before getting a ride back into cell phone range, then had to wait around for another hour or so before I got a ride back home. If I'd been on tour, I would have chewed up a significant amount of time trying to obtain a new tire and get back on-route.

For me, the extra cost and weight of a spare tire is well worth it for the peace of mind in knowing my bike won't be completely disabled in the event of a tire problem.

One question might be whether such an event is more or less likely than dozens of other problems, such as cracked hubs or cracked rims or a broken seat post (which happened to the Westbound Brits on Bikes last month) or a broken crank (which happened to Ryan Van Duzer on his cross-country trip this summer--www.ryanvanduzer.com).

If you have two or three days slop in your schedule, and if you're touring in the U.S., you can probably deal with any of these problems without advance preparation. You can't carry everything.

Without getting into the whether or not you need to carry a spare tire, I carried a Conti Travel Contact stuffed in the BOB bag. It came rolled up and weighed less than a can of beans. It was quite handy when the rear tire went a bit lumpy halfway between Hope and Princeton BC. (Not too many bikes shops on that road) It served me well during the rest of the tour. If you are just carrying a spare to get to the next decent shop then almost anything will work.

With the stock tires that came on your LHT, I too would want to carry a spare. With appropriate Schawlbe's or Conti's, no spare. Check with your lbs for a used spare they'd probably just give you.

One question might be whether such an event is more or less likely than dozens of other problems, such as cracked hubs or cracked rims or a broken seat post (which happened to the Westbound Brits on Bikes last month) or a broken crank (which happened to Ryan Van Duzer on his cross-country trip this summer--www.ryanvanduzer.com).

In fifteen years of riding, I've seen tons and tons of tire-related problems while out on the road. Can't remember seeing any cracked hubs, cracked rims (except as the result of a catastrophic crash), or broken seatposts, though... Most tire-related problems don't require a new tire to fix, though having a spare tire available can make getting back on the road a much less time-consuming proposition.


If you have two or three days slop in your schedule, and if you're touring in the U.S., you can probably deal with any of these problems without advance preparation. You can't carry everything.

Agree that you can't carry everything. You can carry a spare tire: it doesn't take up much space, doesn't cost much, nor does it weigh much. So why not take it? I, personally, enjoy riding much more than pushing a bike and begging for rides to civilization so it just seems logical that you'd take a spare tire.

storkel, are you saying you were just out riding, not loaded touring, and you had a total tire failure? But that all the time you've done loaded touring you haven't had a total tire failure?

My point with the op was that the vague description of "going somewhere" doesn't really define the need for a spare tire. I toured over parts of Ca. when I was younger on relatively light 700x28 tires and never had a problem, when I did a longer tour from Utah to Colorado using a 27"x 1 1/8" cotton Italian folding tire on the front I brought a spare because I knew the sidewall wasn't as tough as the 1 1/4" Schwinn LeTour on the rear. Now that I'm fatter and heavier I sure wouldn't ride on the same tires for the same kind of riding. I could imagine carrying a spare tire in some situations but for the op it sounds like simply more stuff to carry without the need defined.

Panaracer Ribmos. 26"x1.25/1.5/1.75. Folding. Fast. Durable. Very flat resistant. Cheap. I do believe they fulfill all your criteria?

It is a new model but I've used the 700x32 version for ~2000 miles and love them. IMHO, for touring in the "civilized" world I wouldn't bring a spare tire, unless I had very poor quality tires.

good to know about the Ribmos, I think Schwalbe hit a marketing niche but the cost is truly unnecessary. I really like the various Schwalbe tires, Marathon Racer, Supreme, XR, but once I bought a couple 20"x1.6 Supremes for $140 and they both had an out of round hop, one tolerable, one unacceptable it gave me a sense of a business in transition and I was helping to pay for it.

Panaracer Pasela TourGuard - available in folding version as well as a wire bead version. I always carry an extra one with me on tour (in addition to several tubes), but I've never needed to change a tire out. They've been the most reliable and long-lasting tires I've ever owned.

Panaracer Pasela TourGuard - available in folding version as well as a wire bead version. I always carry an extra one with me on tour (in addition to several tubes), but I've never needed to change a tire out. They've been the most reliable and long-lasting tires I've ever owned.

Encouraged by your experience with Pasela's and their low cost, I dug a little deeper and found this (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/search/?scope=reviews&context=all&term=panaracer+pasela+tourguard&o=3TzvH&doc_id=) thread.

Once again, you get what you pay for, rarely more. Always the exception I guess.

I blew up the cassing of a Scwalbe tire on my first getting back into it tour a few years back. I hit an egg sized rock on the trail I was riding on. I really hit it square, but there wasn't any immediate adverse result, the wheel rim was, and is fine. I really didn' think much of it at the time. Shortly after that the tire became unstable with a big zig zag in the casing. It was still somewhat rideable for a few hours. I was very lucky to find a low pressure 700c tire in the only town, and when I got to better towns the only 700c tires were all racing width. So for 700c I feel it is worth it.

All my tools to fix just about everything fit into the palm of my hands with a large pedal wrench I take on occasion when returning by train. I believe in an ultralight approach it is the only thing that works within my limits. I don't believe in the happy talks about taking three day rests from touring, goodness knows where, to wait for stuff to arrive from online stores. At least in Canada I would be interested in some semi specialized parts that ever came next day. The US is special, perhaps in the whole world for people expecting reliable overnight, cheap delivery of goods, mostly up here any specialty stuff start with the answe "we can order it" Get ready for a 3 week wait.

I would recommend against the Panaracer Pasela TG tires. I just got back from a 1500 mile tour where I used a brand new pair and I had at least six distinct flats. Most of the flats were caused by metal wire from blown truck tires going through the tire. At first I thought that it was bad luck and that any tire would have flatted from these wires, but my touring partner, who was using Schwalbe tires (that were well used before the trip), had no flats the entire trip.