Newbie - Puncture resistant tyres?

paulcuthbert86

I've been a Roadie for longer than I care to think about, but I bought my first MTB on Thursday. I've already had a puncture after only a few hours, so I'm thinking tyres need upgraded.

Can anyone recommend a good, puncture resistant MTB tyre to get me going again and hopefully not spend my life in the shed changing inner tubes? Most of my riding will be on gravel/rocky skills tracks and forest trails until I gain confidence and go for bigger, tougher trails.

Thanks.

emanresu

Go tubeless

steve_sordy

You could go tubeless and add sealant (very important, sealant). The roadie in you will love the lighter weight. Thousands of pages have been written on the internet about how to go tubeless and the benefits thereof, so I won't add any here. Just do it!

If you can't bring yourself to go tubeless, then buy Slime tubes. These are inner tubes with a proprietary sealant (Slime) already installed. They are heavy, which you won't like, but you will never get a flat ever again unless you get a tear in the sidewall. Or you could add sealant into your existing tubes. That can be done, I've done it, but it will require some ingenuity, a sharp knife and some tyre patches. Or maybe conversion to Schrader valves.

Better still, save yourself the effort and just go tubeless!

PS: Going tubeless with sealant (or even with sealant filled tubes) will not stop punctures, you will still get those. But you will stop getting flats! I went from getting a flat every 14 miles to not one flat for several years. In the last ten years or so, I have only had three flats. One was my fault because I let the tyre run out of sealant. The other two were tyre faults where the tyre wall tore at the bead. Replaced under warranty.

gomezz

Fully agree with all Steve says, I have some really big thorns in my tires from hedge cutting ,But, no flats.

mully79

Tubeless is the way. Garbage for road bikes. Game changing for mtb. I’ve ditched the camelbak , tools, spares and pump on rides now.

Ride free

Defblade

No trouble adding slime to presta tubes, so long as they have removable valve cores.
I've done it on my road bike and the thorn flats stopped immediately

paulcuthbert86

Without going tubeless, can someone please recommend a decent puncture resistant mtb tyre? The ones on my bike are cheap, flimsy and poor quality.

I do not want to go tubeless. It would mean buying new wheels, which I'm not doing. MTB is very much secondary to road riding, and I only really bought the bike to try my hand at MTB.

reaperactual

I still run tubes and have a WTB Trail Boss up front and a Continental Trail King on the rear at the moment. Running lower mtb pressures and knobbly treads help and only had one slow front puncture in the last two and a half years.

Had a few cheaper end tyres (Schwalbe, Maxxis) over the years with similar results but non have stood out as more puncture resistant than another.

Schwalbe Marathon Plus have extra built in protection and are supposed to be good but never tried them myself.

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Schwalbe-Marathon-Plus-SmartGuard-E-50-Endurance-Compound-Wired-27-5-MTB-Tyre_101364.htm

steve_sordy

You don't need to buy new wheels to go tubeless. Just apply some rim tape to the trough in the wheel rim to seal the spoke holes. Loads of stuff on YouTube to show you how. If you remove your tyres and take the wheels into the LBS they will do it for you quite cheaply. Ask them first for a quote if you don't want any surprises.

molteni_man

Try the Continental Trail Kings with the additional puncture protection. I’m not tubeless on my old 26 inch wheels and these have been outstanding on my bike and that of my wife too.