Puncture resistant road tyres - recommendations ?

Captain Slog

Hi,

Looking for advice from the masses on puncture resistant road tyres (700x 28C)

I bought a 2008 Boardman Performance Hybrid-Pro fitted with Maxxis Detonators which are well named as they pop a lot !

I have tried slime tubes but these do not seem to work when you puncture @120psi , end result is a flat and you get sprayed in green slime !

I ride on country roads with lots of grit, thorns etc to contend with

Anyway if you have any recommendations let me know

Regards

Captain Slog

westernclimber

I like Continental Four-Seasons a lot.

GyatsoLa

westernclimber wrote:

I like Continental Four-Seasons a lot.

+1

funckchicken

vredestein fortezza quattro tricomp
continental GP4000s
michelin pro race 3

all are quality tyres, fast and with decent puncture protection.

Tail end Charlie

Bontrager Race Lite Hard cases. Excellent puncture protection, roll well.

softlad

if you want guaranteed puncture resistance, then you will have to look at tyres like the Specialized armadillo range - but the downside is that they will ride like cartwheels.

bendertherobot

Pro Race 3. No punctures at all so far. Say 1000 miles?

And nothing on yesterday's 120 mile Dragon Ride.

simonaspinall

Alternatively get some cyclo-cross wheels!

ugo.santalucia

I've never had a puncture on Continental Gatorskins

People also praise a lot the Specialized Armadillos, a bit more expensive though

Philip S

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I've never had a puncture on Continental Gatorskins

Likewise.

Pokerface

Michelin Krylion Carbons.

Thousands and thousands of miles on mine with very few punctures. Obviously no guarantee that you'll not get one - but they are great tyres. Not too heavy either - I use them on my race wheels even!

GyatsoLa

I've used Conti 4-seasons on my urban fixie, and the Spesh Armadillos on my road bike when I did a recent tour of Taiwan. the 4-seasons feel much nicer and km for km I had more punctures on the Armadillos (to be fair, very few on either - in fact, I can't rememeber the last puncture on my fixie). I use Conti 4000's on my road bike when not touring - pretty good, but definitely more punctures than either the other two, especially when riding on gravelly roads.

rjh299

Armadillos are pretty solid but Schwalbe marathon plus (mine are 25s, not sure what a 28 might be called if it is different) are indestructable. Might be overkill for what you use them for but if you don't like punctures...

fuzzynavel

Philip S wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I've never had a puncture on Continental Gatorskins

Likewise.

I'll third that....800 miles and counting.

careful

I've never had a puncture on Continental Gatorskins

Likewise, but I had two almost new Specialised Armadillos where the tread separated from the carcass of the tyre. Should have sent them back but I just threw them away - not impressed at all.

STEFANOS4784

I will put a negative mark against Pro Race 3. A fair few miles but still, had 3 punctures to date. But that is since September, but then i didn't really use that bike over the winter as much.........

2tired2ride

For my Boardman hybrid I use Schwable Marathon Plus's 28c. However I have just ordered some Pro race 3's for my road bike.

I have not had one single punture riding the hybrid with the Schwable tyres on. They are very good.

However they are a lot wider that the Maxxis's and I would probally go for the 25c's as I would expect them to be a more similar width to the Maxxis's 28c's.

bexley5200

continental gator skin 25mm i punture in 2 months ride daly

Monty Dog

If you genuinely want puncture resistance - then it has to be Swalbe Marathons - I haven't managed to puncture mine in 5 years including regular offroad down rock-strewn hills. Armadillos may be puncture proof, but have poor wet grip and feel dead. Bonty hardcases and GP 4 Seasons are not quite as punctureproof, but are a lot lighter and therefore better feel and grip. Krylions are a great training tyre, being fast and responsible, but they're not indestructable. Gatorskins are a joke IME - rubber is too soft and cut far too easily. PR3s and GP4000s are a race tyres and in no way would I recommend them when puncture resistance is the main criteria.

spasypaddy

schwalbe stelvio pluses

ridgerider

spasypaddy wrote:

schwalbe stelvio pluses

+1

Have to say these are in a different league to anything I have used before.

BikeNewby

Monty Dog wrote:

If you genuinely want puncture resistance - then it has to be Swalbe Marathons - I haven't managed to puncture mine in 5 years including regular offroad down rock-strewn hills. Armadillos may be puncture proof, but have poor wet grip and feel dead. Bonty hardcases and GP 4 Seasons are not quite as punctureproof, but are a lot lighter and therefore better feel and grip. Krylions are a great training tyre, being fast and responsible, but they're not indestructable. Gatorskins are a joke IME - rubber is too soft and cut far too easily. PR3s and GP4000s are a race tyres and in no way would I recommend them when puncture resistance is the main criteria.

I've just started on Marathons. They're quite a nice ride but they were a pain to get on even in the comfort of my front room (25mm and 28mm) - wouldn't like to do it in the cold and wet by the side of a road. Still if they're as puncture proof as everyone says then I needn't worry!

cougie

GP4000s - not had a flat in three summers of riding them. Keep the PSI down to 100 is my tip. Brilliant tyres.

soveda

Monty Dog wrote:

If you genuinely want puncture resistance - then it has to be Swalbe Marathons - I haven't managed to puncture mine in 5 years including regular offroad down rock-strewn hills. Armadillos may be puncture proof, but have poor wet grip and feel dead. Bonty hardcases and GP 4 Seasons are not quite as punctureproof, but are a lot lighter and therefore better feel and grip. Krylions are a great training tyre, being fast and responsible, but they're not indestructable. Gatorskins are a joke IME - rubber is too soft and cut far too easily. PR3s and GP4000s are a race tyres and in no way would I recommend them when puncture resistance is the main criteria.

I had more punctures with Marathons than with Armadillos, the only puncture I had in 3000 miles on armadillos was when some one put a drawing pin through the tyre whilst the bike was locked outside my work (drawing pin head was shiny and unscratched so I know I didn't pick it up on the road).

As with all these things, YMMV

ETA: this was on 26" 1.5 nimbus armadillo BTW (slicked up MTB masquerading as a commuter).

ajcherry

I swear by my Armadiilo`s having just completed 3275 puncture free miles even despite several times riding over broken glass.I`ve just replaced the rear tyre as starting to get smooth.The front Armadillo looks good for another 5000.Originally the bike had Continental Gator Skins and they punctured twice in 600miles and cut very easily.

blongers

2nd puncture in 2 weeks on pro race 3's.. upon inspection rear tyre is a mess after only 1500 miles.

however, 2 punctures in 2 weeks is not good and trying to get these tyres off and then back on again at the side of the road quickly is impossible. i have actually broken 3 tyre levers.

conti 4000 were my previous tyres and they were no better when it came to punctures but at least the tyres were easy to work with...

greeny12

Yeah, I've had a couple of bad experiences with Pro Race 3s - now taken them off my bike and put back the Vittoria tyres the bike came with.

No punctures since, but my god you notice the extra rolling resistance though - the first time back out was like riding through treacle. I'll give the PR3s that due...!!

DaleH

GP 4 Seasons for about 1000 miles, don't want to tempt fate but i havn't had a visit from the p******* fairy ..yet . Good tyre.

crossborderreiver

No make of tyre is puncture proof.
If you do happen to get a thorn in a 'puncture resistant' tyre it can be very difficult to get it out (especially by the side of the road on a dark night). If this happens, you need to knock the tip off the thorn and possibly use a tyre boot to stop the thorn repuncturing the tube. It happened to me one wet November night with Specialized Armadillos. It took me two days, an assortment of tools and a lot of swearing to remove the thorn.

rally200

Michelin Erilium ?

allegedly high degree of punture protection - but as you can pick them up for £8 ! I assume they must be lousy

anyone tried them ?

Chip \'oyler

Schwalble Blizzards are a great all round tyre - puncture resistant, grippy and pretty fast

Best ones I've used on my Winter bike