Lazerus_Shade

Ok so here is the deal. I got my bike a while back, and have been doing a 15 mile commute home from work 4 days a week. Now I don't really go off roading on the trip home. Half of the ride is on the streets the other half is on a bike path. Now the bike path is nice, but along the sides of the path where it is not paved, and along some portions where they haven’t paved at all there are thorns. Now I am not talking a couple little stickers here and there. I am talking thousands of razor edged little buggers up to a quarter inch in size. These things are so bad that if I am wearing light sandals they some times poke through and get my feet.

So any advice for my tires? I have gone through 4 tubes this month alone. There is just no way to avoid them if I take the path, and to be honest the alternative is taking one of the busiest and most dangerous streets in salt lake. So given the options I would rather walk with flat tires than dead at the side of the road because I didn’t want to change another tire.

Currently I have thorn resistant tubes, and the plastic thorn guard that runs along the inside of my tire. However I got to work today, and while sitting at my desk I could hear a hissing noise only to realize my tire is going flat next to me, and I have run out of rubber cement so i can't use my repair kit. So being faced with a 15 mile walk I am not too happy.

jamesdenver

In the same boat. Replaced two tubes the past two weeks. One of them I wasn't even riding. Had my bike in a back of a truck, Walked in from the street over the median to my front door, looked down and there was about 9 burrs in each tire.

I sat there plucking them out wondering which one would go PSsssssssssssss. (It was the third one.)

I've been extra attentive about riding where i see more foliage, falling leaves and such.

lfv

Get tubes with sealant in them instead of thorn resistant tubes. Or put sealant in the thorn resistant tubes. If the thorns are getting through, that is your only option. If you want more, then get some kevlar belted tires as well. But in a situation like yours, the sealant is the most important IMO.

DataJunkie

If you are riding with high psi tires, I have found that sealant is next to worthless.

Lazerus_Shade

Any suggestions on sealant because in the past it has not worked really good which is why i avoided it this time. Had to replace one perfactly good tube because the sealant pluged the air valve, and i couldn't put air in my tires any more....which oddly enough it never did plug the hole that caused the loss of air any way.

lfv

I ride an Allez with 110 psi in the tubes and it works fine for me. Whenever I add air, a little bit leaks out the valve and I also have to build up enough pressure in the pump to burst through the goo that has sealed the valve shut, but it's not a big problem. The brand of the tubes I use are CST. I've never added sealant to tires, so I can't comment on that.

Also, when you pull a thorn out you should rotate the tire so that the hole is on the bottom. Otherwise it may not seal or may take a very long time.

Steve Hamlin

Where are you?

There are thorns and there are thorns. . .

I've had very good luck with thorn resistant and sealant and kevlar belted tires. I've even added tire liners to that for the tandem. . .

I can't say for sure which is the key ingredient, but the sealant I was using sealed the valve shut to the point where I've pulled the core and will have to take a drill to the plug it has formed. (Local bike shop's own proprietary stuff -- you can literally see the fibers in it -- they say it will plug to a 1/4 inch hole. I guess I've confirmed it.)

The most expensive tire liners on the market are kevlar so I think it stands to reason that kevlar belted tires ought to cure a lot ills in the thorn department.

Leiniesred

I've run stans, slime, and truegoo.
They all work about the same. They all seem to work about 2 years.
Stan's is the best I've used so far on my mt. bike tires as it seems to hold up longer than the thicker products.

I have been surprised at how well the kevlar belt in my Schwalbe Big Apple tires is resisting the thorns. There are pieces of goat-heads in the tire, but no flats (yet) I only have about 800 miles on the Big Apples, but overall, they have PROVEN more durable than goo filled tubes and other tires (knobbies or slick.) I used to flat out about once every 500 miles (about once a month.). The big apples haven't flatted yet.

Lazerus_Shade

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts on the
Nu-Teck airless tires are? Looking over the info they look promising, but then without having gone out and tested them myself i couldn't say. they are about 50$ a tire from the looks of it, but if what they claim is true i could make that back in the lack of new tubes\tires, and repair kits easily.

JoebikerLa

I run a homemade mixture of slime, latex and water. I think it works better than stans, but I'm biased. I like the larger volume tires for lots of reasons, one is the lower air pressure and ability to hold two scoops of goo. I tested the sealing ability with about 7 or 8 nail punctures and it worked fine and I'm still running those tires with all the holes in them. Sealant is the way to go.

avmanansala

Heavy, but how about some Specialized Armadillos. Conti Gator Skins are much lighter, but I have limited experience with them.

Lazerus_Shade

Well i think after spending the entire day reading about the NUtek tires i have decided against them. Found a good source for info on Armadillos and im gonna go that route. Now the only question is can i find tires in my size LOL the ones i have now are 26/2.10 would it really make that much diffrence if i went with 26/2.15?.......sorry if thats a nooby question keep in mind i have only been riding for about a month.

JoebikerLa

No noticeable difference.

arbol grande

Maxxis refuse. 2500 miles no flats their tougher than goatheads. I used stan's and went off the path a time or million. Replaced them with forte pro kevlar 225g.

RadioFlyer

airfreetires.com

climbhoser

Gotta say, and my LBS mechanic agrees, goatheads go right through Armadillos.

He runs 'dillos, slime tubes AND Mr. Tuffy's or Slime liners. Heavy, but effective.

I run good tires, but rely on my Mr. Tuffy's and slime tubes.

I use Stan's sealant, actually, not Slime proper. It does work. When you pull a goathead spin the wheel immediately. Then pump, and spin again. Do this until your leak is sealed. At the worst you'll have to pump it once or twice in 15 miles...but then you're home and you can patch it. At best it works as well as a patch.

I haven't had to do a mid-commute repair in almost a year, and I pull up to 20 goatheads out on one ride.

logdrum

Use Stans, but fill her up every 3- months -- then change the tube after 6 months. Here in New Mexico the thorns are as bad if not worse. One visiting pro told that this was the flat capital of the US. True.

I use racing tires (tubulars included) and with Stans not a problem. You need to buy tubes with a removable core if using presta or learn from the LBS how to do it with regular presta. Schrader just get a valve remover. Stans or tofu work with high pressure tires...

Want additional protection

'Dillos
Gatorskin
Vectran
Kevlar material works. but you really need Stans on your tube.

markhr

Armadillos - my only punctures (2) in years were from slivers of metal wire. Glass, clippings, gravel - no problems.

PunkMartyr

I think a couple of people on this forum have gone tubeless. If I was getting more than one leak a month I probably would but i've never ridden tubeless so I don't know if its that much slower or what

cman

Here is a interesting Blog post on Goatheads and religion.
https://bikenazi.blogspot.com/2007/03/mans-ruin.html

aley

I've gone several thousand miles on Armadillos with Mr. Tuffy liners and the thorn-resistant True Goo tubes (which are the only ones I've found that you can get in the thicker thorn-resistant rubber with the sealant already inside), and have yet to flat with that combination. I've experimented with other permutations, and had pretty good results, but the combination of all four (Kevlar tires, liners, thick tubes, sealant) remains the only combination that I haven't flatted with.

I just put a set of Conti Ultra Gatorskins on my road bike to try out. I'm running them with sealant, but without the thick tubes or the liners. I'm anticipating a few flats, but I'm hoping the lighter combination makes it worth the occasional nuisance of fixing a flat. I'll probably only commute on that wheelset on days when I don't have to pick up the kids from daycare, though - nothing's worse than getting hit with a $5/minute fee for getting there late!

noisebeam

I think you have some short term solutions suggested.

Think longer term and advocate for proper landscaping and desert plantings along the trailside. Goatheads thrive in disturbed soil - ground covers and growth of other plants can stabilize the soil and also landscaping can prevent/reduce off path use which further disturbs the soil.

Al

Jeffbeerman2

I never had a flat caused by thorns on an armadillo, even on 23mm 110psi road bike tires. There is an armadillo elite now that is lighter and I have no experience with them. My experience is with the heavy rough-riding regular 'dillos. At 26x2+, I don't think the weight or ride quality will make much difference anyhow. Get the armadillos. If you run pressure under 60psi, use slime tubes as well.

bobcrotch

I've had 3 flats in the last 2 months. That is a 300% increase from my the last tail end part of summer. Of course spring time is the time for thorns... but still.

The real question is, what about a 29" tire? HEH.

Paul L.

I will second you on those insidious thorns up there. I was walking around my Wife's grandpa's farm and they went right through the soles of your shoes. I would say Dillo's with liners if I had to ride that everyday.

I have only seen those thorns down here a few times but when I did there was mass carnage on my kevlar belted schwalbe stelvios.