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Puncture therapy

skins2skins2 Posts: 78
edited October 2008 in Road beginners
I'm fed up getting punctures from my commute. In the last 3 weeks I've had five punctures. That might not sound too bad but I only go to the office twice a week and work is only 7 miles away. Each time the culprit has been a tiny piece of glass or grit ingrained in the centre of the tyre.

Please help!

Should I be looking at better inner tubes, better tyres or that gunk stuff to fill them?

Current tyres are Michelin Dynamic 700x23 and tubes are Specialized turbo.

Thanks.

Posts

  • nickcuknickcuk Posts: 275
    Specialized Armadillos, Continental GrandPrix 4000 or Continental Duraskin (in the wet) seem to do the job

    Has anybody tried http://www.greentyre.co.uk/tyres.html ?
  • redveeredvee Posts: 11,922
    Had a visit today from the P fairy :cry: but as soon as she saw the green juice in my tubes she buggered off :D
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • skins2skins2 Posts: 78
    I've just bought some Conti Duraskins seeing that winter's around the corner. Thanks for the advice.

    Just out of interest, what is the general opinion of repairing punctures? Are they just a temporary measure until you can next fit a new inner tube or is it perfectly OK to ride with a repaired tube indefinitely?

    If the latter is common practice, after how many repairs do you call it a day and replace the tube?
  • alfabluealfablue Posts: 8,497
    A properly repaired tube will last indefinitely. I can't really put a number on how many is enough to retire a tube, as I don't get punctures any more (Specialized All Conditions Pro's).
  • PhekdraPhekdra Posts: 137
    As soon as Michelin can get their *rs*s in gear I'll be buying a new set of Krylion Carbons, which are fantastic tyres. Mine are nearly 5000km old and only have a couple of small nicks and tears. Two punctures in all that time - well, really one puncture that occurred twice... :oops: Pretty light too and roll nicely.

    I used to use Gatorskins, and have one on the back at the moment as a temporary measure, and they seem to give decent puncture protection but seem to wear quite quickly. I also have a Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp waiting as a spare if the Krylion Carbon wears out before there's new stock, as I've heard good things about that as a training/commuting tyre.

    Phekdra
  • sc999cssc999cs Posts: 596
    Michelin claim your tyres have very good puncture resistance. I'm just wondering if you cleaned out the tyre between repairs to make sure all the sharps were properly removed or if subsequent punctures were due to left over debris? Also were the tyres blown up hard? I've read that soft tyres are more prone to puncturing than hard tyres.
    Steve C
  • skins2skins2 Posts: 78
    The Michelins seem to be pretty thin and flimsy, but I'll compare to the Contis when they arrive. I always check where the culprit punctured the tyre by lining up the tube with it. Usually there is just a small tear but sometimes I find a piece of glass or grit. They are always in different places as I have repaired the tubes up until now.

    The tyres were kept at 110psi but they do need pumping back up every few days. Maybe I should go to 120-125psi?
  • sc999cssc999cs Posts: 596
    Sounds like Michelin have over rated their tyres. 110psi should be hard enough to bounce out any surface sharps. I'll have to add those to my list of not to buy. Hope the Contis are better. In response to your original question - if your route causes that many punctures then gunk for the tubes may be a good idea as well.
    Steve C
  • feelfeel Posts: 800
    Worn tyres puncture more easily and tyres puncture more easily in the wet than the dry. Personally i don't bother repairing punctures i just carry a spare inner tube (and a repair kit in case the unthinkable happens) Surprised you are having to pump them every few days maybe there is a slow puncture/leaking patch somewhere. IME good tyres at the correct pressure rarely puncture. There are lots of tyres out there with built in puncture resistance (kevlar strips etc).
    We are born with the dead:
    See, they return, and bring us with them.
  • Barry RoubaixBarry Roubaix Posts: 233
    1. Buy some Schwalbe Blizzards (I've ridden Conti 4 Season for two years and the Schwalbe's are better. More grip and faster)

    2. The only punctures I ever suffered were from 'abrasion' holes where the valve joins the actual rubber of the tube, caused by the edge of the rim/valve hole. I now use a simple solution: Cut a piece of old inner tube, (about 2cm square), put a hole in it and slide it over the valve. You now have an extra piece of rubber as protection against rim 'chaffing'.

    3. Buy spare inner tubes. If after following the above you shouldn't suffer any punctures but if you do just put a new tube in. They're that cheap I don't bother fixing them.
  • DanielCoffeyDanielCoffey Posts: 142
    I have a nasty route through Edinburgh's Cowgate road on Saturday morning where all the Friday-night revellers leave smashed bottles and stuff in the gutters. The Council do their best with the road-sweeper machines but there's always some broken glass left behind.

    My old MTB was fitted with 26x2.2 Schwalbe Silento II tyres at 60PSI which used to get a puncture about once every four months till they started to get worn and it became more often. I noticed most of the damage was to the centre half-inch and I regularly had to dig out sharps from this region. I was contemplating replacing them when I ended up changing the bike instead.

    I always carried a spare tube and just dealt with the puncture when I got home (after checking the puncture site for left-overs, of course) and only once in three years got hit with a second puncture on the way home which left me walking, natch.

    In the end, I built up about three or four patches on each tube... mostly the front but the back got almost its fair share which is always messier on a bike with gears. I only threw out one tube when I picked up a three inch nail from going past some scaffolding about a hundred yards from home that shredded the tube.

    If you ever need to top up your puncture kit, you can pick up large squares of patch material cheaply from a bike shop which you then cut to size. Done *properly*, there is no real reason why small punctures should require a tube to be thrown away. If it leaks from tiny pinpricks though, ditch it.

    Finally, after three years on that set of Silento II tyres, I let the old Kona Cindercone go to the Edinburgh Bike Station and had a Surly Cross-Check made up as a Fixed Gear Commuter/Shopper with Specialized Nimbus Armadillo 700x38 tyres. So far, so good!
  • ElLawroElLawro Posts: 59
    Keep out of the gutter :D
  • W5454W5454 Posts: 133
    When the Conti Ultra Gator Skins wore out on my road bike I put them inside the Michelin City 700x28s on my commuter bike.Double protection = no punctures.
  • skins2skins2 Posts: 78
    I had three more punctures on the Michelins since posting here and I swapped to the Gatorskins two weeks ago. Since then I've had no punctures with the Contis. They're also really gripy, which is nice.

    Lesson learnt: avoid Michelin Dynamic tyres at all costs.
  • W5454W5454 Posts: 133
    Skins2 wrote:
    I had three more punctures on the Michelins since posting here and I swapped to the Gatorskins two weeks ago. Since then I've had no punctures with the Contis. They're also really gripy, which is nice.

    Lesson learnt: avoid Michelin Dynamic tyres at all costs.

    To be fair to Michelin Dynamics,they're cheap(£6 each from LBS)and as far as I am aware they're not claimed to be p***ture proof.
  • synchronicitysynchronicity Posts: 1,415
    I've tried loads of tires in the last few years.

    I've had good luck with:
    Both Conti GP3000 and GP4000.
    Michelin Pro Race 2
    Conti Ultra Sport are truly excellent for the price (waaaaay better than the first budget kevlar beaded tyres supersport ultra? they made a decade ago).
    Maxxis Detonators are also very good.

    Vittoria rubinos are okay but there are better tyres for the money

    Bad luck with:
    Schwalbe Blizzard (a few sets have been slashed right through the tread)
    Maxxis Fuse (tend to slash at the sidewall :evil:)

    I'd like to try specialized armadillos, but I tend to buy Conti Ultra Sports now.
    vertebr.ae | precision braking & shifting
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