Road Bike Tyres

speeder1987

Hi there, I have just bought myself my first road bike (a specialized sectuer triple), I'm new to road biking, but I've heard that it can be quite easy to get punctures if you dont have good tyres.

I was wondering, is this something I need worry about? If so what good tyres would you recommend?

I can't wait to get on it, bring on June

Cheers

Berk Bonebonce

Better quality tyres might have a puncture resistant belt built into them; quite usually made of Kevlar. There are also puncture resistant tyre liners available.

With tyres, it is glass that cuts them and thorns that puncture them. Useful to remember if you want to reduce the number of punctures/tyre damage.

speeder1987

Ok thanks guys, I think I will stick with the tyres which are on it when it comes, I suppose I will quickly find out if punctures are going to be a problem and then get some puncture resistant tyres if needs be.

Thanks again for the advice

EV!lution

sometimes its not the tyres m8, if your new to road biking more then likely you are riding to close to the kerb, this is where the road traffic going past throw all the crap off the road,
Try and stay on the road where you can see the track and the cars inner wheel this area has no crap on it and traffic will take less risk trying to pass you.

I used to get punchers all the time i havn't had any in months when i read about this.

Alibran

Road position is important. Also, look out for anything on the road that could cause problems, and try not to ride over it. We have big communal dustbins at the side of the roads here, and I know to keep clear of them because there's often broken glass around.

Keep your tyres inflated properly to the manufacturers recommendation. Pinch punctures if you hit a bump or pothole hard are less likely to happen if your tyres are nice and hard.

And check your tyres regularly for small surface cuts and make sure you haven't got anything stuck in them. My first puncture happened because a piece of grit got into an existing cut, and then worked its way in until it reached the tube.

racingcondor

The tyres that came on it are probably pretty durable. I'd keep them until you need something else.

If / when you're looking to replace them then Conti 4 Seasons are a very long lasting tyre that I'm told grips pretty well. I would personally avoid the very puncture proof tyres like Conti Gatorskins as they don't tend to grip that well in the wet and offer a very harsh ride.

Unfortunaltely it's a trade off between a thin, flexible tyre that soaks up bumps on the road and a thick puncture resistant tyre that lasts. Conti are a good brand for general use as their tyres are all pretty tough (not the best ride but they last even in the UK...).

sungod

carry one of these...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/rema-tip-top-tt ... epair-kit/

...and one of these...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/crank-brothers-speed-lever/

and a pump

speeder1987

Ok thanks for all the replies guys, I would never have thought that the position in the road would be so important. But then again, when you think about it, it makes sense.

Dmak

cadseen wrote:

You will need to decide what is important to you, cost, performance or puncture proof or what level in between. Then there is plenty of advice on here.

If you want puncture proof get these http://tidd.ly/4606e92f but dont expect them to perform that well in comparison.

I use Armadillo for winter rides when I dont want to pucture and pro-race for racing and worn pro-race for training.

ARMADILLOS!?

http://youtu.be/ZwTHVZHqSb0

Made me think of this!

Anyway.
I'll be trying armadillos this coming winter. I use Pro3's at the moment but not durable enough. They are a racing tyres after all. My reasoning for buying them was simple, get the grippiest tyres I can afford and there's less chance I'd slide down the road on my face wondering why I bought cheap tyres.

Vredestein Fortezza TriComp on route from Ribble. I read that they're a great all-rounder.

suze

Don't know about these "vittoria open pave cg" tyres, but the review on-

http://www.thewashingmachinepost.net/

seems to point to these being good/ok. Brian Palmer who runs the washingmachinpost isn't under any obligation to any company and writes an honest review about stuff he gets to test. He admits they've not been on long term test yet but initially seem ok. I've ridden the roads on Islay with Brian and know he or the roads will not skimp the test.

He's also recommended schwalbe in the past. There's a review for these somwhere in his archives.

We've used schwalbe in the past on tandems and on road bikes and are more than happy with the ultremos R1 and the DD.

http://www.teamwiggletandem.com/about_us.html

Secteur

I have a 2010 Spec Secteur Comp, and the supplied Pro2 tyres are "puncture proof" ones, so you should be good to go with the ones you have

Cleat Eastwood

its easy to allow the tyres to deflate gradually over time as well which can increase the chance of pinch puncs, give them a pump up every 2 weeks or so.