Wow! Thanks for all the replys to my question! Re "nail puller," I think that is what Germans sometimes call them...they obviously won't work well on nails or tacks... My sew-up equipped French bikes came with the Pelissiers, which looked cool (or wierd) but were a pain to bend and keep adjusted, so off they went into the odd parts bin. Another reason I took them off was, as mentioned in post #23 and later, was that they threw pasty mess consisting or road grit plus rubber tire shavings into the seat stay cross tube in back and up into the fork tube in front. You guys came up with a nifty solution to that problem: mount them facing backward, which will also prevent their being bent into the fork or seat stays if they get "grabbed" by something stuck in the tire.

Based on all the comments I'm convinced the tire-savers (esp. rootboy's) if properly installed (i.e. facing backwards and kept barely in contact with the tire) makes sense. I don't run on kevlars...I use Conti Giros, which I know are not the greatest, are prone to punctures and need all the protection they can get... but they are priced right.

Thanks again for all the intelligent comments! This is a great site and I'm glad I registered.

Nick