Racing Ralph punctures, am I am unlucky bastard?

raldat

Just got a new 29er with a Racing Ralph evo on the back. 2 weeks and 4 punctures, all from stones. On the old 26er I ran Conti Mountain King 2 and X kings both of the Race Sport type. On the same trails I had that number of punctures in the last 12 months.

I would consider both types to be light weight tyres so I expect some punctures, but I am curious if others have found the Racing Ralphs to be much lighter and more susceptible to punctures than the Contis or am I just an unlucky bastard?

Trying to work out if I should stick with the RR until it wears out or go get an X King now.

concorde

I've had more punctures with my rocket rons on than any other tyre I've used and Ralphs are less protective than the Rons...

I still use them, but only in stone dry dusty conditions, and with more psi than I'd ideally like to run. Tyres puncture easier in the wet. They're too quick not to use though ;-)

Barteos

Ralphs are high performance tyres with quite thin casing so they may be slightly more prone to punctures.
If you run them tubeless and at the sensible pressure (closer to 20PSI rather than to 40PSI) you should have no problems.

paulbox

Barteos wrote:

If you run them tubeless and at the sensible pressure (closer to 20PSI rather than to 40PSI) you should have no problems.

Why?

I run Rons at closer to 40psi tubeless without any problems.

I know that some people prefer the feel of softer tyres and I'm sure climbing traction is better, but I hate the feeling of my rear tyre deforming on high speed berms in particular.

Clank

I run higher pressures on my 29er than I do on my 26" wheels, by about 5-10psi depending on the tyre. It works for me.

The only time I've punctured my Racing Ralph 29ers was when I was running them at 26" pressures - cue big snake-bite.

raldat

Clank wrote:

I run higher pressures on my 29er than I do on my 26" wheels, by about 5-10psi depending on the tyre. It works for me.

The only time I've punctured my Racing Ralph 29ers was when I was running them at 26" pressures - cue big snake-bite.

Interesting, I'm running same pressure as 26ers. Will give it a go. However only one of these was a snake bite. The rest are small rocks. We get a lot of sharp flint here, but never had an issue with the Contis.

Thanks for the pointers. Always happy to have something to try before spending dollars. Hope the RRs work as they have
been really nice to ride on otherwise.

Northwind

I punctured the bejeebers out of my Nic and Ralphs... Not sidewalls but wee cuts and holes in the tread face. Quite annoying, it's not like I like somewhere thorny or flinty.

Barteos

PaulBox wrote:

Barteos wrote:

If you run them tubeless and at the sensible pressure (closer to 20PSI rather than to 40PSI) you should have no problems.

Why?

I run Rons at closer to 40psi tubeless without any problems.

I know that some people prefer the feel of softer tyres and I'm sure climbing traction is better, but I hate the feeling of my rear tyre deforming on high speed berms in particular.

The more pressure the easier it is for stuff to penetrate the tyre.
Objectively speaking unless someone tries to prevent rim strikes or pinch flats, 40PSI for a +2" wide tyres is a very high pressure and doesn't offer any benefits as such.
I accept that tyre pressure is a matter of a personal preference, though.

batmo

Barteos wrote:

The more pressure the easier it is for stuff to penetrate the tyre.

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think a lot can depend on the nature of the penetrating object.

Barteos wrote:

I accept that tyre pressure is a matter of a personal preference, though.

Or necessity. Being a heavier person, I get more "squish" for the same pressure than a lighter rider, so I tend to use pressures that most on here would say are too high.
I'm based in Hertfordshire which is covered in flint gravel. The Neolithic types made knives out of flints for a reason so I have to stick to more puncture resistent, heavier tyres.

paulbox

Barteos wrote:

The more pressure the easier it is for stuff to penetrate the tyre.
Objectively speaking unless someone tries to prevent rim strikes or pinch flats, 40PSI for a +2" wide tyres is a very high pressure and doesn't offer any benefits as such.
I accept that tyre pressure is a matter of a personal preference, though.

I don't know if there is any official research, but I would argue the point re higher puncture susceptibility. If your tyre is accommodating to a nasty pointy little object as you ride over it, i.e. it deforms around the object, surely it is more likely to let it in. Whereas a hard tyre would/might deflect said object. Rode to work along a canal this morning and had at least three occasions of stones being fired away from my rear tyre making the sound of a ricocheting bullet from a spaghetti Western.
If you're running tubeless with some sealant in them anyway it doesn't really matter either way...

I'm a big lump so need a bit more pressure than most.

JamesLightfoot

I'm running a Rocket Ron on the from and a Racing Ralph at the back. I cycle along the South Downs Way, which, in this dry weather is exposing some very sharp, loose flint. I've been getting tears in both front and back tyres most rides, but my other cycle buddies don't (on other tyres). The other day I had a spontanious double blow-out at 35 mph, which is less tan ideal. I love the speed that these tyres provide, but they are very thin and puncture prone. I can't run tubeless with them, as the tears are too big for the sealant to mend. I can't run low pressures with tubes either as I get snake-bit punters. Any recommendstions from fellow flint-riders would be appreciated!

reformedfatty

I can't claim to ride all the often on the south downs way, but when I have it was on speed kings, didn't have any problems, I weigh around 80kg

poah

gorilla tape, pair of DT swiss valves and some stans sealant

raldat

Nice to see my thread from last year resurrected. Can report that I changed to Contis front and back in various forms depending on the surface and have barely had a flat since. I am going to put the Schwables back on over the weekend to see if I get punctures back as I am curious!

pilch

Always run a Ron/Ralph combo, had 1 puncture in 2 years, that was my fault as the sealant had dried out, havent managed to rip one yet and they've had a fair amount of abuse

njee20

Concorde wrote:

I've had more punctures with my rocket rons on than any other tyre I've used and Ralphs are less protective than the Rons...

I still use them, but only in stone dry dusty conditions, and with more psi than I'd ideally like to run. Tyres puncture easier in the wet. They're too quick not to use though ;-)

Other way around - in the Evo guise the Ron is the lighter carcass (same as the Fred, Burt and the Dan) whilst the Ralph/Nic have a thicker carcass.

I run Rons at about 25psi myself, they're not the most durable, but they are light.

paul.skibum

Lay off the back brake a bit. Back brake and stoney descents = square edge hits and pinch punctures. Even more likely with a 29er I'd suggest.

njee20

What?

apple eater

When i first fitted my nobbly nics i seemed to punctures from anywhere and everywhere. even just left in the shed would see a pinhole in the tube somewhere. i espescially couldn't get on with the nics on the back. i now have nicas on the front and as of the weekend a bontrager xr3, which performed much better than the reviews i read suggested it would. no punctures either.

The bontrager race tyres i use occasionaly have only given me 1 puncture. i ride a 29er so keep them harder than my old 26ers. I have found that my original inner tubes have now started to crack on the face that sits on the rim tape so they will be replaced tomorrow. I've always suspected that they were very very poor quality from when i first bought the bike.

njee20

i ride a 29er so keep them harder than my old 26ers

What?

Why?

CitizenLee

Is it the Snakeskin Ralphs everyone is moaning about?

I normally run x2 HDs but decided to get a Ralph for the rear for less drag... but now I'm worried it's gonna be shit for flats!

njee20

I run normal ones, and rarely flat. One flat in 700 miles on my Rocket Rons, which are lighter than Ralphs.

CitizenLee

Thanks bud, reassuring to know! I went for Evo Snakeskin version, and run about 35psi should hopefully should be ok!

I just hope they're easier to fit on my Crossmax than the HDs were... took myself and my gf around an hour per tyre using 6 tyre levers and a hairdryer!

njee20

The 2014 ones have got looser beads again allegedly, not tried myself.

CitizenLee

njee20 wrote:

The 2014 ones have got looser beads again allegedly, not tried myself.

I'll report back once it arrives and I've fitted it, hopefully sans bloody knuckles

poah

njee20 wrote:

I run normal ones, and rarely flat. One flat in 700 miles on my Rocket Rons, which are lighter than Ralphs.

no rocks in those 700 miles then

Chunkers1980

what do rocks have to do with punctures?

apple eater

njee20 wrote:

i ride a 29er so keep them harder than my old 26ers

What?

Why?

Because it works better. my 26 wheels are usually around 28 - 32psi and my 29 er is around 35 - 38psi. It's just something that works the way it works.

poah

Chunkers1980 wrote:

what do rocks have to do with punctures?

peat

The stock Rons that came on my bike were/are shoot. Very light fast tyres but puncture if you even look at them funny.

I split one and replaced it with a Snakeskin version, seems to be better but still get the odd puncture.

njee20

apple eater wrote:

njee20 wrote:

i ride a 29er so keep them harder than my old 26ers

What?

Why?

Because it works better. my 26 wheels are usually around 28 - 32psi and my 29 er is around 35 - 38psi. It's just something that works the way it works.

Fair enough. I ran my 26" tyres about 22-28psi, I run my 29er at about 22-28psi, that works just fine!