Yesterday night on the Fourth of July, I decided to go for a biking session to set a new record on Strava. Upon my descent on this steep bridge, somewhere in the middle a 2-cm long metal nail punctured my fabulous Grand Prix 4-season tire . It happened so fast that my tire lost 110 psi in 3 seconds. Good thing it was my front wheel so that I could control myself to safety.

I was wondering, do you guys think this piece of iron nail could puncture anything in the market today? I doubt there are any. It's sad that I never got to fully assess this tire that I bought for $70 and it only had about 250 miles in under a month. Perhaps the sharp nail was sheer bad luck.

I ridden on GP 4 seasons and GP4000si. A nail like you're describing will puncture any tire that I know of. Even a Tuffy liner may not have helped you.

I am a firm believer in tire liners, but...Pfweeeeee...click, click, click...flop, flop, flop... - Bike Forums

Some guys put sealant in tubes (those tubes have removable cores). I run one bike tubeless with sealant, one bike with tubes that have sealant, and one bike with just tubes. Of course, I have not had a flat since my crash last Oct.

Yes.

1. The tire could be fine if the nail didn't damage the cords.

2. Buy your continental tires from your favorite UK supplier for $35-$40 each.

3. Ride GP4000SII tires because they have much lower rolling resistance than the GP4Season.

Yes I would imagine it's just bad luck. When you were out on the road how did you fix it? It sounds like you were able to repair it.

I don't think any tire on the market would have prevented that one either.

LOL. That is exactly how the situation sounded. Great capture of the audio, mate.

I'd rather not attempt fixing in the dark of night, especially in a 2-lane city bridge where cyclists pass through non-stop every 2 seconds or so. Good thing New York City's subway system is practically anywhere in the city. I already ordered a new identical tire that night. Should be on its way. Plus, I'd rather let my LBS do the work for me. I'm a consumer victim and too lazy to fix my own bike problems. I know I'll need a new tube as well. Ah well.

I did my research on both of those sweet wheels, and you're right about the rolling resistance. The 4season has a significantly higher puncture resistance on the treads and slightly higher punc. resist. for the sidewalls. I'll keep the 4Season on my current hybrid commuter. Perhaps I'll slap on the 4000SII racer-like set on my future ALR (5 or 6) Edmonda Trek roadie — I have fingers crossed to get this baby the next time I shop.

You should definitely put them on your new Trek ALR, these are the tires I run on mine and I really dig em.

Good luck and keep us posted!

If it's a big enough nail that's positioned just right and you're going fast enough it could kill your tire *and* your rim. I've only had it happen once but it's possible. Another weird one I had happen was when I had a tire nearly cut off the rim by an old razor blade that was in the gravel on a path I was riding.

Flat tires happen when they happen. What are you doing riding 110psi in your front tire? Also, I would much rather flat on the rear..... easier to control.

This was my first flat. I suppose it's much easier to control a puncture burst when it's the rear tire. I know 110 psi is pretty high, even for a 120max psi tire. I was desperate that night to set a record on Strava, and the road I ride is pretty smooth 90% the time and mostly clean so I tried optimizing for speed as much as I could. I'll try pumping my tires around 100-105'ish and not higher next time. I weigh about 180lbs on my bike with my backpack and total load, in case you were wondering.

I ride mine at 110 F/R and I weigh 210. 110 is not that uncommon I didn't think.

I pump my tyres up to 110, front and rear. Never a problem. On the other hand, I only check them once a week and before a big ride and they're losing pressure all the time of course.

Learn to mend your punctures. It's not hard and for five to ten minutes on the side of the road, you get riding again. That HAS to be better than trying to find some alternative. I can sympathise with you not wanting to learn in the dark though (so practice at home where, when you start teaching yourself about pinching the tube, you're not stuck out on the road).

The Tannus tires are flat free.

I was testing a pair last winter. I'm back to pneumatics for the summer (different bike, the Tannus tires are an install, and leave on until one is done with them).

My tires have absorbed some mighty large slashes in the tires over time. No nails or screws so far

I do fear that something big will cut the tire off the rim, but so far the existing cuts don't seem to be expanding, and nothing so bad to lose a tire. My theory is the thick soft rubber tends to absorb bigger slashes than a thinner tread rubber + casing otherwise would have. Perhaps the solid tire also picks stuff up worse than pneumatics, not that it really matters.

I do feel the tires are slightly slower, and have a slightly rougher ride than the pneumatics, but I also hate changing tubes in the rain. They are also about the same weight as the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, so a bit on the heavy side, but not unreasonable.

Traction is a little slick, but may be similar to Gator Hardshells, but less than the Schwalbe Marathon Pluses.

Yep, perhaps the greatest risk would be a nail or screw damaging the rim, not the tire.