DIY Puncture Protection ?

mr_eddy

Ok so I have a Pashley Guvnor which I have been using as my commuter bike for the last few weeks, In many ways its actually the perfect commuter for my flat 9 mile commute as the hub gears and brakes make it basically weather proof I also fitted full length guards (proper metal ones of course).

Anyway the only issue is that the Schwalbe Delta Cruiser tyres are a bit crap - They are meant to be puncture resistant but on 2 occasions now let have let in some fairly feeble sized flecks of gravel. Normally I would probably swap out the tyres to something more robust like a Marathon Plus etc but the wheels are a fairly rare 28" x 1 1/2" (40-635) meaning not much choice - Add to this I want to retain the cream colour choices are limited further.

Because of the hub gears and drum brakes and the fact that the Guvnor does not 'do' quick release changing tubes is a pain in the workshop let alone on the road.

To that end I would be keen to know of any easy DIY ways of making the tyres more robust - I have tried the off the shelf tyre liners but to be honest they are all sh*t and are a royal pain to fit plus they can cut the tube. I have also tried sealant in the tubes but again still got punctures.

My initial thoughts are getting some of the double sided foam tape that you get from craft stores - This stuff is about 2-3mm thick and the adhesive is crazy sticky - Given that it can stick to carpets I should think sticking to the inside of a tyre should be easy. Obviously I would only reveal the adhesive on one side. Another thought was a few layers of Gorilla tape (the 1" width) on the inside of the tyre but don't know how much protection that would give.

Finally my last though it to take some old cheap 25c road tyres (Btwin resist 5) and cut the steel bead off leaving just the tread strip and stick this to the inside of the tyre with the aformentioned double sided tape (or possibly carpet tape) - My only concern is they are 700c and not 28" so I would have to cut the tyre in half to allow it to conform

Anyone had any experience of the above or anything I should watch out for ?

Any other suggestions ?

Within reason I don't care about weight (the stock wheels and tyres weigh a ton anyway and the total bike weight is 14kg), I just want to be able to have a very puncture proof tyre. I am not interested in going tubeless nor am I interested in solid rubber tyres (I have been led to believe that these are like rocks)

I have a question on the official guvnor forum but as of yet no hits and no other obvious answers on there.

Ta.

rolf_f

Maybe you've just been unlucky. I used to use Delta Cruisers for commuting and I don't recall they were a particular bother. Generally, punctures happen in crap weather conditions (ie mostly wintery conditions) which I would have thought incompatible with cream tyres in the first place! I would just stick black tyres on over winter and put the pretty ones on during summer when they stand a chance of actually staying cream coloured.

mr_eddy

Maybe it is just luck - Oddly the cream tyres seem to self clean so they always look good. I have considered putting black tyres on but just wondered about DIY puncture proofing options.

I run the tyres at 58 Psi (Max is 60) and I 'only' weight 82kg so I know its not pinch punctures

mr_eddy

I may give the foam tape trick a shot and report back just wondered if I have missed any other tricks, I do tend to go down the inside edge of queuing traffic (bad form I know) so maybe its all the crap that sits at the edge of the road ? Note to self - ' Keep 1m away from the curb at all times'

webboo

We used to do the cutting the bead of an old tyre back in the day on our winter bikes. You could buy some cheap 28" tyres to put in side your cream ones.

sungod

which sealant did you try? some are useless on all but the tiniest holes

i find tufo extreme will seal the majority, and this is with skinny tyres at far higher pressure than you'll be running at

there are also good reports of orange seal 'endurance', i'll be trying it when my last bottle of tufo runs out

The Rookie

I would imagine the foam wouldn't help much, it will be crushed by the pressure and just add about 0.5mm of absorption (but not a barrier) to anything coming is.
Slime puncture strips have come in two bikes I've bought and don't seem to cause an issue.