Constant Puncture's - UPDATE GETTING THESE TYRES

[reohn2]

I'd go for ordinary Marathons,I've never had any trouble fitting, them on 26inch rims (or 700c for that matter).They roll well offer good puncture protection and last (at least 5000miles on a solo).Either 1.5 or 1.75 will do the job well.We've been running them in 26in and 700c sizes on the tandems for ages with practically no punctures inflate on a solo to 65psi for 1.75in and 70psi for 1.5in

They are cheaper here:- http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 6s142p1092

[papacojones]

How do you put your tyre on when doing the repair. Using tyre levers to put the last bit of bead over the rim will often pinch the tube. This would usually manifest itself immediately but if you don't actually penetrate the tube the problem may show later.

I would always use hands only to fit a tyre. Maybe you know this already but its a common noob error and I thought it worth mentioning.

As others have said its unlikely to just be bad luck.Good tyres are great investment imo and narrower slicks would transform you bike for street use imo.

Cheers. P

[London Rider]

I'd go for ordinary Marathons,I've never had any trouble fitting, them on 26inch rims (or 700c for that matter).They roll well offer good puncture protection and last (at least 5000miles on a solo).Either 1.5 or 1.75 will do the job well.We've been running them in 26in and 700c sizes on the tandems for ages with practically no punctures inflate on a solo to 65psi for 1.75in and 70psi for 1.5in

They are cheaper here:- http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 6s142p1092

Yes good price, thanks for the link reohn2.

[London Rider]

How do you put your tyre on when doing the repair. Using tyre levers to put the last bit of bead over the rim will often pinch the tube. This would usually manifest itself immediately but if you don't actually penetrate the tube the problem may show later.

I would always use hands only to fit a tyre. Maybe you know this already but its a common noob error and I thought it worth mentioning.

As others have said its unlikely to just be bad luck.Good tyres are great investment imo and narrower slicks would transform you bike for street use imo.

Cheers. P

To be honest, I haven't even heard of using tyre levers when putting the tyre back on, I thought they were only for getting the tyre off, so yes I do use my hands to put the tyre back on. But a complete noob I sure am. When I had my first 2 flats I took the bike to halfords because I couldn't even work out how to taker the back wheel off and they do puncture repairs for free based on my bike care plan purchase (£14.99 for one year).

I've not noticed the bike gong any longer without a rear puncture if Halfords did it as opposed to when I do it now. In fact I clearly remember on one occasion when Halfords changed it for me, no one at Halfords actually inspected the tyre for damage, they just replaced the inner tube.

The last time I changed the tube I anally inspected the tyre for ages so I think I've got a handle on that apsect and I can't see anything wrong with the rim, although I can't be 100% as I simply don't have the experience of knowing what a 100% good rim looks like, although maybe I could just compare my back rim (that has all the punctures) with my front rim (never had a puncture).

In any event, I feel new tyres are needed for other reasons too, so thanks for the help everyone

[papacojones]

I haven't even heard of using tyre levers when putting the tyre back on

You would be amazed how many people do it-and wonder where their punctures come from.
You can actually put on a really tight tyre with a lever by slightly inflating inner tube before using levers. A last resort though imo.

Halfords staff can vary from good to uselessly dangerous. Just depends who you get.

I have 28mm Gator skins on my Carrera Subway. They roll really fast (road racers use em as training tyres) and in my experience they are very durable and grippy in the wet.Might be a bit narrow for some mtb rims. I think Wiggle were doing a deal on a pair with tubes a while back.

Best of luck
Papa.

[meic]

All of those tyres should be OK. Most of the answers that you will get will reflect OUR riding styles, preferences and wallets.

Personally for similar usage I am using Continental Ultragators 28 559, which is 26" x 1.2 but your rims may not allow such small tyres.
I have another pair of wheels with 1.5" front and 1.75" rear for rougher terain and slippy leaves and mud you get this time of year.

If your rims will take the small size and you dont go ramming kerbs there is no need to exceed 1.5" I feel that my 1.75" Marathon could hit a brick wall and the wheel would remain intact.
Standard Marathon 1.75" come on and off my rims easy peasy by the way. It is only the Plus that have a reputation for being difficult.

Marathons are an excellent utillity tyre, tough as can be and long lasting.
Panaracers are a much nicer tyre, faster and easier to ride.
Marathon Plus are as near puncture proof as you will get.

Dont be tempted by the inserts you can buy to put inside the tyres for puncture resistance. In my experience they cause more than they prevent.

[Swizz69]

Got Vittoria Randonneur tyres on my mtb - 1.5" wide. Tenner each from Decathlon & no flats so far (roughly 200 miles). They were tight to get over the rims but ride well enough in dry/deluge even when carrying a load.

[London Rider]

All of those tyres should be OK. Most of the answers that you will get will reflect OUR riding styles, preferences and wallets.

Personally for similar usage I am using Continental Ultragators 28 559, which is 26" x 1.2 but your rims may not allow such small tyres.
I have another pair of wheels with 1.5" front and 1.75" rear for rougher terain and slippy leaves and mud you get this time of year.

If your rims will take the small size and you dont go ramming kerbs there is no need to exceed 1.5" I feel that my 1.75" Marathon could hit a brick wall and the wheel would remain intact.
Standard Marathon 1.75" come on and off my rims easy peasy by the way. It is only the Plus that have a reputation for being difficult.
Marathons are an excellent utillity tyre, tough as can be and long lasting.
Panaracers are a much nicer tyre, faster and easier to ride.
Marathon Plus are as near puncture proof as you will get.

Dont be tempted by the inserts you can buy to put inside the tyres for puncture resistance. In my experience they cause more than they prevent.

Thanks Meic, very useful post for me all round, am particularly interested in the part I've bolded. I think that must be the case and that's also what is represented on other things I have stumbled across today (it's the pluses that are the buggers to fit)

[niggle]

Schwalbe City Jets--> Good deal here, £31.28 for x2 tyres and x2tubes. Size is 26 x1.50
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwa ... 300003751/

One thing to note re the deal: they only have Presta valve tubes left in stock which will not be suitable as a direct replacement for the more common MTB tubes with Schraeder (i.e. car type) valves as the hole in the rim will be too large which can lead to the tube tearing at the base of the valve (dont ask me how I know ). You can get the tyres without tubes for £26.98 from Wiggle and buy Schraeder tubes from your usual source.

Also if you have a Tesco Extra near you they are doing suitable very cheap tubes at the moment and the quality seems OK to me: I have one on the back of my MTB and it looked better than the Cheng Shin it replaced, being thicker and and generally more solid feeling. Weird thing is I bought mine at Tesco for £1.87, then the price shot up to £4 which seemed too much, then it went back down to £2.20?!

[London Rider]

Schwalbe City Jets--> Good deal here, £31.28 for x2 tyres and x2tubes. Size is 26 x1.50
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwa ... 300003751/

One thing to note re the deal: they only have Presta valve tubes left in stock which will not be suitable as a direct replacement for the more common MTB tubes with Schraeder (i.e. car type) valves as the hole in the rim will be too large which can lead to the tube tearing at the base of the valve (dont ask me how I know ). You can get the tyres without tubes for £26.98 from Wiggle and buy Schraeder tubes from your usual source.

Also if you have a Tesco Extra near you they are doing suitable very cheap tubes at the moment and the quality seems OK to me: I have one on the back of my MTB and it looked better than the Cheng Shin it replaced, being thicker and and generally more solid feeling. Weird thing is I bought mine at Tesco for £1.87, then the price shot up to £4 which seemed too much, then it went back down to £2.20?!

Thanks for that Niggle, nice of you to take the time in pointing that out. I will watch out for that issue with the valves. Interesting about Tesco will take a gander. Thanks again for your input here.

[London Rider]

Hi everyone. Well since my last post in this thread, I've done about 100miles commuting and had one puncture (again on back tyre). This was 2-days ago. A very small (tiny!!!) thorn caused a tiny hole in tube.

I can see the back tyre is more worn than front and on a small area of back tyre some of the fabric is showing on tyre. I calculate these tyres have only done about 600 miles in total!

Anyway, I've decided to plump for these, do you think it's a good deal? They seem cheaper on this site than other sites

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=35796

I was wondering if I should go for the 1.5" or 1.75" any suggestions? My tyres are currently 1.95" on 26" wheels and I only use my MTB for commuting on London roads.

Thanks

[papacojones]

I was wondering if I should go for the 1.5" or 1.75" any suggestions? My tyres are currently 1.95" on 26" wheels and I only use my MTB for commuting on London roads.

I would go for the 1.5 myself. This is the widest tyre I would even consider for any road use except heavy touring.

I always use conti tyres myself and have never had a bad one though I have never used this model.

I personally think that semi slick tyres are a bit of a gimmick. It is well proven that slick tyres are the grippiest under almost all road conditions. Grooves on car and motorcycle tyres are there to prevent aquaplaning at speed. You would need to be doing about 150mph(don't know exact figure but its beyond the realms of normal cycling) to get a bike to aquaplane.Full slicks are safer imo.(Watch out on wet grass though).

Those tyres would be a massive improvement over mtb tyres however and they are cheap. -Conti have a reputation for good tyres and I couldn't see em making a lemon.(Stranger things have happened though).

Best luck
P

[London Rider]

I was wondering if I should go for the 1.5" or 1.75" any suggestions? My tyres are currently 1.95" on 26" wheels and I only use my MTB for commuting on London roads.

I would go for the 1.5 myself. This is the widest tyre I would even consider for any road use except heavy touring.

I always use conti tyres myself and have never had a bad one though I have never used this model.

I personally think that semi slick tyres are a bit of a gimmick. It is well proven that slick tyres are the grippiest under almost all road conditions. Grooves on car and motorcycle tyres are there to prevent aquaplaning at speed. You would need to be doing about 150mph(don't know exact figure but its beyond the realms of normal cycling) to get a bike to aquaplane.Full slicks are safer imo.(Watch out on wet grass though).

Those tyres would be a massive improvement over mtb tyres however and they are cheap. -Conti have a reputation for good tyres and I couldn't see em making a lemon.(Stranger things have happened though).

Best luck
P

Thanks and agreed. Thanks for posting

[reohn2]

I'd go for the 1.5"(40mm) too,keep them inflated to about 65/70psi.

[niggle]

They look a sound enough choice and a million times better than your current ones.