Originally Posted by
mjac
Exactly. You have been riding them for 8 years I would have to say they must be at least tolerable if not serviceable if a man has ridden them for eight years. To hear some of these people talk you would need spinal fusion after one ride. Nobody said they were time trial tires but in an urban setting they are better then time trial tires and time trial tires would be better then them in a time trial. Avoiding flats on an urban commute is a valuable asset and can save you a lot of trouble, a lot. That seems worth it to me. They have their place. Maybe these guys are just purists.
There is a huge difference in ride quality between a 32mm wide tire and a 23 or 25mm wide tire. The wider tires can be ridden at much lower pressure. In addition, tire liners will further degrade ride quality, especially with a tire designed for maximum puncture protection.
I thought I might also add that flat tires are not always caused by punctures from road debris. In fact, of my last 6 flat tires only one was a puncture. The first was a tire bead failure, a brand new tire(first ride) 80 km into a 100 km ride and the tire bead separated from the tire sidewall causing a blowout. The next was a pinch flat caused by me trying to hop over a curb going too fast. The next was another bead failure that actually happened in my living room, it let go while I was sitting watching TV. The next 2 were inner tube valve failures, one a valve separating at the base and the other caused by the valve nut breaking off. In both cases the inner tubes had been in service for years, they were both on their 3rd set of tires. The last was the only puncture. Near the end of a ride, I ran over an industrial staple that could easily have punctured almost any tire. In this case it was my bike with tubeless tires. I finished the ride with only one issue: I had to pump the tire up with 2 km to go. If I had been using sealant with my tubeless tire, I wouldn't have had to do even that. 6 flats, but only 3 of them happened on the road, in 6 years or so of riding. The only bike that had puncture resistant tires was the one that had the pinch flat. For me, one puncture in 6 years is acceptable, especially since that one puncture didn't keep me from finishing my ride