Folding Tyre - Dawes Super Galaxy

[Shawnee]

Hi

I'm going touring in France this year and was thinking of adding a folding tyre to my kit.

I just wanted to know if many people include a folding tyre in their kit?

Could anyone please point me in the right direction of which one to buy for a 2011 Super Galaxy, I'm hoping never to use it but just want to be prepared.

Thanks

[meic]

I carry one for when I will have no access to shops and/or no time to wait for them to open.
Then it often just gets left on the bike, never been needed in 46,000 miles.

There are two ways to go. A very light 23mm tyre (230g) which isnt suitable for the bike but will enable you keep moving until you can buy a proper tyre. Or a suitable tyre at 400-500g.

It may seem a better idea to carry the suitable one but I dont think so.

If you fit the spare will you then buy another spare? So in fact the spare will only ever be used as an emergency measure.
Most people will not even bother carrying the 230g of a spare as it isnt that likely to be needed, why double that dead weight?

Another angle is that I would choose to have three lightweight tyres like Paselas than two heavyweight "reliable" tyres like Marathons, the three weigh less and are nicer to ride.

[nmnm]

Excellent advice from Meic re getting the lightest.

I don't take a spare tyre in France - it's a rare breakdown (on road, anyway, and if your tyres are newish), normally bodgable, and spares are available from lots of places in France (bigger supermarkets, bike shops) with only a short delay. I do have a Park tyre boot, like a big sticky plastic patch for dealing with split tyres, but I'd rather have the £3 back tbh as I haven't used the boot in 20 years and, most times, a bit of cardboard would do the trick.

[meic]

I just realised something, I have a 23mm tyre because I do have bikes that can use them.
I dont think that I would buy such a tyre to only ever be used as a spare (even though that is how it has turned out, for now at least). Getting hold of somebody's retired 23mm would be OK.

Also 23mm is OK for road use, for any extended time on rough surfaces I would want thicker.

The 23mm could also be put on the front, moving the tyres if needed to give it the easier life.

[Big T]

We tour with a Specialized Borough 32mm folding tyre as a spare. It folds flat and lives in the bottom of one of the panniers. No idea how much it weighs, but it doesn't take up much room, so no trouble to take it along.
I did once fit it as a replacement front tyre, but I didn't like the noise it makes as you ride along, so it has reverted to the emergency spare.

[Ambler]

I have a 35mm Marathon Supreme for this purpose, but in my case tours of decent length have yet to start.
I have a 2011 super galaxy, which came with 32mm marathons.

[RickH]

I've light toured with up to about 10kg luggage on 25mm Conti Gator folders & carry a spare (in case of mishaps - but the only time it got used was to lend to someone else until we got to a bike shop), so they will go the distance even if not in armchair comfort Quoted weight is 250g each. I notice on the Conti Gators page they now list up to 32mm folders (@ 325g), but haven't spotted any on sale.

Rick.

[robgul]

Tyre boot - about 8 - 10" of an old worn tyre with the wire bead cut off.

Weighs nothing, will get you out of trouble for most situations (assuming you are not riding on worn out/vulnerable tyres to start with. (and a big puncture kit patch on the inside of the tyre will deal with quite large slits and holes)

Rob

[Richard Barrett]

Conti Gator 25c foldable for me; the same tyre that I use for light touring and if you think it's heavy at 250gm or whatever, diet for a day

[Wesh-Laurence]

You're touring not road racing. A couple of grams of weight here or there is not that important.

To state the obvious the "spare tyre" needs to be a folding tyre (non wire bead). It also needs to be the correct width for your wheel rims. The spare I carry is a Maxxis Detonator 700x25c, which doesn't match the tyres I usually use on my bike.

What are the tyres on the bike currently and what are the width of your wheel rims?

[bigjim]

I've never carried a spare tyre and personally could never see the need in western Europe. Although the LBS shop is thin on the ground in France for some reason but there is usually a Decathlon knocking about somewhere.
Plus most of the large supermarkets stock a good bike range. I was amazed in one small town that the Supermarket stocked rear mechs!

[meic]

How about a weekend tour when your tyre blows Saturday morning, you cant get to a bike shop until after they close. No bike shop on Sunday (except Halfords) and around here no buses either.

Or some more adventurous tours riding overnight.

I could certainly see the possible need, that is why I put one on my frame. It is just that the likelihood of needing it is very slight. Coincidentally the very first time that I did take it one of my group wrecked a tyre and the whole tour would have been finished for them if their buddy hadnt had one on board.

[bigjim]

Living with a what if, or my tour is ruined mentality, you may as well tow another bike behind you. Just in case.
There is always a solution. I'd stick my thumb out and hitch a lift if I was that stuck. It's not as if we are in Outer Mongolia. Even then I'd kip in a yurt for a while. Part of the adventure IMO.
Sorry not convinced about carrying all these spares. I've got enough problems hauling my sorry Ass up hills without adding to the load.
Still everybody to their own I guess.

[meic]

On the whole, I agree with you.

However do you carry a puncture repair kit? I do

and a small spanner, a multi tool, one inner tube, a powerlink and a pump.

Then on big journeys a hypercracker and two spokes and when riding through the night a 230g spare tyre.

There is something between nothing and carrying a whole spare bike.

I have never had to use the spare tyre* , hypercracker or spokes. On occasions when I might have done so, I actually preferred to limp back home to the comfort of my workshop instead.
I agree each to their own and I certainly dont believe that you can carry any number of 250g "things" in case as they only weigh 250g each. The spare tyre actually started for a special case ride and then just got left on the bike.

*except once when I set off with a tyre that I knew had a problem and packed the spare specifically for that reason.

[andrewjoseph]

i've got a folding ribmo in my panniers. I used it on our end to end when we had a puncture in driving rain. much easier to stick a new tube and tyre than fiddle about with frozen wet fingerstrying to ensure the glass/thorn/wire, is completely removed, only to find you missed something and you have another flat in 5 mins.

time enough in the evening to sort out tyre and patch tube.