Originally Posted by
garagegirl
I destroyed a T-serv (basically a Pasela TG) a few weeks after I bought it, sidewall failure due to pot hole. Prior to that I had 3 flats. The tread picks up everything.
I'm lazy and I have a tendency to ride with my tires underinflated, a bad habit picked up from years of running things like Schwalbes with indestructable sidewalls. I'm sure this had something to do with the tire's incredibly short lifespan, but this has never happened to me with any other tire.
I have some gatorskins that I've never flatted on. The road feel isn't as nice as the T-servs, but it's still much better than something like a marathon. Gatorskins are slick and kind of hard, I've never seen anything stick to them.
The contacts are kind of like marathons- heavy, rigid sidewall, crappy ride quality, but bomb-proof. They're a better choice if you're going to go off pavement, while the gatorskins would be better if you're sticking to asphalt.
I also had a sidewall failure though it was my fault, I was oing at a high rate of speed and I had to get up onto a small sidewalk area which was part of a local bike path but it didn't have a totally flat lip. I came in at a bit of an angle and it gashed out the sidewall. PArtly my fault but I do know that a lot of other tires would have handled that easier. The pasela TG's are at a great price and are very light. they are worth trying. specific to the op's question regarding treads picking up debris, I never had a problem with that.