I have many memories from riding with him and his crew early Sunday mornings in the Santa Cruz Mountains back in the late 70s and early 80s. I used to think spokes should be loose, so that if one broke the wheel would not go so far out of true,. He was was the one who changed my thoughts about tight spoke tension. After living in Albuquerque (goat head thorn capital USA) , and making my own tire savers, it is true, they do not work even if they are rubbing on the tire. The problem is that even at 135 lbs (68 pounds of weight per tire) the goat heads go in about 3mm upon being run over, and even if they hit the saver, it's simply too late, the goat head has already imbedded too far.