Are tire liners like Mr Tuffys worth it or is something that will puncture the tire going to puncture the liner as well?

Thx!

Tire liners tend to be heavy, stiff, a hassle to deal with, and slow. Unless you are specifically riding through goathead infested trails on a regular basis, you're better off going with tubeless and sealant, sealant in a tube, or simply learning how to avoid hazards.

It's been a lotta years since I tried them, but this was my impression of them, as well.

Tire liners sound a lot like me. Maybe why I like them so much.
I'm way past worring about Strava numbers so I like tire liners just fine on tires that aren't heavy duty like Conti or Swabi tour duty grade.
But your right if speed is your game. You've got some mean numbers there.

Tire liners worked great for me, in terms of greatly reducing flats on a commuting route where I was getting a lot of flats. They were re-usable from one pair of tires to the next. Eventually, one of the liners wore its way through the tube due to having a relatively abrupt edge. If I did it again, I'd feather the end of the liner.

Buying one set of liners and using cheaper tires might be a money saver in the long run.

I used MR Tuffys tire liners through the eighties and nineties. I still have them in my storage for when I need them again. Where I live know I have only had one flat in over 5 years. So I don't consider flats a problem. The Schwalbe Marathon Supreme and Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires I use are superior to stopping flats than the tires I used years ago.

Sounds like just what I need for my cruiser tires and terrible roads. Thanks for the info!

Panaracer Flataway liners are not heavy nor stiff.

I've seen good reviews on them. I have sent a pair up to my nephew to try out. But, I don't know how much riding he does. I had him on road tires earlier, and it was a major hassle with the goatheads.

I'm hoping that with a combination of tough tires (Michelin Protek Cross Max), and the tire lines, and Michelin Protek Self sealing tubes, that his flats will be a thing of the past. Of course, that makes a heavy, slow combination on the road.

I don't use tire liners here. My Protek Cross Max tires got stolen, but they always seemed a bit slow. Nonetheless, no flats.

I have a Schwalbe One on my folding bike. Sweet tire, but it seems to be quickly getting riddled with holes. So, perhaps I'll have to consider additional protection.

Get some Michelin Protek Cross Max. You won't need tire liners or tubes fill with goop. And they probably roll better than a good tire bogged down with a squirmy tire liner. I've plucked shards of glass, metal, even staples and small nails out of those Michelins, but no puncture flats yet. I've had a set on my errand bike for almost four years, never a problem. Great all terrain, all weather, all purpose tires. Heavy but they don't feel sluggish.

The Schwalbe Green Guards get plenty of recommendations, but if you can snag the Michelins cheaper they're worth a try.

Back in the eighties and into the nineties your basic road tire could get flats rolling your bike across your living room carpet. Heck, if you even looked harshly at them they could go flat. Consequently, Mr. Tuffy liners were a must then. Now, no.

TBH: I think they are worth it. I really can not tell the difference from a wheel with & a wheel with out.

I tend to buy liners in one width wider than recommended, and pair the "ultra-lite" version with light tubes so that I get the same weight as a "regular" tube, but the additional protection of the liner.

It seems to work. So far my only flat in the last 18 months of all-weather, year round riding was a roofing nail in the sidewall. Before that it was a staple that took 24 hours to deflate.

I rode a century with a gash in the tread once. The liner acted like a boot and I could feel the bulge in the tire go "flump, flump" with every rotation. It saved me 2 ferry trips in a cab/uber that day.

There's no tellin' the amount of glass & debris I pull out of my tires everytime I sit down with a jewelers screw driver & headlamp. I check every bike (12) every couple of months...There's always something big enough & deep enough to justify keeping the liners.

I'm sure some super competative person on here will blame that 1 watt or 2 as the reason they didn't podium or something. As for me, I'm sure that the indistinguishable amount of time lost from the liner is a lot less than the time spent changing a flat...But, that's just me.

I used to use Mr. Tuffy in commuter bikes, which got unbelievable abuse. However, i found them sometimes a pain.

I switched because of a recommendation here to Panaracer Flat-Away and I am Very pleased. The Panaracers are lighter and more supple, stick in place in the tire but also peel out, and so far seem to work wonderfully.

I like to run light, supple tires with liners because the light tires seem to respond better, and the weight with the liner and tube is the same or less as the heavy-duty tires most recommend for flat-prone riders.

I cannot say I get more or fewer flats---there is no control, I cannot run multiple bikes over the same route at eh same time to measure flat frequency. However, I also cannot recall the last time I had to do a roadside repair .... which used to be once a month at least, as far as I can recall (I could peruse my logs but not that interested right now.)

So .... I will not recommend Panaracer Flat-Away. I will say I use the product on multiple bikes with complete satisfaction.

I think they are great -- would not ride without them. Mr.Tuffy and Schwalbe Marathon plus combine to make flats no longer an issue. To me, bikes are practical, daily transportation.

I've never felt the need to put them on my bikes, but when my kids were young and riding goathead infested fields and trails, I put them on their bikes pretty quick. Didn't eliminate flats but reduced them by about 75%, which was pretty good considering I was fixing flats just about daily.

Personally, I'd look at tougher tires before liners. If you are still having lots of flats, then go to the liners.

I've used Mr. Tuffy with Schwalbe Marathon Green Guard tires since 2012. Lots of debris around where I live. Lots of debris getting caught in the tire.

The value of the tire liner is it is able to move around inside the tire. The embedded tire liner inherent to the tire is not.

Debris stuck in the tire can eventually grind thru the tire's embedded liner but once it encounters the tire liner that's where it stops.

I once ran over a roofing nail and it went thru the tire but the liner stopped it from puncturing the tube. I got off the bike pulled out the nail and kept riding. At that point I was sold on the liners.

After reading others experiences I took out the liners about 6 months ago. Got a flat within a month. Found a piece of metal embedded in my tire that ground its way thru to the tube. The liners are back on my tires.

I use Mr. Tuffy liners in all the bikes in my family fleet. The goathead thorns are terrible where I live, and we all got flats regularly before Mr. Tuffy. No one as had a flat since we installed the liners. Not even my 8 year old son on his BMX bike, refusing to watch out for thorn patches. I frequently pull 20-30 thorns out of his tires.

I've thought about doing exactly this - bought the Marathons but somewhere I read a post or two that talked me out of the liners. Seems like I should pick up a set sometime in the near future and give them a shot. I had a hard time seating my 20" Marathon Plus' properly so I had a bike shop do it, so it might be a bit before I go back by there for those. Would suck to fix a flat and have to fight those again, that's for sure.

They add weight but are effective.
That said, I run tubeless.

I have a velomobile with Marathon pluses up front, and also tire liners (not sure what brand, they were already in there). Even then, I had a flat on my third commute to work.

Pretty sure the culprit was a steel wire from all the bits of tire debris around here. I've pulled industrial size staplers out of my tire that were deflected by the liners, and for a commuter, I wouldn't run without them. I'd rather get to work a little slower, than have to stop and make a repair on a regular basis.

I like thick tubes for cruiser tires. A bonus is the thick tubes hold air pressure longer than thin tubes even without punctures.

These tubes are 4mm thick where it counts. https://bicyclewarehouse.com/collect...-various-sizes

A will disagree. I've been using tire liners for almost 15 years. They allow me to enjoy less-expensive, lighter tires with soft, supple sidewalls, while preventing the goat-head thorn punctures I used to get.

I tried stiffer, heavier puncture resistant tires that cost more, and while they prevented goat-head punctures, there were un-fun drudgery to ride.

I can't speak about sealant...I've never used it. But sealant seems like a better choice than heavier, stiffer tires.

I've also never run tubeless, so I can't comment on that.

But I've been very happy with my Mr. Tuffy's.

Schwalbe marathon tires add the tire liner as a seamless band under the tread rubber..

Sealant is heavy and a hassle to deal with as well with the added hassle of being something that has to be refreshed regularly.

I do ride in goathead infested areas and I've used Tuffys for 30 years or more. I never found them to be that much of a hassle nor am I appreciably slower with them. Of course stopping to fix a flat puts a huge dent in your overall speed so makes your choice.

Lately, I've not been using them because many tires have the liner integrated into the tire so Tuffys aren't needed.

Anybody wanna try some?




Forget what size tire they're for but about 84" long by 1 1/2" wide.
Gimme postage and they are yours!

You can tell by the color ... OJ is 700c-23-32 or so, red is 27-inch, I think brown is MTB---I think all of them are long enough for any kind of wheel. .... I am sure the Mr. Tuffy website has info.