Cycling UK Forum

Very useful link. I never knew that. I always thought you inflated both tryes to the maximum pressure. Time to get the bathroom scales out and weigh the bike.

First ride on the Marathon tyres with a much reduced pressure in the front tyre. Much better response from the front end. The Tyres felt good as well, not too hard a ride and they didn't slow me down at all.

Glad I have found this forum, very helpful.

A general comment rather than a specific one - whilst it is tempting to write off the performance of a tyre because of a puncture after a short period of time, it may be "just one of those things".

When I got a new road bike in 2008 it had Gatorskins fitted. I had a bad puncture, probably caused by glass on a very wet ride, after about 3 weeks, writing off the tyre. I replaced it like-for-like and that has proved to be the only one I had caused by something penetrating the tyre (I also replaced 1 Gatorskin in 2009 as a precautionary measure due to sidewall damage & had a few pinch flats too, at least in part, due to failing to maintain adequate tyre pressure) until autumn 2012 when I swapped to Grand Prix 4 Seasons in (primarily to maximise winter grip plus being able to run 28mm for extra comfort at the same weight). No punctures in those either apart from 1 pinch flat & one case of sidewall damage. I probably rode in excess of 10,000 miles (not with the same pair of tyres but with the same make, model & size) on the Gatorskins. I don't think I'm gentle with my tyres either and will ride off road and/or carrying stuff quite regularly.

Rick.

Schwalbe M+ for puncture resistance every time - I know there are other tyres out there, but I've done thousands of miles on them in a variety of sizes and suffered one flat which was an inner tube perishing

They do give a fairly dull ride, but experiment with pressure using a gauge and how they feel when riding - ignore what the tyre feels like if you pinch/squeeze/squash it, wet handling has never really been a big issue for what I do

Alternatively I've used tyre liners (Zefal do them in a variety of sizes) and Stans Sealant inside the tubes on my last bike (29er SS MTB) and even running at stupidly low pressures managed to evade the attention of the puncture fairy

Another vote for M+.

I have had them on a Gazelle Davos for 8 years. This machine has roller brakes, hub dynamo and Nexus 8 gears, so anything that requires either wheel to be removed is devoutly to be avoided.

I use the Davos over some challenging surfaces and, like a lot of places these days, the gutters are brimful with auto bolts and broken glass; but so far, so good. The tyres make for a harsh ride, even with suspension forks and seatpost, but their resistance more than compensates.

They are an absolute b********r to get on the rim! though.

Suffolker wrote:the gutters are brimful with auto bolts and broken glass

Another good reason not to ride in them then

I've had very good luck with Panasonic Ribmos. Here's my back tire after 4500 miles of touring and I still wasn't getting flats.

What ^ he said,we too have had good service from Ribmos on the tandems,hard wearing long lasting and very puncture resistant.