Sharpshin

Prob'ly about 2,000 miles since my last flat, oddly enough also up-front. This on a regular urban commute through streets with a lot of accumulated debris.

A long skinny nail through the edge of the tread this time, same thing as last time. First-ever flat on my morning commute.

Took me 17 minutes from stop and dismount to ride away, much of it wrestling with the stiff bead. I was lucky, by chance I had a 30 minute time cushion this morning, I've gotten so complacent that lots of times I'm leaving it so late that I roll in to work at the last minute.

Anyhoo.... Plus Tours rock! I run 'em at 70psi.

One reviewer said they were a 5,000 mile tire, based on the wear on my back tire so far that sounds about right.

I give 'em two thumbs up.

Mike

chasm54

I commuted on SMPs for years. There are a lot of nicer riding tyres (like, maybe, everything else on the market) but for durability and puncture resistance they're unrivalled. I probably put close to 15000 miles on three pairs with only one flat. And only one of those pairs is worn out, I'm guessing at around 7000.

Andy_K 

Less than 5000 miles and you've gotten two flats? Not worth the stiff ride.

I've been trying out a new tire on one of my bikes (LIT 360). I really want them to work out because the massive reflective sidewall is awesome. I got my first flat earlier this week at about 100 miles of usage. It was a slow leak (in the front tire!) caused by a wire so tiny I had to squint to see it even after I pulled it out. A tire liner would definitely have stopped it. The thing with one or even two flats is that you never know if it was a fluke or not. I got a flat 8 miles into my very first on a set of Schwalbe Marathon Supremes that tore the sidewall and left the tire unusable. Its identical replacement went 1400 miles before its first flat.

fietsbob

Edge of the tread, I Expect , is lower edge of the sidewall, may have gone around the tread barrier features..


San Antonio Texas must be a Nail filled Hellhole.

Sharpshin

Hey, right before my NY trip in 2014, I had a nail go through the center tread and out the sidewall of a brand new 700x32 Conti Gator Hardshell, $50 or whatever right out the window.... and four flats with them on that 2,000 mile trip, every one from a maybe 5mm piece of stainless retread wire through center tread. Three in back, one in front.


..and my very first flat on a Plus Tour that same year was a circular cut center-tread in back, looked to be from an empty 9mm case.... (...just another day in tha 'hood Yo )

Shipping a bike to the UK for an 8 week tour this summer.

I"m commuting on my son's old Kona Blast mt. bike now that we got for him 18 yrs ago when he was 13.

But, I'm prob'ly gonna ship my '89 Voyageur to England, I actually would prefer the Kona but it ain't stable loaded w/four panniers like the touring bike is.

So anyways, I'm trying to decide between 700x32 or 700x35 Plus Tours for the trip.

chasm54

To be honest, I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference. The sidewalls on the things are so stiff that small size differences seem scarcely to matter.

I'm in the UK. Where do you have in mind?

EDIT: Sorry, scratch that question. I'd forgotten our discussion in the touring forum.

Sharpshin

In brief; Blackpool UK as home base, maybe 700 miles in Scotland, 500 miles in Ireland and then play it by ear after that. Normandy and back up through England and Wales would be nice, but it really depends upon how much I end up travelling through versus staying to visit along the way. At this writing I don't want to jinx it but the tickets are already bought and the money to ship the bike set aside. All that remains now is the countdown and the bike prep. Gotta keep my weekly mileage up there too between now and then.

This next part pertains to commuting.

Rolling along at my usual moderate pace (~10mph) I frequently bail entirely off of the pavement when necessary in response to traffic rather than trusting the judgement of passing drivers. In fact this and frequent curb-hopping is why I commute on a mountain bike. I anticipate this sort of thing happening rather a lot given the narrow country lanes and crowded old towns and cities prevalent in the UK and Ireland. I have no problems with the Conti Gator Hardshells but they ARE slicks, and lack traction when on dirt and grass. The Plus Tours OTOH excel in this regard.

In the interest of traction I would prefer them in the 700x35 over the 700x32 but I dunno they would clear my fenders. Schwinn back in '89 clearly wasn't anticipating the rise of fat tires.

Mike

chasm54

Really not practicable in large parts of the UK. Population density, especially in Southern England, means roads are busier. You'd be trying to mount the pavement (sidewalk, to you) every two minutes, and riding on it is unpopular and in some cases illegal. And on narrow country lanes there is often nowhere to go, you'd be in a hedge or a ditch.

Don't worry about it. Almost nobody gets hit from behind here. Last time I checked, only 3% of cycling fatalities in the UK happened that way. That means three or four a year, out of billions of miles cycled. You have more chance of just dropping dead spontaneously.

Sharpshin

Which could happen....

Thank you for the advice.

Would you have any problem at all riding the UK on Conti Gatorskins? Is there any real downside to riding on such slicks in that climate?

Thanks in advance,

Mike