Tires for Texas
 

I ride a Cannondale Quick4 hybrid with 26 inch wheels. Currently it is wearing 1.7 knobby tires, which were great for the trails and loose gravel roads back home in Minnesota. They also make for a cushy ride because I can keep the tire pressure nice and low at 40 pounds.

Since December I've been riding in Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. I also ride a Madone. I find that due to thorns and flats that I have been riding my Quick a lot more than the Madone.

I want to put different tires on the Quick. The knobbies are not necessary for here and they really do slow me down. I don't want pure slicks because I don't want the flats. I am riding some paved trails and a lot of chip seal roads. I can't remember what originally was on the bike. Ideas for a good tire that rolls pretty well but has some resistance to thorns? I have had one flat on the Quick since I got here and 5 flats on the Madone, with many more miles on the Quick. All due to thorns. I ride about a 100 miles a week.

I don't want to throw money away but cost is not a major concern.

How about those kevlar liners? Are they helpful?

Goat head thorns? If so I think you need bombproof tires like Marathon Plus. You don't need knobs for flat protection but you do generally have to spend a lot more money for equivalent protection with slicks. I don't think inverts or treaded tires will help much in flat resistance.

I got a goat head thorn flat on my Gatorskins which are pretty flat resistant.

Any kind of liner or thicker tube will help to some extent on thorn like objects.
Typically, they come in at some degree of angle and even a MM of thickness might make the difference of penetrating the tube and reaching "AIR", or not.
They may also make the difference between a fast leak and a slower leak.

I've put a pair of Performance's Forte Gotham tires on my MTB. Nice and wide, deep tread, but not knobby and they roll nicely on both pavement and gravel. They are inexpensive tires, so may not last as long as more expensive ones. Or, they might, who knows? I haven't put enough miles on them to get any idea though.

Specialized Armadillo tires seem to have a good reputation behind them. Lots of different styles to suit everyone's needs.

I've had real good luck with Michelin City tires http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...y-tire-26-inch

If you want a narrow 26" slick Continental makes a 26X1-1/8" Gatorskin. That is equivalent to roughly 27c but probably closer to 25c since Continentals run narrow. IME Gatorskins have good flat resistance with low rolling resistance and are fairly lightweight.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...orskin-26-inch

Man, too many choices! Thanks for all the info, I'll poke around looking at each of these.

Also take a look at the Continental Country Plus tires.