Tourist in MSN

Some years ago someone on this forum mentioned that if you are looking for a sharp bit like a thorn or like you said a wire, if you wipe the inside of the tire loosely with a ball of cotton, the cotton can snag on whatever sharp bit you have that is causing your problem.

Years ago I had a nearly new tire that was causing a puncture to occur after about 20 to 50 miles, I could not find it, eventually I took an old tube that was shot, slit it lengthwise and removed teh valve, that became my new tire liner, no more flats.

But if the tread is almost gone, probably not worth the effort in this case. But I am still citing what has worked for me and others for future reference.

djb

teh cotton ball trick sounds like a good one, I just run my finger around and get the pliers out where the bit of blood is ;-)

the steps I follow are generally that if there is not an obvious thing, it helps to always line up the valve with the tire company logo on tire, so it gives a locational reference of where the hole in tube is in relation to position in tire of where whatever made a hole in tube.
Doesnt help if you cant find hole in tube at side of road, but hey.

when in doubt if simply putting in a new tube and not knwing where hole was, then I put on my reading glasses, get in good light, and really take a few minutes going over outside and inside of tire, and if still no evidence, then I go over inside of tire slowly again and turn the tire inside out a bit this way and that, which tends to force open any cut or maybe force a hidden wire out a bit so you can feel it or see it.
Squeezing tire for exterior inspection often forces a teeny tiny cut open so you can see a teeny tiny piece of glass in there also, then dig it out carefully.

so far, I havent had any mystery Houdini wires that stay hidden using these techniques.

and I always follow the rule of never just putting in a new tube before finding the culprit, just a waste of time cuz chances are, you get another situation like you guys describe.

touch wood on Houdini stuff!

back to wider tires, yesterday I rode with some friends with my touring bike with the 45-50mm slicks, and again, pace was very similar to them on 32s, same if not faster for me, and every time we went over rough stuff or gravel, I just sailed over everything.

with a good wide tire that rolls well, you kinda get hooked on being able to ride confidently over all kinds of surfaces, but then I have always liked pushing to the edge of traction on two wheels on diff surfaces, so thats me.
A 50mm tire at 35psi front and 40 rear makes for a very well planted bike over diff stuff, and I can roll down hills at easily the same speed as folks on stiff 32mm tires.

I still havent gotten my 28 slick lighter bike out, I know it will be faster, but wider tires can still roll nicely, just depends on the tire.

escii_35

100% yes for the front tire when touring over mixed road/dirt conditions. I hate losing control in soft duff and fluff especially when descending.

With the dawn of the tubeless, folding tire choices have -greatly- expanded. My 26" LHT fork loves the Maxxis Advantage.

spinnaker

What is odd, I removed the tube and there does not seem to be a leak this time. Now I did have a 27mm tube in there but would not expect it to deflate that fast. Totally flat in a few days.

I might give the tire liner idea a try. That is good idea to have in your tool box when on tour and have nagging issues with a tire. Three in a row for me in Italy ones. Again it was one of those tiny little wires from a steel belt. I really think those suckers hide in the tread and only come out when tire is inflated.

I am going to give the cotton ball trick a try.

spinnaker

Been using that trick for years. And I try to pay attention when removing the tube so I know which side was which.

fietsbob

I went from fancy light, folding bead, to mundane utility tires for my last long bike tour...

Flew home from Aberdeen Scotland, It had not started to snow there yet .. in mid november..







..

djb

thats an easy one to mess up on, I forget about half of the time....

spinnaker

That is why I mentioned try to remember. Which does not happen often these days.

jefnvk

Yep. Tires are relatively cheap, if I feel something will benefit me better, why not?

Rob_E

I sometimes swap out tires just for the weekend. I would have no compunction about changing them out for a tour. Although now that I have two wheel sets, both tubeless, I change out the wheelsets far more than I would change the actual tires.

For me, biggest issues are how I'm traveling and where I'm traveling. My mostly-smooth Almotion wheels are great on pavement and serviceable on hardpack. They pack into my S&S case more easily than my wider wheelset, and the bike will easily fit into the bike rack on a bus if that's required. So, if the bike is going on the plane, I'm probably using my Almotions, or if the bike going on a bus rack, or if the bike will see very little unpaved surfaces. But if I don't have any of those restrictions, I'll go wider, generally my ET tires the preferred option, but it's rare that I have trip where I'm not flying or using the bus (or train, because according to Amtrak, 2.5" tires are too wide).

Considering a GAP & C&O run this summer. Would love to use the ETs like I did on one of my GAP runs a while back, but I think I'm going to compromise and pull out the 2.4" Panaracer Swoops I had kept on standby this winter, only I'll put them my narrower rim, which should keep them narrow enough to pack and hopefully not upset Amtrak at the other end. But they'll likely come right off at the end of the trip because they don't seem necessary for my all pavement commute.

Wilfred Laurier

There are very few advantages for a tourer to use narrow tires. Perhaps if you normally do a lot of off-roading and run 45mm tires, the lighter feeling of swapping to 32mm tires might offset the heaviness of a loaded touring bike, or if you are with a high-performance group of riders who are riding around the world in a paceline at 35km/h the lower aerodynamic drag of narrower tires might help a bit.

But even if you think your whole route is newly paved, there is no advantage to going any narrower than ~32mm, and then you can safely traverse the unexpected gravel or dirt of construction areas or whatnot that will inevitably occur.

But, to answer the OP more directly, yes, tire choice should be evaluated before leaving for a tour, and changing tires to suit your tour plans is probably the most effective and simplest 'upgrade' you can make to your bike.

Rob_E

I used to run Marathon Plusses. Then, when one wore out, and I tried a more supple, much more comfortable tire, I ended up pulling the good Marathon off the bike and replacing it, too. But if I were going on a trip, I'd put that Marathon Plus back on the rear. The odds of it flatting were much lower than anything else (even though I wasn't getting many flats on my other tires, either) and tire suppleness was less of an issue with the bike weighed down with gear. Back from a trip, though, and the Marathon went back in the closet. So I guess that's "yes" twice for me. I will definitely change my tires in preparation for a tour if I think it's warranted.

Wilfred Laurier

One of my riding buddies has two sets of wheels for his only (touring) bike - one set he keeps mounted with ~28 or 32mm road tires, and one set with 38mm Marathon Greenguards. He told me during our last 'road' ride that he realized that he prefers the 38mm tires in all conditions.

Rob_E

I started out on a touring bike with tires in the mid 30s. Dropped down to 32 or 28, immediately went back up. Tried 38 and loved it. I think I hit the fender limits at 40, and I didn't want to buy new fenders just to get the extra 2 or 4mm of width that the frame would allow. So I bought a new bike. Started with 2.15". Loved them more than the 40mm I had been riding. Built up my wide wheelset for my 2.5" ETs. My rear ET wore out a lot faster than I would have liked, but I think they had a bad batch because I've heard of a few others with that complaint, but mostly I hear they're long-lived. But other than the wear, I loved the 2.5" tires. I would have used them all the time if it weren't for the fact that I rely on the bus to get across town in a timely manner a lot of the time, and the ETs just don't fit in the rack. Replaced my worn ET with a 2.8" Vee Speedster. Thought I might have finally gone too wide, but I got used to it, and when I did, it was a bummer to put those 2.15" tires back on. Still, I think ET set may be my sweet spot, but wider is better as far as I'm concerned. It probably helps that my 2.15" tires are on the stiff side and probably a little heavier than average, so I don't actually feel much weight penalty when I get out the fatter tires.

Wilfred Laurier

What's ET?

Rob_E

Surly ExtraTerrestrial tires.

3speed

There are very few advantages to using a 2.5" mtb tire vs. a 25mm road tire for single-track mountain biking. Tire volume for traction and bump/impact absorption? Aggressive tread for traction? But those couple advantages make a big difference. To me it's the same for running a light, supple tire on the road vs. a big, heavy, stiff tire.

Aren't the "wider tires" that they've gone to still a comparatively small 700x25mm vs. the old 20-23mm standard? And running a reasonable 100psi or something like that? Not exactly a large, low pressure tire. And very importantly, they still get the lightest, most supple tires they can. But in any case, there's a big difference between what they're doing and what we're doing. Difficult comparison to work out.

KC8QVO

I have run both 38 and 42mm tires on my bike. When I first got the bike I ran the stock tires for a while then realized how rough they were where I rode and upgraded to the 42mm's. That made quite a difference, though I did run lower air pressure on top of the bigger tire, also. I smashed the front wheel getting my truck in the garage one day. When I rebuilt the wheel I put the stock 38's back on as the front tire was trashed. I have had them on ever since, but have not rode the bike much at all.

I am gearing up for a tour in August and that is one thing I am changing again - going back to the 42mm's probably.

Where I was riding a few years ago was a trail network - mostly crushed gravel and dirt, unpaved except for a couple short runs. The 42mm's were fine until the in between seasons around fall and spring where the ground freezes over-night then thaws out as the day progresses. Once the top layer of ground thawed out my tires would sink down in the mush - not a whole lot, but enough that the sinking in would cut my speed in half. The first time it happened I was about 30 miles out from home. The ride back was so rough I got off the trail and hit the roads and took "the long way home". Being on the pavement was a heck of a lot easier to ride!!!

At some point I want to build up a 29" Surly ECR frame with different wheel sets to cover a few different size tires, up to the max 3" wide it will take. My Disk Trucker is limited to the mid-40mm range so my options are really tiny there. With the ECR I can run the same size wheels/tires as what I do on the Disk Trucker all the way to a 3" wide (with the right rims, of course - hence the different wheel sets). That will give me the flexibility to have the wider tires for any conditions I may see the bike in. I can't do all off-road touring with what have, light off road and short gravel road runs is about all I can handle with even the 42mm tires on what I have now.

staehpj1

I haven't done it, but if the tour was long enough or the roads/terrain changed drastically enough, why not change mid tour? I could see it especially for tours that spanned multiple continents. Also I remember reading posts from a guy who carried off road tires and swapped out for some off road riding during his tours. I've never done it and probably never will but it worked for him.

Me I might pick the tires I want for the tour and just might swap them out before the tour, but usually don't. I did for example take off aggressive mud tires and put on some 26x2.1 Slant Sixes for a mixed road/trail tour with some single track and a good bit of pavement.