Schwalbe's and thorn resistant inner tubes -- A little overkill?
 

A bought some Schwalbe Marathon Pluses and mounted them along with thorn-resistant inner tubes on my tour bike. I swear that was like putting tracks on a tank. I hope I never have a flat. I know this combination makes the wheels a little heavier than your average bear but I do like the way they roll.

Now I'm second guessing whether I needed the thicker inner tubes but I'll be darned if I'm going to take those tires off unless it's absolutely warranted. So is this overkill?

Really only one way to find out. Keep us posted I'm curious.

You don't need the tubes.

I've only ridden thorn-resistant tubes on a borrowed bike, but I'd rather fix flats than put up with that heavy, clunky ride. It was like the tires were carved out of wood.

Were you getting lots of punctures before you went with the armor clad rim covers?

That's just the thing. I had great success with my original stock tires but not with the replacement tire, which flatted repeatedly in a short period of time. It kept picking up flint and tiny shards of glass. I purchased the innertubes first, but later decided to go with the Schwalbe's when I realized that there would be several event rides coming up over the next couple of months.

Now you just need to fill the tubes with Slime.
No air, just Slime.:roflmao2:

Okay, I get it. You had the thorn-resistant tubes, then bought the armoured tires. n this case, overkill would be filling the tubes with Slime, and putting Mr. Tuffy liners in the tires. :rolleyes: Right now, you're only at a 'belt and suspenders' level, not total overkill. :innocent:

Thge Swalbe tyres are in comparison to others- not too bad a tyre. Bit heavy but the rubber is good and they roll reasonably well. Whether the puncture resistance of them is better than even some of the performance tyres- Conti 4000s and Michelin PR's- is up to you. But those thornelss tubes- They are heavy. Far too heavy for any use in my opinion as they still will not stop a determined thorn that is going to work it's way through the Tyre and eventually the tube.

I recently fitted one to a neighbours kids BMX. It weighed more than my tyre-tube and wheel on my road bike. And it did not stop the snakebite that occured when he ran into a kerb at full bore.

Check this out, I came across it in a thread over at bentrideronline...http://thelazyrando.wordpress.com/20...-to-fit-tires/

EDIT: Oh yeah, here's the thread also. It's a pretty good read. http://www.bentrideronline.com/messa...ad.php?t=63369

By the way, I'm running Marathon Plus tires on two of my bikes and though they can be a bit squirlly at times, I like the ride.

Thanks, Cranky. That was a helpful video. I didn't mention in my post that I haven't ridden the tires other than a spin around the block after the install last night. I'll do a real test ride in just a few minutes. That will determine whether I want to change the inner tubes immediately or sometime in the future.

No such thing as a "thorn proof tube" - at least not around goatheads. I don't quite know what "thorn resistant" means - does it just take longer for the thorn to work through?

The "thorn proof tube" works the same as the Marathon Plus;
It just puts more distance between the outer surface of the tire, and the inner surface of the tube.

The only tube I have ever had that would give me any "Protection" against Thorns was a Thick Latex tube. The thorn would still penetrate the tube but the latex would semi-seal around the thorn. The puncture was still there and would give me a slow puncture- but pump it up and it would last till I got home. Or I would get home without realising I had a puncture and it would go down a couple of hours later.

Ha Ha. I don't know the answer to that question. I do know that after I mounted those tubes with the Schwalbe's my son felt the tire and remarked that it felt pretty hard. I laughed and said just wait until I put some air in it.

Anyway, I rode about 35 miles on the tires today and the overall ride "feel" wasn't much different than the Vittoria's I had been running. However, the extra weight got noticeable after mile 15. So I'm going to gird my loins and take them off this afternoon.

So says the Thorn Magnet! :innocent:

How much "extra weight" is involved here? A pound? Two pounds? Twenty pounds?

:p

Probably about 100 pounds. :rolleyes:

By the end of the ride it felt like 20. Maybe its the oppressive heat and humidity that still plagues south Texas.

Would estimate that the thorn proof tubes are between 3 and 4 lbs. and that is right at the extremity of the wheel. The hardest place to get it to accelerate- but once up to 30mph- it will assist on speed.

Stepfam, I bet you're estimating for a mountain bike. These are 32s and they weigh in at 15 ounces as opposed to my regular inner tubes, which are about 5 ounces.

It wasn't a road tube but 15 ozs for a tube still seems a lot. Put that along with a tyre that weighs appreciably more than say a Folding tyre and you will feel it .

Indeed I did and that's why I'm getting an extra slice of pie today.

Rode My touring bike and it's camping load from south western Ireland to Northern Scotland and stayed about 6 months ,
Never had a puncture the whole trip, on Thorn Resistant Tubes, 622-40 tires.

Well if the combo adds, say, 4 pounds to the bike but works that should be motivation to take 4-6 pounds off the rider. Net gain is less weight to power and probably a bit healthier.

Ummm. Yeah, but does that take into account the physics involved in what Stepfam was saying. I bet it's some exponential equation. Just sayin... Somebody help me out here.

Several times in my last 22,000 miles, my mechanic has reported that something penetrated my Marathon Plus tires and was stopped by a Mr. Tuffy. It's clear that these tires do not, by themselves, protect against all flats.

I've never used thorn resistant tubes, and have assumed them to be mythical. If they are such a good dea, why didn't them make them for cars?

Paul

We must have better roads in Georgia than many of you have where you ride. Or maybe we are fortunate in not having some of the varieties of thorns that plague other areas. Whatever it is, I have been able to avoid frequent flats while using tires without heavy, protective casings and with normal tubes. Not that I never get flats, but not often enough to make me want to sacrifice road feel and light weight in search of more protection on my fast road bike. Most of the flats I had in my early years of riding were pinch flats from running too low pressure in skinny tires while I was a heavier load. I did come across a few specific tires that were more prone to cutting, so I avoided them.

On my other road bike, though, which is more likely to go on a dirt or gravel road occasionally or venture through a very rough section of road, I run Panaracer Pasela TG tires which do have a protective belt but are lighter than some of the really armor clad tires out there.

I think you have to weigh your priorities and your experiences. For myself, on my fast road bike, I go for a light, supple feeling tire that has good tread life. If I have problems, I adjust to them.

There must be some regional differences.

Denver has the goatheads and I'll bet cactus spines could be a problem in some places.

Nearby I have a wildlife refuge that has dikes I'll ride my hybrid on and I always end up with hundreds of short thorn barbs in my tires and having to replace the tubes. The ride can be worth the hassle.

But as far as road riding in the SE US goes I'm with the Dawg. I've had other issues like a rim tape that moved and exposed a nipple-bed enough to pinch a tube. Or some bad tires that separated at the bead.

Bottom line is I can go several thousand kilometers, wear out the tires in fact, before I'll have an "intrusive" type flat. And until recently my riding was all over the SE. (Please don't let the flat gods know I'm writing this)

I do avoid heavy urban areas, I ride where the cars go (I believe they clean up the bad stuff for us) and I'll try to avoid obvious broken glass. I still will put my glove covered hand on my front tire to sweep it off after encountering obvious glass, something I was taught to do in the old tubular days.

I weigh about 180lb (That's only 82 kilos, I love metric!) and inflate the Conti GPs I use to 100lb front and back.

You're right BD. This is a bike I use for commuting and flatting can be a real pain if I'm pressed for time. I've already sacrificed speed for rack and fenders, etc. Having extra road protection is a priority. Of course, this just means that I need another bike that is lightweight and more nimble. That day is coming...