New tyres that don't keep getting punctured!

Piplodocus

Hello!

My bike has some old Kenda Nevegals on it came with new. I seem to keep getting punctures again at the mo from thorns/flints etc. I'm no extreme rider, half the time I'm riding on the road, but like some woods/mud riding for fun/exercise.

I had a look at some Schwalbe tyres which seemed to have better puncture protection. These varied up to the Marathon + MTB which send to have the best. I then looked for a similar price at others on the schwalbe website that were deemed most puncture-proof. This included the Magic Marys etc. These appear "better tyres" but the protection for thorns/stones coming up through the centre wasn't nearly as good.

So, are the Magic Mary's gonna be far superior to my Kenda Nevegals anyway so I should buy a better tyre, or will I just get annoyed next time I get a puncture that I should have bought the marathons?

I heard going tubeless was mentioned but surely a hole in the tyre is a hole however you look at it? I also want to spend as little as reasonably possible, but still really worthwhile. Much as I love my bike, I have too many other money-swallowing hobbies to spend hundreds on tyres/wheels!

rockmonkeysc

If most off your riding is on road you REALLY won't want Magic Marys. Great tyre but heavy, big and very draggy.
For occasional off road I would go for something like a Schwalbe Racing Ralph with puncture protection.
Are you riding on lots of roads where there has been hedge cutting? My experience of Nevagals was pretty negative, terrible things even with the soft compound but punctures were never much of a problem.

Piplodocus

Ah, Ok. The magic Mary's just looked more similar tread to the Nevegals and I'd gone straight for the 6 out of 6 for puncture resistance (although that consists of 3 sub-ratings when you look harder so that's still quite a variation of protection to pointy things in the centre section). I'm a total ignoramus when it comes to tyres. I just figured my current ones probably aren't ideal for road either, but then there's still plenty of times they get totally caked in mud since it always seems to be raining in England these days. Hence I figured it might be a bad idea to go for more road/dusty trail type tyres? I'm not looking for great road performance (else I'd have bought a road bike), but I equally don't want to improve my off road performance over the Nevegals at the expense of road cycling if you see what I mean. Put it this way, I wouldn't be in any rush to replace the Nevegals at present if it wasn't for all the punctures, even though there may be better out there.

I'm not going anywhere there's been much hedge cutting I'm aware of. Last 3 were some kinda pointy thorn after going through muddy wild woods and one from a sharp little flint from a gravelly track off some country lanes.

Piplodocus

Ah yeah, those magic Mary's are all 2.35". I think my current Nevegals are 2.1" if I'm not mistaken.

"Puncture" (rather than snakebites or sidewall) is also 4/6 in the detailed stats for the magic Mary, but is 5/6 for the 2.1" racing Ralph or nobby nics. What exactly is "snakebite" in terms of puncture btw?

Regarding the other options they seem to have I'm guessing I'd want trailstar rather than vertstar? Although there racing Ralph and nobby Nic look like they're all pacestar tbh.

So I'm now pondering relative to the racing Ralph which is a bit faster, or the nobby Nic which has more grip in the soft. Any other ideas or suggestions to add?

coulddobetter

It would be worth going tubeless . Had continental mountain king and punctured nearly every time I went out due to brambles. Stans tubeless has been trouble free.

rockmonkeysc

Mountain Kings are the worst tyres I have ever had for punctures. Six in one 20 mile ride on the Mendips was the end of them.

johnny25

I've Nobby Nic on my mtb. Good tyres, but I'm getting punctures on just about every ride on the trails where I live. Usually thorns. Complete pain in the arse, especially when you're taking the back wheel of a couple of times on a ride to sort the problem. Tried different psi in tyres to no avail.

Did ponder tubeless for a short while, but not sure.

Now considering the Mountain King ProTection tyres. Expensive though. Don't know if anyone else is using them.

Piplodocus

So how do tubeless last better? How much would/could that cost? You can go tubeless Nobby Nics can't you?

rockmonkeysc

Tubeless set ups have sealant in the tyre which will seal up small punctures.
Johnny25, have a look on bike-discount.de for cheap continental tyres.

kevinharley

I had a pair of Panaracer Rampage's PR for a couple of years, which worked really well ... just one puncture towards the end, when the tread was getting a bit worn - by far the most puncture-proof tyre I've ever had ...

They're not the greatest, or most confidence-inspiring - in terms of outright off-road grip (although by no means bad!), and maybe a bit too draggy if you're doing a lot of road riding.

johnny25

Cheers RockmonkeySC for the heads up on bike-discount. A hell of a lot cheaper, even with postage!

Piplodocus

I might look into going tubeless if it's really that much better. How much extra do you guys reckon that'll cost (except tyres)? Any idea how I'd tell if I can use my current wheels and adapt them, or if I'd really need new wheels (which would probably make it too expensive)?

Initialised

My Schwalbe Snow Studs have never punctured, they get abused on both road and trail through the winter, I've heard tales of other Kevlar wrapped rubber lasting puncture free until almost worn out. But Snow Studs are total over kill unless there's ice because they are so damn heavy. But I've run them as low as 20PSI without picking up pinch flats over rutted, frozen solid, trails.

On the road I like Schwable Duranos and Specialized Espoir both have been relatively puncture free.

My son has 20" Schwalbe Black Jack's on his junior MTB, they're kevlar, I can't remember them getting punctured.

Tubeless will help if you like running your tyres low enough to get pinch flats (which isn't great on the road as it makes them drag more) but wont stop a massive thorn (the type I've pulled out of my Snow Studs!) or nail from ruining your ride, then there's the hassle with glue and the cost of converting/sealing your wheel.

So err, get something from Schwalbe with Kevlar if you hate punctures.