Badger6

Just doing a quick run through the Silca Pressure Calculator, putting a total rider and bike weight of 225# in using road weight distribution, your front is recommended to be 106.5 psi and rear 109.5 psi. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. Going up to 25mm tires, the recommendation drops to 93.5 in the front and 96 in the rear. I've uses the Silca calculator for a long time, and the only time I had pinch flats were when I didn't check the pressure for a few days and then I went smashing cobbles or something equally dumb. I've never had a friction flat as others have described, but do occasionally (in the last 3 years it's happened twice), get road debris punching through the tread...and it has only happened to me when the tires were well worn.

Also, ditch the liners, they are more hassle than help for the reasons already stated.

psychoanalyst

That was exactly my question. I don't think I am ready for true tubeless yet. For now I am going to looking into the Gator hardshell 700x25c tires and proper installation techniques. There are some awesome tips shared here! But even before that I need to look more carefully into my brakes and brake clearance available.

psychoanalyst

That is good to know. But when I look my coarse measurements, what I found is the brake pad clearance was the limiting factor. From what I recall (and I will remeasure), the bend at the far end of the chainstay measured close to 30mm.

psychoanalyst

Thanks a lot for the tips. Added to my to-do list. I will remeasure again with and without the caliper release fully open. I tried it briefly and even with the caliper release fully open, I didn't generate enough clearance. I did manage to get more clearance by combining that with the barrel adjustments close to the quick release. I don't know enough about brakes just yet to fully gauge the implications of that approach.

psychoanalyst

Wisely put Andrew. This is very much a learning process for me. I have very little experience with DIY bike maintenance until now and I am using this as the opportunity to learn from all of you here.

Badger6

Wax...of course it only lasts a few hundred kms, and doesn't like to be wet, but hey, it's clean, and you can wipe off dust with a dry rag and no degreaser.. [/hijack]

Back to tires and preventing flats.

rydabent

Rather than question the tire and tube, I would question where you ride. Are you riding too far to the right in all the trash that causes flats. The notion or local law that says "as far right as possible" DOES NOT mean you or I or any cyclist needs to be riding in road trash that will cause excessive flats.

Iride01 

Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing the same way...

The caliper release on the brakes is only for you to give more room for the tire to miss the pads as you remove the wheel. You always adjust the brakes and ride with the release closed which puts the caliper arms in a narrower position than when open.

psychoanalyst

Yeah...I understood that. So that rules out 1 method of getting extra clearance between the brake pads.

redcon1

It wasn't the side to side measurement, but the tread of the larger tire will contact the frame at the front - the "U" formed by the chainstays. Again, I had the Ergoride, but looks like the same frame dimensions. 25mm Conti GP4000 was tight fit there.. no way 28mm would go

squirtdad

I have noted before....but based on most models of this bike coming from factory with 25mm going to that should be a no brainer, other than some brands of tires say 25 and end up measuring a lot bigger (Michellin is one example I have had that fun with) Continentals and Vittorias i have had measured out accurately

psychoanalyst

Oh! I understand now. I will check that out as well.

Andrew R Stewart 

Tire widths/heights are dependent on rim width. This is the problem I see often when posters talk about width and don't also spec the rim width. back when nearly all performance road rims had a 14-17mm inside width this variation was small. Now with internal widths growing and people replacing older skinny rims with trendy wider ones references of mounted tire widths can be +- a few mms from factory specs. Andy

Badger6

+1

I’ve quit “guessing” and “assuming.” Dug out a set of calipers and I measure every tire after mounting, for this this exact reason, I've also seen some significant variations in the last few years...especially on wider gravel/adventure oriented tires and wider rims.

rosefarts

Couple comments here.

-It's a nice bike with Red, keep it cleaner. It will be easier to work on, easier to spot problems, and look better.

-I bet you can fit 28's on there. If not, 25 is fine. You don't really know until you try. Do you have a friend whose wheels you can slap into your frame for a second to check?

-Mr Tuffy are for strollers and kids bikes. Don't use them.

-I'd rather ride a supple tire than have the most flat resistance in the world.

Now for actual solutions. Get the widest Gatorskin that you can fit, probably 28. They are a decent riding tire that offers some protection. Not amazing road feel but not a rock either. Get slime presta tubes. They get bashed here a lot and are definitely messy if they blow up. I've got thousands of miles on them over the years. I don't run them on my super light nice stuff but everything else I do. They do work.

They add minimal weight and almost always work. Haters can hate but at around $10 per tube, are probably the biggest bang for your buck out there.

Carry a spare (regular) tube and CO2 anyway, to ward off demons.

imakecircles

In addition to the above very good tips, I would recommend:

- install the tube with some baby powder on it, this will help to reduce friction and/or the tube getting pinched between the rim and bead during installation

- when riding (if you aren't using fenders/mudguards) if you see glass on your route, wipe both tyres with a gloved hand. This is one of the reasons cyclists wear gloves, but you need to ensure the rotation of the wheels doesn't wedge your hand between the wheel and the frame. For the front wheel, wipe in front of the fork, for the rear, loop your thumb around a seat stay so that your gloved hand doesn't get pulled between the wheel and seat tube. Apply only light pressure.

UnCruel 

I was having the same trouble several years ago, perhaps even more frequently than you. I had the conversation at my LBS, and he suggested that I feel around inside the tire for sharp things. I began finding all kinds of things, all the time, and I became obsessive about removing them. Fine little steel wires, organic things that were probably thorns, and the most common: tiny little chips of rocks. A time or two, I spent nearly an hour extracting tiny sharp objects from my tires.

I stopped having flats completely when I made three changes all at once:

• Reduced the air pressure
• Put on thicker tires
• Put on puncture-resistant tubes

There are disadvantages to each, and you may find they aren't acceptable compromises for you, but I've gone six years without a flat.

bikemeister

I have had that happen. Years ago I decided to go with Mr. Tuffy strips after considering all the options. While I did get thorns in the tire that didn't cause a leak, I did have several flats happen out of the blue that I eventually traced to the ends of the Tuffy strip rubbing thru the inner tube. (I then started reading about this problem in bike articles). I took a two prong approach after that: installed thorn resistant tubes along with the Tuffy strips. Flats reduced to a very low level. But of course the wheels had alot of extra rotational weight which I could feel at speed - felt like lumps.
With my new tires I've gone with Schwalbe level 3 puncture resistance, regular tubes, and no Tuffy strip. Less weight, some puncture resistance. Also have a good rim strip, careful tire mounting with good bead tools, and keep tires pressurized. We'll see how it goes.

MisterP

FWIW:

a few years ago I was having the "Mystery Flat" problem. I took the bike to a couple of shops- no one found anything wrong. I even had my tire go flat while driving my bike to the shop in my car! Finally after 5 or 6 flats (within a few months) I was determined to get to the bottom of it: I took the tire off, the tube out and began inspecting them very carefully. I discovered that my flats were on the rim side- not the tire side or sidewall.

Upon further (careful) inspection I noticed that the plastic rim-strip that came on the aluminum wheels was slightly crooked in one spot: leaving a spoke nipple hole partially exposed. The edge of that nipple hole was actually pretty sharp. Turns out that friction between that edge and the tube would eventually cause the flats. Surprised that the bike techs never saw that.

I smoothed that edge with some sandpaper replaced that cheap rimstrip with velox rim tape and my problem was solved.

sweeks

Let me make some remarks about the "Mr. Tuffy" liners which may be of interest. I've been using them for years on my "winter" commuter bike, a folder with 20" wheels. Since it's mainly used in the winter (in Chicago), it wears studded tires. The studs eventually wear through the tire's carcass, causing flats. The use of the tire liners extends the life of these tires by 50%, I would estimate.
Having said that, I don't use the liners on my road bike or my mountain bike because I haven't found flats to be a problem on either bike. But I have two observations that may be useful.
1) I overlap the liner ends about one inch, and have not found that this leads to flats. Maximum inflation pressure is 60 PSI, which may be a relevant factor.
2) Installing the liners is a right b!tch. They twist and slip, as the OP's image suggests happened to him. I place 8 one-inch strips of double-sided foam tape around the inside of the tire. The tape is rated for "outdoor" use, though it probably doesn't matter since once the tire is mounted and inflated the tape has done its job. This makes installation of the tube and mounting of the tire much easier.
So... maybe not only for strollers and kids' bikes!
Submitted for your consideration.

gkamieneski

identical to post #4. Maybe they were the same rims.

Bill in VA

I found the Conti GP4000SII in 28 when inflated on my Alexrims A23 rims measured 30.5mm on my bike. Tried to see if it would fit the wife's older Bianchi road bike (w/25mm) and no go on height. They cleared the fork blades, fork crown and chainstays, but not the caliper pivot mounts of the dual pivot sidepull calipers that were a bit lower that the brake bridge and fork crown. They also had to be deflated to fit through the brakes even when released. A set of Rene Herse 28s fit, but had less than a mm of clearance which is too close. She is still riding the Clement 25s. Mt experiences with Conti GP4000SII is the 28s run large and the 25s are accurate at 25mm or a tiny bit smaller.