Envious! :thumb:

Interesting. I've never had any problems with my T-Servs. I switched out the first one after 3,000 miles when it got two flats in short order and on inspection the tread was pretty cut up from small shards of glass. Probably still lots of life left in it, but I wasn't sure, so I rotated it out to be a spare and mounted another brand new one I had on hand. Put just shy of another 3,000 miles on the next one and it was still going strong when I pulled the ~1.5" tires off to try out the Schwalbe Big Bens. No sidewall issues whatsoever for me with the T-Servs and other than the two flats just before I pulled the first one out of service, I think I had a total of one flat each on those tires, with IIRC, one of those caused by me. Given how many problems I've had with flats before, my impression is the T-Servs have fantastic flat protection, on par with Vittoria Randoneur Pro's and Schwalbe Marathons.

My faves:

Panaracer T-Serv Protex, 26 x 1.75* - great as a front tire for me, their soft rubber compound and running them at 75 PSI means they've got a little give for the bumps.

Vittoria Randoneur Pro 26 x 1.50 - just about bulletproof, but doesn't weigh anything like what you'd expect a tire with this level of flat protection to. Nice stiff sidewalls make a great tire for me, a Clyde, who often carries heavy loads too, as it doesn't deflect very much. Run these at 90 PSI for a rear. I might've gotten a flat on one these at one point, but I don't recall that actually happening, so these may well have a perfect record for me. I had one blow out a sidewall, but I suspect my grazing a sharp parking block while loaded led to that failure, so I'm going to assume that was me and not the tire.

Schwalbe Big Ben 26 x 2.15 - been trying these for about three months now. A touch heavier than my ~1.5" tires, but that was to be expected, not as heavy as I thought they were going to be. Sometimes a little bouncy on acceleration, but not bad. Surprisingly fast. Great at soaking up all the road "chatter" from all the rough stuff here. Utter confidence when crossing railroad/tram tracks, which is a nice plus, especially here, my commute takes me across four active rail lines and a new light rail line. Several of those have multiple tracks to cross over. Zero flats, despite not being careful about what I rode over to kind of test them. Quite pleased with these.


* The T-Servs run small, I use the 1.75" branded one as a 1.5" as it is closer to that, and I run it at 1.5" pressures (75 PSI).

Thanks, not gonna lie. Part of deciding where we were moving to was scouting for a good commute!

the made in Finland, utility, Suomi-Nokian tires seem to wear forever ..
the A10 was used on a long bike tour [622-40] ...

my occasionally used Nokian studded MTB tires were bought in 1991. they're still fine .

Good data point.

Maybe I just had extremely bad luck, but two sidewall cuts in two different tires resulting in flats struck me as a bit more than coincidental. I also swapped out to different tires (RiBMo) when I had a couple flats in T-Servs due to glass withing a few weeks. At about the same mileage, 3000mi as you reported.

I get a whole lot better mileage out of the RiBMos and Marathons, 5000-6000mi, with a nod to the RiBMos because they are lighter.

Also running most of my 26 x 1.5 tires at 75psi.

For "performance" I do love the T-Servs, but for day in, day out commuting, I sacrifice road feel, suppleness, and weight for better flat protection, either Marathons or my current fave, RiBMos.