Originally Posted by
slow rollin
I am happy I don't live in vegas, or wherever you are with punctures galore. Goat heads are bad off road here so I went tubeless in 2011, but on the road I have been fine with "heavy duty" road tires like gatorskins.
I bought a pair of gatorskins four or five years ago. All excited, I put them on. First ride out, got a puncture.
Originally Posted by
RCMoeur
Looks at posting date, wonders whether to take her seriously...
It's too bad they stopped making SpinSkins. Those were great for fast road tires, weighed almost nothing, and stopped a lot of pointy sharp stuff. About the only thing that defeated them were thorns coming in on the edge or side, or a big ol' sheet metal screw right through the tread.
They come up occasionally on eBay for rather high prices.
The good news is they can last through multiple tires. Even as the edges fray, the center section still provides protection. I have several with well over the recommended 5,000 mile service life and I'll keep using them until they completely come apart - which doesn't look to be any time soon.
I've tried tire liners once or twice but I haven't figured out how to get them to stay centered in the tire while mounting the tire on the wheel.
As for rolling resistance and all that, I'm hardly worried about that for my trainer bikes. I'll just run tubeless on my Shiv for triathlon, but if nothing else, a little rolling resistance on a training bike should only add to my strength training. I'll take a few extra watts over sitting on the shoulder of the road replacing tubes any day.
Originally Posted by
Steve B.
I’ve used tubes in my road bikes for 35 years. I haven’t had a flat in 3-4 years. Maybe it’s where you ride ?, popular place to toss beer bottles out the car window ??
Not so much glass but I do get a lot of wire from blown steel belted tires.
Originally Posted by
SoSmellyAir
Do so; she frequently posts to complain about flats. Maybe she rides in Fallujah.
Not Fallujah. Worse. The desert. I even stay on paved roads, but the wild things that grow out here have evolved nasty ways of protecting themselves. Even sagebrush (what become tumbleweeds when they die) have these nasty little pokey things growing on them. Mesquite trees can be quite vicious. I have a bunch of mesquite (they're weeds out here) on my property. I've actually had mesquite thorns puncture the soles of my shoes on more than a few occasions. Hell, last year, I was doing some clean up work on my property. Had gloves on. Didn't matter. Had a thorn go
through my fingernail before breaking off.