Help with punctures on trail tyres.

novicerider

had enough now....1 puncture is bad..but 2 on one trip and only one spare inner tube..ahhhhhhhhhhhh....had along walk home....anyway can anyone recommend a good tyre that is puncture resistent to thorns,i dont mind paying good money! i mainly only do light track riding about 15 miles aday to keep fit...my tyres are currently 26x2.1 schwalbe jimmy..thanks

supersonic

Maybe try a tyre liner or slime inner tube?

Some tyres have built in protection.

Take a repair kit too ;-)

novicerider

must be some good tyres out there,without the need for a tyre liner or slime?

supersonic

Specialized do a good range. Thing is if you like the grip of the tyres you have then the slime/liners can be a good option. Or even a tubeless conversion.

Anonymous

tubeless is the way forwards for puncture protection but can be a faff.

maximus69

my mate had same tyres loads of punctures, changed to maxxis high rollers, no puntures yet. another mate had the same tyres loads of punctures, changed to panaracers not sure what model but again no puntures. i use michelin xcr x`treme no probs there either.
really like xcr, not bad on road and grippy on the hardpack type trail. ok in the mud also but find the front washes out bit to easy. not a mud tyre though.

novicerider

maximus69 wrote:

my mate had same tyres loads of punctures, changed to maxxis high rollers, no puntures yet. another mate had the same tyres loads of punctures, changed to panaracers not sure what model but again no puntures. i use michelin xcr x`treme no probs there either.
really like xcr, not bad on road and grippy on the hardpack type trail. ok in the mud also but find the front washes out bit to easy. not a mud tyre though.

thanks really helpful...looking at the panaracer fire xc kevlar tyres at the moment :shock:

maximus69

think thats the ones he had actually, each to their own on tyres probably get told lots of different makes but any of those 3 will be fine and a few other well known makes. just make sure its right for what your doing.

Northwind

Was it definately thorns that did it? Not pinches?

novicerider

Northwind wrote:

Was it definately thorns that did it? Not pinches?

no definately thorns.....little pin holes when i repair the inner tube..it always surprises me how quickly they go down!!!!..... :roll:

Northwind

Did you actually find any thorns? Pinches leave little holes too (usually 2 of 'em, hence snakebit)

novicerider

Northwind wrote:

Did you actually find any thorns? Pinches leave little holes too (usually 2 of 'em, hence snakebit)

only one hole at a time...found a couple of thorns imbedded in the tyre :x

Northwind

That would be a clue then Just thought it was worth checking.

novicerider

what tyres do you have?

maximus69

northwind is just getting at tyre pressures, too low =snake bite.

omegas

Most of the big players in the mountain bike tyre manufacturing supply tyres with sidewall protection but not a lot of protection on the running surface. When looking for a tyre to protect from thorns check the manufactures web site to see what part of the tyre has the running surface puncture protection.
An example of this is Continental use DuraSkin protection on the sidewalls of there mountain bike tyres but use it across the full tyre for road and hybrid tyres, (and SafeSystem)they are both advertised as protection tyres but what they offer is very different. I have met a few people this year who have purchased protection tyres and complaining when they get a puncture which is not a snake bite.

stayhigh65

I would definately recommend converting to tubeless and avoiding puncture hell. I did this myself earlier in the year and on my first tubeless ride my front tyre got spiked by a thorn on on the north downs. After less then a minute of hiss and spit from the hole it had sealed itself and only needed a quick pump up to finish the ride.

I havent had another noticable puncture since then however to satisfy my curiousity i decided to go back to tubes for a month in November. Doing a combination of commuting (24 miles) 3 times a week on and off road and general trail riding I had 8 punctures 5 of which were repaired on the trail. None of these punctures have been gaping holes or rips and would all have been sealed by the lovely tubeless gloop saving me time and money and also the delicate ears of those around me at the time lol

In short, it may end up costing you £40 odd quid and a bit of faffing to get it done however the benefits are well worth it

cullen_bay

stans tubeless kit "instantly" seals punctures of less than 1/4 of an inch. slime tubes add a lot of weight which is noticeable on climbs, but it it is that bad, anythings better!

cee

I just take a spare tube and a repair kit. On the one occasion I have used the repair kit on the trail it didn't strike me as a problem that really needed investing money in to fix.

I always just repair tubes when I get home, so that i am not buying new tubes all the time either.

repair kit tip....after smearing the vulcanising solution onto the tube, put a flame to it...it will catch fire quick, but blow it out immediately...then whack the patch on there. Stuck fast first time. then chalkychalk to dry up any overspill. fling it back in and pump. it litterally takes 2 minutes longer than just replacing a tube (providing you can find the hole ooermissus).