Sharpshin

Really, compared to the price of gas and auto maintenance, bike tire/tube cost is no object.

I have a five-mile commute through the lower income neighborhood of the big city school where I teach. Bike also gets used to shop/run errands when I can. Route includes much hopping up and down curbs, old uneven sections of pavement, short cuts through unpaved alleys, and sections where I have to ride on and off of the pavement alongside the highway.

Continental Town and Countries have answered well for this in the past. Looking for a general equivalent in terms of low rolling resistance/some off road tread, but one with kevlar protection.

Thanks,

Mike

fietsbob

Conti Top Tour.. and a thorn resistant heavy duty tube .. accept the extra weight.

Sharpshin

Thanks, and thanks for the quick response.

At 26" by 1.9" the Top Contacts sound perfect except for the refective sidewalls.

I often ride home after dark.

There are no lights or reflectors on my bike, nor do I wear a helmet. Without meaning to make too much of it; the option of travelling in stealth mode after dark around these parts far outweighs any concerns about "being seen by cars". Likewise wearing a helmet while riding a bike, especially after dark just spells "V-I-C-T-I-M".

Bummer, ideal otherwise.

Do you have any other tire suggestions?

Regards,

Mike

AusTexMurf

Conti Travel Contacts, non reflective.

xtrajack

I'm curious, Where do you ride where wearing a helmet spells "V-I-C-T-I-M", and not being seen is safer at night?

Standalone 

Yes,I ride Town and Countries through lower income neighborhoods to my big inner city High School teaching job. Haven't needed Kevlar...

Standalone 

I ride here:






(sketch was one of my students)

acorn54

well seems like your safety is at high risk so i don't want to steer you wrong . i use pasela tourguide , kevlar lining tires. i get them mail order from harris cyclery in mass. near your area. anyway they have them in various sizes and i believe 26" is one of the sizes-worth a look.

Medic Zero

You could always paint over the reflective sidewall. Model paint would work, a permanent marker might as well, but my experience with permanent markers tells me they are only "permanent" when you don't want them to be, and wear off of everything I want them to be permanent on.

I've had really good results with Vittoria Randonneur Pros, like maybe one flat a year, and I'm about 280 pounds and ride over pretty rough streets (although probably not as rough as yours). Used to get flats all the time with lower quality tires. Not much tread to speak of though. I used to love the Town and Country's until they discontinued the smaller size. Now they feel squirrelly to me in the larger size.

If I were you I'd be tempted instead of going with thorn resistant tubes which are kind of awful, to use a Mr. Tuffy tire liner. Pretty sure it weighs less and a Mr. Tuffy pretty much turns any tire into a near bullet proof tire. Also, no mess all over the inside of your tire like when a slime filled tube does get punctured. Pretty sure a Mr. Tuffy and a Town and Country would be a great combo for you.

Good luck, and kudos to you for perservering!

Dwayne

I would recommend a set of Schwalbe Big Apples, the largest size you can fit (I use 2.15", my old steel hardtail MTB with fenders won't fit the 2.3"). Yes, they have a reflective strip on the sidewall, but it can be pulled off since it's only adhesive, leaving you with a black tire. I have 6500 miles on mine, regularly ride bad pavement, up and down curbs, down stairs, etc, and they're perfect. They're not an off-road tire obviously, but they do ok on unpaved surfaces.

alan s 

I use my BAs offroad every day. They are great offroad, just not enough traction for mountain biking.

AusTexMurf

Schwalbe Big Apples
Continental City Ride 2
Continental Travel Contact
Schwalbe Marathon Green Guard

Sharpshin

West Side of San Antonio Yo

Don't get me wrong, San Antonio is about the friendliest major urban poverty center there is.

But.... on the days when I don't leave my high school until around 10pm (more often than you'd think)... being visible in advance like with reflectors gives potential miscreants a few moments for premeditation as in.... "hey, lets knock that guy over and take his bike" etc etc....

Towards that end, being older (mid-fifties) having a beard helps. What I do is bag up my dress shirt for the ride home, wear an old t-shirt and especially a cotton knit or wool watch cap. I'm commonly taken for homeless, as indeed most older bearded Anglos in my neighborhood are

Been teaching here for twenty-five years, bicycle commuting on and off, getting to an age where I take the bicycle while I still can.

This area seems pretty safe, and most times it is, but occasionally something awful happens. For example, been two drive-by's and one fatal shooting on my street in the last ten years (or one incident of catastrophic violence about every three years), yet kids play in the streets and we can and have left our car doors unlocked in the driveway, even with valuable stuff inside, for years.

I carry a 9oz can of bear spray in one saddlebag, mostly for dogs, never had to use it (though have successfully resorted to bear spray against pits and such several times while walking my dogs, only downside is its $50 a can). Prob'ly wouldn't violently resist an attempt to take my bike. This IS Texas, but packing a discrete firearm ain't an option given my workplace.

My favorite commuting bike is a 15 year old Kona Blast 8sp mountain bike with a Marzocchi fork. I bought it for my then 14 year-old son as a reward for doing the 50 mile loop on the Lance Armstrong charity ride in Austin. Any smaller and I wouldn't fit, but the near BMX proportions work well to lend manouverability on the "urban technical" sections I have to navigate en route.

Mike

Sharpshin

Standalone,

Thank you for understanding

But I gotta say, compared to friendly ol' San Antone, where you ride looks scary.

Regards,

Mike

Sharpshin

First off, thanks to everyone for the helpful replies.

What's REALLY going on here is that long distance on a bike has always been on my bucket list. Tho I have crossed the continent more times than I can easily recall on a motorcycle, never done it on a bicycle, which is a whole quantum leap upward in difficulty of course.

Getting to age where I gotta do it while I still have the knees for it (IF I still have the knees for it). Towards that end I've been taking the long way home, and planning some all-day expeditions soon as I get a free Saturday just to see how far I get.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Actually I really like Town and Country's, near perfect for my application. In reference to another post in my case I prefer the larger size (2.1??) on account of all the times that rear wheel drops off-of tall curbs.

No pinch flats with tire liners?

Thanks,

Mike

alan s 

Used T&Cs many years ago, and they were flat magnets. Anything but bulletproof. The reverse tread area is thin and seems to pick up glass readily. Definitely go with tire liners if you use those tires.

Dwayne

I've had one flat on the rear in the 6500 miles on my BAs, but that was partially my fault after not cleaning up the garage floor after a metalworking project, very fine, long metallic splinters all over the place. They laugh at anything I've seen on the road here in the city. And they tour just fine. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...iles-in-3-days

Medic Zero

I haven't actually used Mr. Tuffy's myself in a long time, I took some time off from cycling and when I came back almost three years ago I quickly switched to tires that didn't need them (Panaracer T-Serv Protex, Vittoria Randonneur Pros, and a Schwalbe Marathon). I vaguely recall that there was a tiny risk of getting a pinch flat with a Mr Tuffy if you didn't get it lined up right, but that'd happen right away when you inflated it I think, it wouldn't surprise you miles later in a rough part of town or something. We had a thread on Mr Tuffy's/tire liners not that long ago, I'll see if I can't find it.

dynaryder

I had the same experience with the T&C's that came on my Safari. Apparently they used to be made better and were the standard for cop bike fleets,but not today. I later ran a set of Serfas Drifters that had almost the exact same pattern,but never had a flat.

Medic Zero

Okay, here's the thread I was thinking of. Yes, some people report problems with pinch flats, a bunch of other people say they don't have problems with pinch flats and swear by Mr Tuffy's. What I gleaned from the thread was:
* make sure the liner has a rounded edge not a square cut
* maybe tape the ends down or sand the ends so they're not sharp (although lots of people do neither)
* get them a little larger than your tire size for best coverage and to minimize possibility of pinch flat so you can:
* make sure they are centered when you inflate the tire

If I were you I'd definitely give them a try, given your situation. As long as they are seated properly they should massively increase your flat protection at the increase of a little rolling resistance, and they'd make your favorite tires suitable for your situation. Heck, in your situation, I'd be tempted to put Mr. Tuffy's in Marathon Duremes, Gatorskins, or what's that other skinny slick with the infamous harsh ride? Boots and suspenders if you will.

Your determination to keep riding is inspiring!

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...y-s-Tire-liner

KonAaron Snake 

I use Panaracer Ribmos - I think they're a great tire for puncture resistance, yet aren't as dead as the Schwalbes and Armadillos. Narrower contact point than Paselas and I like them far more. Standard tubes - if it gets through the tire I don't think a thicker tube is saving you. I don't like the added material.

I got CONSTANT pinch flats with mr. Tuffy.

Medic Zero

Yeah, I used to really love mine, and I had forgotten that about them, but I do remember that they were what the Seattle PD were running on their fleet at the same time I was using them. I really liked the way the tread pattern handled the occasional off-road section I might end up doing, but was smooth and fast on city streets. IIRC, I was running them in 1.75" and then they discontinued that size and started only offering them in 1.9 or 2.1 and IIRC another, larger size. I tried a set of the larger ones and they felt totally different. Rumour had it that Continental had changed the rubber content of their tires as well (not just T&C's), I don't know if that had to do with it, or they just handled differently because of the larger size, but I've got a virtually brand new set of them sitting at the back of my cache now that I'm baffled as to what I'm going to do with.

Medic Zero

Armadillos! I think those are the ones I was thinking of that are infamous for having a super harsh ride, but being very flat resistant. Some people seem to have lots of problems with Mr. Tuffy's and other people swear by years of great service from them in harsh conditions. I think, given the OP's situation, it's worth trying.

dynaryder

That's why I went with the Drifters. They actually did pretty well in snow,so I could run the same tires all year unless there was ice,then I swap on the studs. But then I tried Marathon Supremes,and they became my 3 season tires.

Sharpshin

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Found a pic of my bike, this from when I was running my dogs a couple of years back.

Off topic, but the bigger one is a heeler/stumpy-tailed cattle dog mix, the smaller a heeler/sheepdog mix. My experience has been that a dog that will walk/run reliably off-leash at heel will do the same with a bicycle and I have often run them through town early in the mornings. Herding breeds are probably best for this, and in Texas unspoiled examples (as in not AKC) are pretty cheap. But I digress.....





As mentioned, the bike is a Kona Blast, 8sp cassette, the fork a Marzocchi Bomber, air adjustable but not lockoutable. Deore shifters, Truvati triple crnakset, Blackburn mountain bike rack, Jannd Mountaineering bags, T/C tires. Dunno the make of the pedals (Truvati?), steel with carbon (??) clips, big enough to fit regular shoes with the straps removed.

Pretty much state-of-the-art for a decent bike fifteen years back IIRC we paid $600 in 1998 (??) dollars for it at the Ozona Bike Shop in Austin. Only thing I'd fault for my own use is the color, flame orange ain't really stealthy.

I have found front shocks to be essential when riding broken sidewalks and alongside the roadway off pavement, especially at night. They save a large amount of wear on one's hands and wrists, safer too. I recently switched from the original thumb shifters to Schramm Grip shifters, I have an old injury (from a bicycle wreck) to my right thumb and I find the grip shifters to be less painful to use.

Again off topic, I traded a classic S&W Mod 63 for a pristine F-series Cannondale (headshock era) hanging on a buddies garage wall some years back, but that ended up going to my son too. He still rides it, loves the bike.

An REI just opened up recently in this town and based on the reviews I'm thinking a pair of Drifters would be an ideal and not too expensive replacement, some off-road sections alongside the roadway can actually be fairly technical. And since my current T/C's have wear left on 'em, I can slap some Mr Tuffy's in 'em and put them on my wife's comfort bike. Two birds with one stone and all that

Thanks,

Mike