Question: Bike tire question

[Pandita]

I have a hybrid bike - Giant Options - and was wondering, I want to do some rides on a canal path and some road biking. I have read about tires that are puncture resistant and will not deflate or get flat. Has anyone had any experience with these tires, if so, what did you like,dislike about them, and would you recommend them.
Thanks

 

[abc]

Puncture resistance doesn't means puncture proof. So it can still puncture, just much less likely. From what I heard, they're a bit heavier and still not 100% puncture-proof.

No, I haven't tried any. I only got about 1 flats every 2 years on regular (good) tires.

So, unless you've got a lot of debris and had too many flats already, I'm not sure it's worth the bother.

 

[volklgirl]

There are a couple of versions of puncture/deflate resistant tubes....

Some are lined or filled with Slime (a version of Fix-A-Flat) that will reseal any punctures you get before you lose a significant amount of air.

Others are actually filled with a foam material that does the majority of the shaping of the tire. Air is added merely to do the final "filling out" of the tire and to adjust ride quality.

And there are tires that are lined with a kevlar-type material to resist puncturing.

All are significantly heavier than a standard tire/tube combination and the foam/Slime filled tubes are often lumpy or out of balance. Personally, I've been riding seriously since 1994 and I've only had one flat due to a thorn apple spike. I removed the spike, changed the tube, and was on my way again in less than 10 minutes. Your best defense against flats is to take care of your bike, inspect the wheels before setting out, maintain appropriate tire pressure at all times, and look ahead so you can avoid any possible hazards before you hit them.

 

[altagirl]

I run tubeless or "ghetto tubeless" on all my bikes. Meaning you don't use tubes, you seal off the inside of the rim (either you buy a tubeless rim or you add a special strip to seal it) and then put the tire on and add sealant and inflate.

Even that will eventually lose some air, but what it does for you is prevent pinch flats or thorn type punctures. If you get a small puncture, the sealant will fill the hole and seal it before all the air leaks out. But it's still possible to get a flat if you tear a large hole in the tire or if you don't check your air pressure and had a slow leak, etc. You also have to refresh the sealant probably 2 times a year or it dries out.

With the sharp pointy rocks and high speed trails we have in our area, I've had rides where people without tubeless setups of some sort have gotten 4 or more flats in a single ride. It's exasperating. But on bike paths you are unlikely to run into such problems. On my road bike I've only gotten 2 flats - from hitting sharp rocks and broken glass in the street. I am thinking about going with a tubeless road wheelset when I replace my current one though.

 

[litterbug]

After half a season dealing with goathead punctures while riding my old road bike around Moab I installed Mr. Tuffy Kevlar strips between tube and tire, which solved the problem entirely. They wrap partway up the sidewall, but that's find for me since I plan to stay on paved roads or dirt roads in decent condition.

My new bike has multiple layers of kevlar in the tires, and because I plan to ride on paved and dirt roads in goathead-country again I had them install kevlar strips, too. Perhaps that was overkill?

However, from what I remember, the canal paths in your area are flat, smooth and hard-packed, nothing like a dirt road out West, so altagirl is right--any tire-eating obstacle should be visible and avoidable long before you hit it. Still, unless you're really into keeping any extra weight off your bike, Kevlar strips inside the tires can't do any harm, right? I'm sure they don't solve all problems, but I never had another flat after I added them to the old Peugot.