Originally Posted by
BobbyG
Tire liners! (with inner tubes)
We have goat heads here in Colorado Springs, where I commute. I used to get 2-3 flats a month. Fifteen or twenty years ago I started using tire liners and went to 2-3 flats a year.
Tire liners let me ride more supple tires. I've tried reinforced flat-resistant tires and I hated their dull, lifeless character (although they had nice grip).
Goathead thorns, small pieces of glass and wire and very small nails and screws are no longer ride killers, although two or three large roofing nails and a couple of freak machine screws have made their way in through the unprotected side wall. Also once some bailing wire.
I will also say that if a big enough hole wears into the tire over time and debris gets in, it will eventually work its way between the inner tube and liner and cause flats.
So while tire liners don't provide as much protection as reinforced tires they let me ride more enjoyable supple tires.
I have no experience with tubeless tires.
I purchased Slime tire liners a couple years ago. The problem I had was I was never able to get the liner to stay between the tire and the tube during installation. Do you have a trick?
Originally Posted by
mschwett
it depends on the type of puncture. something really tiny like a bit of steel wire, mostly you never even know. the tiny tiny hole gets immediately clogged from the inside by the sealant that gets pushed out by the air pressure. you may never see the evidence, and nothing needs to be done.
a thorn might be big enough that as riding you’d see and hear the PSHHH and some sealant either squirting or bubbling out. typically for that, you stop, remove it, and spin the tire around to assist in getting enough sealant pushed through the hole to seal up. after this, you either keep riding or if you lost a lot of air, pump up a bit. it sounds sketch but i had this happen on a 40+ mph 2,500’ descent, i slowed and stopped halfway, hit it with a CO2 cartridge, spun the tire and jumped back on. it was a piece of thorn in my front tire, i don’t want to think about sudden deflation at 45 on a tire without sealant.
a REALLY big hole, you either a) trash the tire or b) jam a “plug” in from the outside, add sealant through the valve opening, and reinflate. i like this one
https://shop.dynaplug.com/products/dynaplug®-pill which is tiny, fast, and super easy to use. if you were losing pressure from multiple good size thorn hits, you might pull them out and use a few of these.
you would normally never pull the tire off to do anything except trash it for a new one. tubeless sounds complicated but it’s just different - and the various things you might do (add air, add sealant, plug a large hole) are all super easy.
Thanks for this. I've been wondering about it. But I do have a question with regard to the plugs. From what I've seen, they appear to be very similar to automotive tire plug kits, even down to the size. Is that the case? If so, do you not compromise the tire by using such a large plug in such a thin shell?
Originally Posted by
L134
Has anyone suggested tightening the valve cores?
Been done.
Originally Posted by
CrimsonEclipse
I'll always go with armored tires, but there is a speed penalty, so if you ride with a group you now have to work harder, or if you ride solo, the numbers you post won't make you as cool.
I don't bother with a patch kit, never worry about sealant maintenance, I don't even bother to swerve around debris fields.
For my training rides, I have no problem with armored tires. I put some Schwalbes on my K2 with some Michelin puncture resistant tubes and haven't had a flat on that bike since. Every other bike, multiple flats.
Since the bike routes in organized races do tend to be in a little better condition, I'm willing to take my chances on "fragile" tubes and tires during a race. But I'm absolutely OK with hard case tires for my training rides.