sweeks

My main commuter bike came with Marathons (406), and I had the occasional puncture. I changed to Marathon Plus after a few thousand miles and haven't had a flat since. The bike just turned over 10,000 miles. I don't notice any difference in ride quality. I've done a century on these tires, and several other long rides. FWIW.

Calsun

I have had blowouts from improper mounting of the tire and a pinched tube or with glass on the road. I avoid glass by staying out of the gutter where most glass is going to be located. Sidewall reinforcement is one thing to look for with a clincher tire.

hbsyncro

Conti Gator Hardshells for the win.

Bikewolf

One piece (1 cm) of a thorn branch may make your tires hiss like an angry serpent. Crazy how, but it happened to me.

So you still have to carry a repair kit or have a backup solution ready.

Welshboy

I'm not sure what size tyre (width) you ride on but I've done 2,160km on Schwalbe Marathon Plus Reflex (one puncture) and 900km on Gatorskins (no punctures) - both in 25mm width as I can't go wider on the road bikes I currently use. I've not found any handling issues or lack of grip with either of them but the Gatorskins are lighter, much nicer to ride on and I'm confident that I'll be able to get them off and on during a roadside puncture - unlike the Schwalbe Marathon Plus Reflex which are an absolute pig.

I'm hoping to ride on wider tyres (at least 32mm) as soon as I finish building up a commuter bike with tidy clearances and will probably go with Gatorskins.

Postscript: Halfords in the UK have Schwalbe Marathon Plus in 35c at half price (£17 instead of £34) so I've grabbed a pair.

evanessny

Hey do you use Rema patches? I haven'y patched many tubes lately, always had Rema sitting around so thqt's what I would use. Back when I was buying bike stuff years ago Rema were the go to kit (all the bikeshops used to sell them), but now I see there are lots of others: Park, Nashbar, Zefal and some one on Amazon I never heard of before, malfede

evanessny

Hey do you use Rema patches? I haven'y patched many tubes lately, always had Rema sitting around so thqt's what I would use. Back when I was buying bike stuff years ago Rema were the go to kit (all the bikeshops used to sell them), but now I see there are lots of others: Park, Nashbar, Zefal and some one on Amazon I never heard of before, malfede

Also apologies for the duplicate post. Haven't used a forum in years. I thought quick replies automatically quoted the person to whom you were replying. Will look at pinned instructions, lol

rekmeyata

I only use Rema patches, but I'm sure the others are basically the same, they all look like the same patch and they use the same type of glue. So why do I use Rema? They've been around ever since I first started riding over 45 years ago, and they were around a lot longer before I started using them.

soyabean

I've pulled out some really old Tuffys from used bikes I buy, and although they were still in good shape, they look and feel a little different than the brand new ones makes today.

My bet is that they aren't the same as 20 yrs ago. I have them in all my personal bikes/ebikes and never lost a tube.

rekmeyata

That's actually good to know because I was considering getting the Ultralight version for my touring bike, so thanks for that info. What I did years ago when I used to use the regular MrTuffy was to coat the inside of the tire, the Mr Tuffy liner, and the tube with baby powder and never again had a flat caused by the liner rubbing the tube, so I will be doing that with the new liners.

myemptymind

Continental Gatorback Hardshell = no more flats.

rekmeyata

Not necessarily true, I got flats with them from Goathead thorns. In fact the only tire I found that a Goathead could not penetrate was the Specialized Armadillo All Condition Pro, I didn't try the Schwalbe Marathon Plus HS 440, those Schwalbe tires are suppose to be flat-less according to the manufacture, I no longer live in Goathead country so I don't need that kind of flat resistant tire, but I would wager a bet that the Schwalbe tire is probably better than the Specialized, and certainly better than anything Conti has or any other manufacture has currently on the market.

myemptymind

So far so good on the Conti Gatorback Hardshell, The specialized armadillo looks good, Ill try that next if the Conti's don't work out. Never tried the Schwalbe either so ill look into that as well.
Ive used Conti Gatorbacks on most my bikes in the past with good results. Goat heads are a different breed though, lol.

rekmeyata

I don't know how good the new Spec Armadillo is because they lightened the tire by about 200 grams to 395 grams which is 100 grams more than the Gator back, not sure where the weight came off, but they seem to have remained highly punctured resistant from what I've read.

LarrySellerz

Thicc slicks or gator skins

rekmeyata

What has your experience been with the Thickslicks?

LarrySellerz

Don't have any, but they are good if you skid. I suggested them because they are cheap and durable. They suck for rolling resistance

rekmeyata

How do you know about the rolling resistance? The rolling resistance site didn't test those tires, so is there another site that did?
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/ is the only site I could find, and not one test concerning any WTB brand of tire.

LarrySellerz

Just word on the street, thick slicks are garbage for performance in terms of rolling resistance, weight, and grip on the road, but they are super thicc and won't puncture. Plus the kids will think you are cool, but roadies will laugh at you. They probably didn't bother testing them because anyone worried about rolling resistance (roadies) wouldn't touch them

rekmeyata

WTB Thickslick Tires Clincher user reviews : 4.5 out of 5 - 6 reviews - roadbikereview.com

LarrySellerz

Dude if you wanna run thick slicks all power to you, but unless you are skidding on a fixie you would probably be better off with another tire just because the thick slicks are extra thicc for the skids. That thiccness comes with compromises that most roadies or performance minded cyclists would not like.

rekmeyata

Dude, I never said I wanted to run those tires, I'm simply providing reviews that say that those tires aren't as bad as you, or your crowd of people you know that use or used them say they are, that's all. There is no mention on that review of using them to skid with, I doubt on a road tire there would be that much rubber and keeping it under 500 grams that it would be of much use to skid with, the review also said they had great traction in the rain, and regular surface traction improved a lot over a few break in miles, crap the Schwalbe Marathon HS440 weighs around 600 grams. I think for the money if someone is looking for a long-lasting puncture resistant tire without spending $60 a tire for it would not go wrong with a set of WTB ThickSlick tires for $65 for a PAIR. Besides, ALL highly puncture resistant tires with high mileage rubber will suck at rolling resistance. So, tires like that are designed for the commuter who wants to have as few flats as possible, so they're willing to give up weight and rolling resistance to achieve that, and some may want to achieve that without spending a lot of money to do so, now they have that option.

LarrySellerz

Youre right, but just pointing out that thick slicks were made for fixed gear bikes that skid much more than bikes with freewheels. One could run thick slicks on a commuter (I might ironically as a super weird flex) but the rubber is thicker than you need if you aren't going to skid.

rekmeyata

Keep in mind, that the thicker rubber is part of the ThickSlicks puncture protection system, so no, it's not thicker than needed.

Pugs2xLove

Vittoria Randonneur. I've put several thousand miles into several set of these tire brand and no flat. Only had 1 incident with a busted valve but so far so good other than the normal wear.