AccuNeal

Two rear tire flats in one day! Glass!
I ride a 16" Dahon classic III and a 20" Dahon Boardwalk daily around my neighborhood usually accumulating 20 to 30 miles. Flats have been a rare occurrence - maybe two last year. Since I've had a year's worth in one day, I am thinking tire liners might help. Do they eliminate puncture flats from tiny glass shards?

fietsbob

Yea they're a thing.. you cut down a long one for bigger wheels.

taper the end on the bench grinder, slows its abrading the tube, due to relative motion every time the wheel rotates.

but after a while they harden and or make a hole in the tube.

It is an additional barrier, ... eliminate? not 100%, realistically. still a good idea to inspect your tires and remove those shards.

Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires put a similar polymer under the tread, part of the tire itself.



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bargainguy

Well, at least you're not in the southwest US where goat head thorns take out a good percentage of bicycle tires.

Here's how I deal with broken glass on a bike. Constantly scan the road ahead for anything that glitters, because it could be glass, and if it is, ride around it (assuming the way is clear, don't want you riding into traffic to avoid broken glass). If I inadvertently ride into broken glass, very first thing I do is dismount. Since I wear bike gloves, I pick up the bike, spin each wheel slowly and use the palm of the bike glove to brush away any shards. (Taught my wife to do this, which she does regularly!)

It's not the first contact with glass that often ruins the tire/tube, it's riding on it and further embedding it into the tire/tube.

Not a fan of tire liners. Beach to install, adds weight, tire liner can puncture the tube if not carefully installed, can complicate finding a leak, and all around a hassle I'd prefer not to deal with. Puncture resistant tires like the Marathon Plus mentioned above can help, but won't stop the worst offenders from breaking through.

AccuNeal

Thank you for the detailed information @fietsbob and @bargainguy. I knew there could be no panacea, but knowing that tire liners can cause problems I think I'll continue to inspect, hope for the best and fix'em when they flat'em.

shrooms

This is my third season on Marathons riding 15 miles every day. Not a single flat yet.

downtube

I'm not a fan of tire liners. They never worked out for me.

Thanks
Yan

tudorowen1

Slime in your tyres would be a better option..Many motor bikes have it!

badmother

I have been thinking for some months now that something must have happened with peopels tyres since I remember several years ago there was alot of threads about flats. Now we hardly have them. I remember "solid" (foam) tyres being discussed and not found good enough. Recently there was a thread in the utility forum about such tyres on a trailer and I did some searching and reading. Looks like they are better now (ride qualit) and more peopel use them.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...s+for+bicycles

jur

I used Slime brand liners for quite long. Once I figured out why i got punctures from them (cut ends not sanded down) I easy pleased with performance. Until these idiots changed the recipe to a much stiffer material causing loads of punctures and I abandoned them.

I then tried Slime brand slime in the tubes. I will never know how many punctures were stopped but I got really small punctures that the Slime didn't stop. Plus the Presta valves became clogged. So that was that. I gave up on Slime brand stuff. I have bought another brand of stuff to go inside, a latex goop, but haven't tried it out yet. One thing that put me off is that it only lasts 6-12 months.

AccuNeal

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies. Tire liners are removed from my "things to try" list. Kevlar belted tires are on the list when my tires need replacing.

fietsbob

One thing I found, Marathon + with the blue polymer puncture band is spec'd at 3mm thick,

that seems to mean it displaces that much tread rubber, resulting in very little wear miles, exposed the blue band .

in my 349 rear tire...

Green gard is spec'd at 2mm thick, the Marathon K (kevlar belt, fabric) is no longer available.




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badrad

I still remember a 'talk' I had one time with who was likely drug runner while we were on the transit. He noticed my thin tires and asked how durable and of course I replied not much. He told me he can't under any circumstance get caught with a flat tire, and his ghetto workaround - he basically stuffs a old thinner tire with the sidewall cut away inside a larger tire. He said even if he popped the inner tube the tire will hold itself up long enough for him to get out of trouble. Interesting.

Pinigis 

There are more manufacturers of non-pneumatic tires popping up in recent years. I bought some from Amerityre, but never used them because they would not fit on a 20mm rim. I am going to get some from other manufacturers and try them out over the next few months.

hopperja

Stans No Tube is much better than Slime at filling small (up to 1/4") holes in tubes. I've ridden with others in goat-head territory where they've had numerous flats and I've had none.

I run Stans in my Brompton.

Agree, Schwalbe Marathon's are probably your best defense. Add Stans and you're virtually guaranteed no flats.

Buzzmeister

I installed Mr. Tuffy tire liners in my commuter a number of years ago and reduced my flats significantly. As others have mentioned, eventually the liner will rub a hole in the tube but I could probably get at least 1000 miles before that happened. Since then I've switched to standard Schwalbe Marathon tires and Schwalbe tubes (no liners, no Slime) and have not had a single flat in over 5000 miles.

tds101 

How about some thorn resistant innertubes? I use them, instead of liners. They're a bit heavier, but they've worked out well for me.

Amazon: Sunlight Thorn Resistant Innertubes

chagzuki

I tried them but since I like lower pressures there's too much flex occuring in the tyre: the movement causes the liner to abrade the inner tube.

chagzuki

I tried slime for a while and thought it was cool. I had a couple of punctures and witnessed the slime do it's thing. I guess I should have known that you have to still replace the tube quite soon afterwards as eventually those slime-plugged puctures elongate to the point where the slime no longer holds and then there's a big messy slime explosion.

Winfried

After getting a couple of flats on the Marathon Plus (!) rear tire on my Brompton, I installed a standard Brompton kevlar tire and added an anti-puncture inner tape from Zéfal.

It's been a few weeks now, and no flat even after a few hundred km's on tarmac roads and country roads.

Besides, those tires are lighter and way simpler to install than M+.

sweeks

I only use Mr. Tuffy liners on my "winter" folding bike, because the studs on the Marathon Winter tires will eventually abrade their way through the tire carcass and cause a puncture. This adds one or two winter seasons to the tire's life. Of course, you won't have that problem in Florida!
You should (IMO, and as recommended by others) install Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. I ride in Chicago where there is a fair amount of debris on the streets, and I would have 2 or 3 flats a year. This is a real nuisance commuting to work, though I could repair a rear flat in 20 minutes. Since the switch to Marathon Plus I have had *zero* flats... several years and probably almost 10,000 miles. Why do I still carry a pump? Murphy's Law...

This is news to me. I have never had a flat from this cause or seen wear on an inner tube (taken out for inspection once a year at least). I tend to run the tire pressure near the upper limit, so maybe there's none of the motion between the tire and tube mentioned by others.


They *are* somewhat awkward to install. I use double-sided foam tape rated for "outdoor" use and put 8 one-inch strips around the inside of the tire. This makes the installation of the strip a breeze. The tape deteriorates, but once the tire is pressurized it doesn't matter. The only hassle I find is when I have to scrape off the remains of the tape to install a new liner. No biggie.

Final recommendation: Marathon Plus tires. They are said to have slightly more rolling resistance, but I don't notice it. Anyway, I would take a bit of resistance in trade for fewer flats any day!
Steve

fietsbob

My winter studded tires, Suomi Nokian 26-1.9, are in their 25th season , no problems..

I use thorn resistant tubes, only have to top them up once I see the Icy streets forecast..

semaler

I've been using tire liners for 6 or 7 years now in all my urban bikes (folding bikes included). I used to have flats quite often (sometimes several times in one week), but since I use them I've had none (and that's more than 12.000km of urban riding).

I combine them with high quality tires (preferably Schwalbe Marathons).

I've used Mr. Tuffy and Zéfal liners, but in my opinion Mr. Tuffy work better and are easier to set up.

BassNotBass

Agreed. Not only do they make the tire feel squirrely but I've had them shift off center during the course of less than 100 miles worth of riding. Just get good Schwalbes. It's very rare that I've gotten flats on my bikes with Big Apples, Big Bens, Fat Franks or Marathons.

BassNotBass

Don't be fooled by Kevlar. It's strong stuff but as a woven fabric as used in a tire carcass it will still allow sharp objects to pass between the threads and puncture the tube. I've found that the best puncture resistance comes from belts such as the ones Schwalbe uses. Where Kevlar shines is that it can be a thinner, lighter, more flexible but stronger weave than other woven fabrics so it allows the tire to flex more and conform ('glide') over road irregularities offering a smoother and faster rolling tire.

BassNotBass

If you do use Slime you have to be sure to get the one intended for tube use. Even then it's not all that great a solution and the tube needs to be properly repaired or replaced when you get home. A drawback is that Slime makes things really messy if you do get a puncture because some of it will leak between the tube and tire before it has a chance to congeal and seal the puncture.