Greentyre

PudseyPaul

Hi
Has anyone got some of these "Puncture proof" airless tyres and if so how good are they? I am interested in getting some as im sick of punctures, however I am not sure of how good they are in performance, ie, is there a big drop in quality?
I only ride to commute 15 miles a day so it isnt like i need perormance for anything major but if anyone could offer advice i would be grateful

roger_merriman

i'd try stuff like marathon plus tires as solid tires don't tend to get good reviews.

davis

I'd just get some puncture resistant (i.e. armoured) tyres.

Recommendations on this forum seem to run along the lines of:

Continental Gatorskins
Schwalbe Marathon (plus, supremo)
Specialized Armadillos


There are many many more brands available, and some people will probably swear by one brand, and curse another -- your mileage may vary (literally). I've got Specialized Armadillos, and I haven't had a single unscheduled deflation in ~4000 miles. Most members of this forum that have tried them seem to think they're heavy, but I should think they're a lot lighter than airless tyres.

Jamey

From Sheldon Brown's (the God of bicycle mechanics, if you didn't know) page on Tyres:

Of all the inventions that came out of the bicycle industry, probably none is as important and useful as Dr. Dunlop's pneumatic tire.

Airless tires have been obsolete for over a century, but crackpot "inventors" keep trying to bring them back. They are heavy, slow and give a harsh ride. They are also likely to cause wheel damage, due to their poor cushioning ability. A pneumatic tire uses all of the air in the whole tube as a shock absorber, while foam-type "airless" tires/tubes only use the air in the immediate area of impact.

Airless tire schemes have also been used by con artists to gull unsuspecting investors. My advice is to avoid this long-obsolete system.

Original page here:
http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html

Daithi

From experience I'd recommend Spec Armadillos if puncture protection is your priority. Have dug chunks of glass out them without a flat. They were thick, stiff tyres though & I ended up using Gatorskins for a better ride but that was more for training than commuting. May have been upgraded though as was a few years back that I used them.

I now commute on an MTB & find Vredestein's 1.3" Moiree tryes really good. No particular claims to great puncture protection but found them great so far & come with reflective sidewalls.

Jay dubbleU

I use Marathons and I've only had one visit from the PF in the last 12 months - 26 x 15 on the commuter and 700 x 32 Supremos on the CX bike

I also have a small voodoo doll in the image of ITB which I stick pins in so he gets all my visits from the PF

redvee

After trting to fit a pair to a friends bike many years ago I'd avoid them. I took 3 of us and copious amounts of washing up liquid and 3 fills of the swear box. Once they were on they wore to a square ish profile from road use and when coming downhill and expecting to freewheel don't, the drag on the tyres is too high. White lines are worse than pneumatic tyres in the wet.