suncruiser

Just a rant, sorry.

Been commuting for a few years now, in different climates (fairbanks, Seattle, Phoenix) and what tire works one place isn't the tire that works the next. For both fairbanks and Seattle I had been running continental tires. (tour ride rear, contact 2 up front) well, get to Arizona and the heat and pavement out here wore them down considerably faster than I expected (was getting about 1500 miles on a set in Seattle) and I maybe got 400 in phoenix on the same tire setup, with increased flats. Goat heads out here suck. Picked up a set of schwalbe delta cruisers to run around out here thinking they'll last a bit longer but... I can't deal with all the flats! 3 this week and its only Thursday!

Guess I'm getting marathon Supremes for the bike. They don't make much else puncture resistant in 32mm. Maybe I can stay flat free for a month or so.

Rant over

DiabloScott

Interesting - do you have to pre-treat the tires with the slime before you put in the liners?

Because the liners get stuck pretty tight to the inside of the tires.

CreakingCrank

Did you mean Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires?

Marathon Supremes won't block goathead thorns. I live in the southwest too and tried Supremes ... great tire but no match for those nasty thorns.

The Marathon Plus tires will protect against thorns (I've had them too). I now run tubeless.

RoadKill

What area of Phoenix do you commute in? I rarely get goat head flats in Tempe/West Chandler. But I went on a ride with a friend a few weeks ago up the Scottsdale Greenbelt and somewhere around Camelback he managed to find a patch of goatheads that put about 50 holes in his tubes. We spent about an 1.5 hours patching tubes and still had to air up a few times before finding a bike shop.
I definitely agree that tires seem to wear out fast. My old commuter bike had skinny (25 or 28) tires and I would get about 1000 miles on the front and maybe 500 on rear. My new commuter has a much wider tire (45) and I have nearly 1000 miles on the tires, I can probably get another 1000 before they wear out.

RubeRad

slime goes inside the tubes

Darth Lefty 

I’ve been trying tubeless, and I’m becoming a true believer.

when I was 8yo we drove from Phx to Fairbanks. The change in climate must be quite a shock.

CreakingCrank

Are you guys really only getting 500-2000 miles on a tire? Yikes!

I live where its hot too (4 degrees cooler than Phoenix in July on average). I commute home at the hottest time of the day, too. I had 7800 miles on my Marathon Plus tires when I went tubeless and the Plus's still have life in them. Already have 2700 miles on my tubeless Supremes and still consider them new.

suncruiser

yea I meant the marathon plus. I need that layer. Hoping the tires I'm getting for my vaya build will be enough (3mm belt instead of the 5mm) because I want to keep smoother tires with the capability to head down dirty, nasty roads.

suncruiser

most of my commute involves riding down bell roads sidewalks between 43rd and 91st ave, or down skunk creek and new river canal. (Before anyone says anything, you do NOT want to be on the road surface on bell. Good way to get killed.) Strangely, most of the thorns get me on or near bell between 75th and 67th ave, even though the path looks pretty clean

CliffordK

Here is a thread I started a while ago:
Tires for goatheads?

I haven't sent the bike up north yet, but I did decide to try out a pair of Michelin Protek Cross Max tires here. A little slower than what I'm used to, but they do seem like tough commuting tires. And, I'm already at > 500 miles, and not a sign of wear.

The Panaracer “Flataway” tire liners seem like a unique product. I haven't broken them out yet as I typically average a flat every 500 to 1000 miles, I think, and don't feel the liners are necessary as I still need to carry my self-recovery tools.

CreakingCrank

You might want to measure the thorn length on those goatheads. I always felt like I needed all 5 of those 5mm on the Plus.

RubeRad

Once I got only about 500mi from the back tire of a set of Vee Rubber V12 700x50. Then I switched to Marathons.

But I thought they looked cool when I had them:

DiabloScott

Fixed that for you.

And I guess there's no point to liners on tubeless tires.

RubeRad

you could have them floppin around in there if you want. They would keep the sealant nicely whipped at all times

noisebeam

If you stay on the roads you will rarely get flats. I get one about once every 6k miles, which means some tires never get a flat before they are worn. For many years I used Conti Gatorskin, but in last 5 or so I switched to GP4000 and get about 3.5k miles from the rear - somewhat less than gatorskin, but the ride is much nicer. Yes the summer heat is brutal on tires, they wear faster and delaminate sooner, sidewall cracking appears after about 500mi. Mid day summer pavement temps are around 180F.

suncruiser

I rarely run off the pavement, my luck just kinda sucks that way. As for gatorskins... I like keeping a tread style tire, and continental tires run a bit small in my experience. I like my 32s being 32s, especially with how uneven the pavement and sidewalks are out here. I don't like rim taps.

DrIsotope

This is why tubeless is a thing, AFAIC. Talking a nearly 1-kilo puncture resistant tire + Mr. Tuffy + Slime sealant + tube = umm, too much. A 700x32 Maxxis ReFuse TR is 390g. I'm sure the TL Easy Marathon Supremes are great, but I'm not gonna find out at 80 bucks a tire.

I could not live with a flat every 500-1000 miles, no way. I'd be getting multiple flats a month. As it stands now, I average 2 tire failures a year-- but no puncture flats.

Darth Lefty 

lol @ Scott

BobbyG

+1 Mr. Tuffy's

RubeRad

How about if you order them direct from Germany for $80/pair?

EDIT: OK, with the current conversion and shipping to US it is $96/pair, but still way better than $160.

ColonelSanders

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme Evolution Tubeless Folding Tire - 28 Inches - Black-Reflex - $Euro29.33 = $USD36.11

ColonelSanders

Great minds think alike.

Look at the time we each posted.

RubeRad

We're so alike you should give me free fried chicken for life!

CreakingCrank

Tubeless Supremes aren't even $80/tire in the states

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme MicroSkin Road Tyre | Chain Reaction Cycles

RubeRad

Well that's a pretty good sale, but MSRP is $80 for many sizes.