Update: over 600 miles

After about 500 miles on these tires, I've noticed the back tire starting to take on punctures more frequently....about 3 punctures in the last month....all from glass. Not wanting to have to worry about puncturing out on the road, but at the same time, not giving up these tires that I've grown to like so much, I decided to try the Slime Tube Protector.

The IRC Metro tire is spec'ed iso 406X32, so I purchased the Slime tube protector designed for road bikes (fits 700Cx25-28). The fit was perfect. I merely needed to trim away enough material to allow a 1-inch overlap when installed in the tire.

The added weight wasn't very noticeable. The tire liner, when trimmed to fit the 20 inch tire, feels less than the weight of a 20x1.35-1.50 tube. I couldn't tell any difference in the ride or handling. After the first 2 miles of riding, I actually forgot the liner was even there.

So how well does it work? Have a look at this:



This cut in the tire is the result of me running over half of a broken bottle that had been left standing upright on it's base. While I managed to avoid it with the front wheel, the back wheel rolled right over it with a sizeable thud, accompanied by sounds of glass shards being snapped off the base of the bottle. If you look closely, you can see a light-green glimmer of the Slime tube protector through the gash in the tire. It's been a week now since the incident, and still no air loss, and still no punctures. Not bad for $4.98.

Overall, I think the Metro is an excellent value for the money...and for $10 more, you have yourself a set of tires that are just as indestructible as kevlar tires costing twice as much.