Punctures and useless tyres

icarus

I've had three punctures in two ride-outs.

Not glass or nails but normal thorns and even a tiny twig in the last one.
I'm using Continental Speedkings.

IMHO a completely useless tyre, I know they get a good review but what exactly are they good for?
Uselss on the road, rubbish on tracks if there is even a hint of moisture, puncture at the drop of a hat.
Maybe out on bone dry, nicely swept trails with no sharp things for 10yards either side of the trail they might perform.
In real life situations useless.

In the last 8yrs I've had about half a dozen punctures on my old bike and most of them were from glass after riding on the roads or cycle path. Three in two ride-outs is a bit much.

silly lily

Try slime tubes, my friend. No more punctures then.

norco forever

slime isn't always effective and weights a ton, kinda negates point of light weight tyres lol

icarus

I was looking at some tape you can put inside the tyres to thicken out the tyre.

Think I'll just change the tyres for something thicker though.
Any suggestions?

norco forever

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=9880 like these

BlackSpur

icarus wrote:

I was looking at some tape you can put inside the tyres to thicken out the tyre.

if you're thinking of Slime tyre liners then don't bother - they're completely useless! A pain to fit, move about all over the place inside the tyre, don't cover the whole contact patch, add weight and don't stop thorns piercing!

icarus

BlackSpur wrote:

icarus wrote:

I was looking at some tape you can put inside the tyres to thicken out the tyre.

if you're thinking of Slime tyre liners then don't bother - they're completely useless! A pain to fit, move about all over the place inside the tyre, don't cover the whole contact patch, add weight and don't stop thorns piercing!

Thanks for the tip.
Saved me wasting a few bob there.

ride_whenever

Are they supersonic, if so i don't think you can go tubeless with them because they'll be too porous, but if not might be worth a try.

silly lily

norco forever wrote:

slime isn't always effective and weights a ton, kinda negates point of light weight tyres lol

It's been very effective for me, always and I am more than happy to trade very little weight for a riding life completely free of the misery of fixing a puncture in the middle of a field, blazed by icy wind and rain that feels like shards of glass (just a random scenario of many, many, many miserable scenarios). And that's how it is for me..
Puncture free, baby!

omegas

I fitted tyre liners over a year ago and have gone through 3 sets of tyres and over 5000 miles off road riding , had 2 puncture when a industrial staple got through the liner and a super strong thorn.

Best £10 I ever spent on the bike.

supersonic

Lightweight tyres will puncture more often. The only way to stop them is to add protection or weight with a heavier duty tyre.

FSR_XC

Punctures are really a bit of a lottery.

I use lightweight tyres and have gone through stages of getting a puncture nearly every ride, then I don't get one for ages.

On a group ride last weekend, we had 10 punctures. I was one of only a few that didn't.

Whatever you use to avoid them the only foolproof method of stopping punctures is to stop riding the bike.

Tubeless, slime tubes or heavy duty tyres can all help. Carrying a spare tube & pump isn't exactly a big problem.

artillerydave

People seem to forget that there is a trade off for using lightweight race tyres for everyday use. the speed king is a lightweight tyre that has the minimum amount of material to maximise acceleration, so guess what that means it will be more puncture prone. Choose a tyre with a more sensible fighting weight and you should not have problems, remember less weight isn't always a good thing.

icarus

artillerydave wrote:

People seem to forget that there is a trade off for using lightweight race tyres for everyday use. the speed king is a lightweight tyre that has the minimum amount of material to maximise acceleration, so guess what that means it will be more puncture prone. Choose a tyre with a more sensible fighting weight and you should not have problems, remember less weight isn't always a good thing.

They are tyres that came as standard on my P7.
I'll be taking them off very soon and using them as spares I think.

As someone has said I'll be happy to gain a bit of weight if it means I don't have to keep repairing or replacing tubes. I had two punctures in 5 miles on the last ride, go anywhere near brambles and its a cert.

Captain Turok

I'm using the SpeedKing Supersonics myself at the moment, and yes they are VERY puncture prone. I only had/have problems on one particular route I run though, my record is 4 punctures in 3hours. Thorn punctures seem to be more of a problem in the winter/spring?
But they are so light.. I've perservered with them (with all the practice I've had punctures no longer faze me, which can't be bad?!) and I'm currently running them with the 96gram Schwalbe tubes. These have removable (presta) cores and its easy to add a squidge of sealant.
I've ended up with selfsealing tubes that way less than a regular Spesh tube, AND I get to keep running these quick tyres..

icarus

TBH I probably wouldn't recognise a good superlight tyre if one poked me in the eye.

I'm just your avarage bloke who likes a ride-out on a Sunday and occasionally hits a Lakes trail or spends a weekend out doing trails. I haven't really noticed any advantage with these tyres than with my Bontrager triple lined road tyres.
A bit of extra weight doesn't phase me, within reason.

I've used continental before but these speedkings are paper thin.
I've noticed on the road these tyres actually feel awful, there is so much flex its like I'm running on flats, they just flex and deform. Good on mud and dirt but I spend at least 50% of my time on the roads.

I even got a puncture from a tiny little twig, it would have struggled to penetrate wet toilet paper.

I'm quick at repairing punctures but its a pain if its raining and I just want to get on, plus I'm now shying away from certain places just because I know I'll get punctures.

gaz047

hi,
i switched to speedking protections (2.1) and haven't flatted yet in over 200miles (dam done it now!), despite being the protection model they still only weigh 510 or 530g. i ride in the peaks so they've had a good hammering too. of course a real light tyre will save you time/energy whilst pedaling, but if you keep flatting you end up slower than if you had a tyre that had a little more about it.