punctures

bice

I have been commuting in London 12 miles a day for years and very infrequently get punctures, using puncture resistant Schwalbe Marathons (non Pluses). About 3 in 3 years. These are 700x 32s or 35s. I now use an old Claud Butler with a Schwalbe puncture resistant (brown and black) tyre 27x 1 1/2 on the back. I used the 30 year old tyres with this for six months and only got one puncture. I still use the 30 year old tyre at the front. It is a brown and black Michelin and is probably a bit puncture resistant because it has vulcanised.

In short, I'm not used to getting punctures. With my new Trek 1.7 I have put an Armadillo 700x25 on the back (I don't think there is a Schwalbe Marathon at that width), and left the cheapie on the front. When I ride I only take a spare inner tube. Should I really be expecting far more punctures with road bike tyres and carry a spare inner and outer? A spare outer seems complete over-kill to me.

The Trek is not used for more than Saturday jaunts. (actually, I doubt I have done 50 miles in three months because I wont use it for commuting - not being precious: it's just no good at cycle tracks, SPDs in traffic etc).

I will use it for longer trips in country but want to be prepared if these tyres puncture frequently even when fully pumped.

chuckcork

You can get the Marathon Plus in the 700x25 size: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=24544 or something like the Ultremo in 700x23 http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=24535,

personally though am using the Stelvio Plus in the 700x25 size and very few punctures until I've done something like 1000miles on them for the rear, and 2000miles+ on the front.

Should be getting more distance out of the rear :?

bice

Thanks for that, but I dont think I want a Marathon Plus on a road bike. I dont use them on my commuter either. I just use puncture resistant (kevlar) Marathons. I doubt Marathon Pluses are a good idea on a road bike? Surely pretty heavy?

pintoo

I agree - the pluses are heavy. But I'm not convinced by Schwalbe. I got some Marathon Racers, which I know are not as resistant as the Maratons, but I was getting a flat at least a week. Can't say that I have a lot of faith in Schwalbe.

John C.

This is a how long is a piece of string question.
My view is that unless I'm doing a sportive when I want the weight down to a minimum then I take spare inner and outer, multi tool , pen and paper, glasses, tyre levers, chain splitter and latex gloves so I don't get all oiled up . In the last few years sods law has applied, when the spare outer was left at home someone in the group could have used it, this tends to be in winter when it's wet and cold and no one wants to be hanging around. I admit that my Altura post bag is usually quite full with things I don't really need but as I'm not racing I just accept this as a bit of weight training.