Commuting - Tire Liners - Usage Poll

Some swear by it, some just buy armor lined tires, some feels it adds weight. Your thoughts?

don't see the poll. I don't use them - too much hassle.

Poll is up!

I use them on my xtracycle and my road bike/commuter. EG If I'm not using armored tires I'll use tire liners.

I still get flats commuting with them on my Motobecane, but its a lot less than before they were put in. Usually if I ride through some goat heads I can stop and pull them out before they've worked through the liner.

Don't get enough flats to bother.

Knock on wood.

Belted tires have typically worked well enough for me, although after this winter and all my flat tire problems, if the swap to new (belted) tires with a thicker tread doesn't work I may just get some Marathon Pluses, tire liners, and Slime so I can ride through flaming piles of broken glass and roofing nails out of spite.

I bought and installed some mr. tuffys in my slickasaurus tires, have not had a flat in since. Before the liner I was getting flats on a weekly basis. I wanted to "use up" these tires before purchasing something with better flat protection. I cant really notice any difference in handling or weight. Though I commute with quite a bit of weight as it is.

I use them. Totally worth it.

Heck, I raced on them twice this weekend. It wasn't worth the time and effort to pull them out of the tires for a couple of early season crits. A few grams wasn't going to be the difference between winning and losing.

I prefer the slime tubes, but you need to have something. I too get to go through the goat heads on the way to work. You can see the green blood on the tires at times, but no flats since putting them in.

I used them a lot when I was younger and short on cash. Much cheaper in the long run since tires are 15-20 a pop and flats rarely if ever happen with liners.

Never had any issue with them, I was extra careful trimming and taping the edge down. IMO makes the most sense financially, maybe not performance or eye candy wise.

I bought and installed some mr. tuffys in my slickasaurus tires, have not had a flat in since. Before the liner I was getting flats on a weekly basis. I wanted to "use up" these tires before purchasing something with better flat protection. I cant really notice any difference in handling or weight. Though I commute with quite a bit of weight as it is.

This fall I went on a mountain bike ride in the middle of goat head country. There were 4 of us and we had 27 flats while in the canyon. 20 of them happened to one person and the other 7 were spread out between us. There were liners on 1.5 of the bikes (I forgot to put one back in my wife's rear tire:o). One of the 4 bikes made it all the way back to the trailhead and didn't show up with a flat until about a week later. That would be my bike with liners in both tires:rolleyes:

I use 'em;)

Yep. I went from a puncture every few weeks to no punctures at all in the last 5 months or so. That's on my commuter.

I haven't managed to get them on my longtail yet. I have them, I just haven't been able to budge the nut on the rear wheel to take it off. I really need to do that. Right now that tire is a flat waiting to happen, and then I will well and truly be up a creek.

I don't run into enough debris to make them worth the bother.

I'd probably go the Marathon Plus route before mucking around with tire liners.

I use them all the time on all of my bikes. But then, I don't like changing tires.

I voted yes, but the streets I ride are mostly nice.

I consider it a must for commuting.

I have them in my folding bike, but I wasn't worried about rolling resistance when I set it up. I don't ride that bike much anymore. I'm now commuting on my randonneuse, and don't want to add the extra weight/rolling resistance to her. I've only had one flat in 5 months, covering close to 2000 miles, so I guess i don't really need them.

I don't like flats. So I use both kevlar-lined and Mr Tuffy on my commuter.

I have tire liners, but can't get them installed, not easy for me

I don't like flats. So I use both kevlar-lined and Mr Tuffy on my commuter.

This is what I do. Even kevlar belted tires can get flat. Mixing those tires with a liner makes them nearly bulletproof.

I ride a road bike with race wheels on my 25 mile RT commute. I can feel the resistance in the kevlar tires more than I notice the liners. They don't weigh much and don't really change the feel of the tire.

I have Slime liners. It was a royal PITA to get them in. About 6 months to a year later I got the first flat after I put them in--the edge of the liner rubbed through the tube.

Seems not worth it for me. I guess a lot of people don't have problems, but some people can't get them to behave no matter what. I'll probably just spring for the tires next time.

i use kevlar beaded tyres but they dont seem to make much difference. after 2 weeks i still got a flat from a small prick:o

Marathon Plus tires have kept my commutes flat free so far.

This is what I do. Even kevlar belted tires can get flat. Mixing those tires with a liner makes them nearly bulletproof.

I ride a road bike with race wheels on my 25 mile RT commute. I can feel the resistance in the kevlar tires more than I notice the liners. They don't weigh much and don't really change the feel of the tire.

This is what works for me.

In the poll I said, yes, I use them. In fact I do everything I can think of to avoid punctures. Well, I don't use voodoo or sympathetic magic or anything like that, but if someone could tell me the right incantation or magic words, I'd try that too. With the combination of kevlar puncture proof tires and liners I only get about a dozen flat tires per year.

I have Slime liners. It was a royal PITA to get them in. About 6 months to a year later I got the first flat after I put them in--the edge of the liner rubbed through the tube.

Seems not worth it for me. I guess a lot of people don't have problems, but some people can't get them to behave no matter what. I'll probably just spring for the tires next time.

Slime liners and Mr. Tuffy are very different products. I found the Slime liners to cut through tubes very quickly. I tried them once and threw them away. Mr. Tuffy have smoother edges and, while they can wear through, it takes much longer and is much less frequent.

i use kevlar beaded tyres but they dont seem to make much difference. after 2 weeks i still got a flat from a small prick:o

Kevlar beads aren't intended to prevent flats, they make the tire slightly lighter and make it able to be folded. The bead is the wire that goes into the rim of the wheel, and doesn't have any effect on flat resistance. The alternative to kevlar is the traditional steel wire, which is too stiff to be able to fold the tire.

Keith

I have Stop Flats on my tour rig and mountain bike. When I get my commuter and road bike (hopefully I will have the commuter early next year) I will add some Stop Flats to those.

I had three flats in 10 days during summer. That was on a 4 mile commute. Once I added the liners, nothing!

I use slime.

It's icky, it's heavy, it probably freezes when it's really cold. But it is a beautiful thing to be able to fix most leaks by adding more air and going for a spin.

I also look for tires that appear to be fairly puncture-resistant.

I have a 19-mile round trip commute in addition to weekend fun rides and only got 1 flat all of last year's ~4000 miles. No liners, just Conti GP4000 tires.

those are fantastic tires but they suck for flat protection. I have added a liner to them before and they really work well after that.

Some swear by it, some just buy armor lined tires, some feels it adds weight. Your thoughts?

W/o reading any other posts I'll say as one who's used them. They're fine for low psi mtb street tires, but for high pressure road tires there's a tendency for them to cut into the tube over a period of time causing a flat or blowout. Get some Schwalbe Marathon Plus' and your flat worries are over for about a year or two depending on mileage and road surface.

i like the flat protection in the tires. i used to run liners but think the protective plies in some of the modern tires are pretty good.

Tire liners + thorn resistant tubes here. ' been very lucky with this combo so far.
BTW, I'm using a low pressure MTB slick tires (Panaracer).

The results of this poll is interesting.

What's might a neat followup poll- for those that use tire-liners/armored tires- how long do your tubes go before the glue fails around the valve stem?

I've been able to go ~1 year tops on a set of tubes (riding 5 days a week, any weather but ice/slush). My recent flats happened when the valve stem literally pulled away from the rest of the tube. I'm now on an annual 'replace the tubes in spring' plan, flat or not.

I used to use Mr. Tuffy tire liners with the stock tires on my bike. Since I switched to Schwalbe Marathon Supremes, which are narrower (under the tire liners' size range) and stronger, I haven't been using tire liners. I ride on fairly good suburban roads most of the time anyways.

I used them once, and that was enough. I either use Kevlar tires and/or thick inner tubes.

What's might a neat followup poll- for those that use tire-liners/armored tires- how long do your tubes go before the glue fails around the valve stem?

I've been able to go ~1 year tops on a set of tubes (riding 5 days a week, any weather but ice/slush). My recent flats happened when the valve stem literally pulled away from the rest of the tube. I'm now on an annual 'replace the tubes in spring' plan, flat or not.


I just started using the liners with the kevlar tires about 4 months ago so I can't say. Why would they affect the glue on the valve stem? Cheap tubes?