Author Topic: Puncture resistant 700c tyres - NOT Marathon Plus (Read 10924 times)

CAMRAMan · « **on:** 26 May, 2011, 02:54:19 pm »

OK, so I tried fitting my M+'s last week and had an explosive blowout on my Alex G2000 rims. AFAIK, I did everything right when fitting them, but they just would not seat properly.

So, can you recommend any puncture-resistant tyres that offer some tread? I'll be using it on my all-rounder, and that means canal towpaths will be on the menu, so a degree of off road grip is important. Do GatorSkins offer that? If not, any other recommendations?

One final point: I'd like something 700c x 35 or thereabouts.

TIA

tiermat · « **Reply #1 on:** 26 May, 2011, 02:57:54 pm »

Conti City-Contacts or City Rides? weigh about the same as M/M+ and are relatively cheap.

Or Conti GP4S.

32 or 37mm for the City tyres, GP4S only go up to 28mm

rafletcher · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 May, 2011, 03:06:33 pm »

Andygates recommends these from his lejog Shwalbe Marathon Supremes

Exit Stage Left · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 May, 2011, 03:07:44 pm »

Panaracer have range of urban tyres.
Panaracer: Professional Bike Tires from Panasonic | Urban

vorsprung · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 May, 2011, 03:18:57 pm »

Gatorskins, Conti GP4 Season and Pasellas are OK but not the same as M+

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 May, 2011, 03:20:37 pm »

Thanks for the tips.

I'm currently using Schwalbe Land Cruisers, if that helps. They offer plenty of grip, but do not keep the fairy at bay...

clarion · « **Reply #6 on:** 26 May, 2011, 03:32:31 pm »

Durano Plus doesn't come in 35s

Andrew Br · « **Reply #7 on:** 26 May, 2011, 04:12:35 pm »

I'm using 35mm Marathon Extremes on my tourer/off-road bike. (Picture is pre-Rohloff conversion):-

09-08-12 Extremes 2 by Chocolatebike1, on Flickr

They grip well on and off the tarmac and they roll reasonably well.
I've had one deflation in ~2500 miles and that was due to a dodgy valve.
They're easy to fit/remove as well (mine are folders).

I really rate them.

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 May, 2011, 05:32:04 pm »

The Extremes look good, but, eek! the price!

So, as a parsimonious alternative to all these rather dear tyres - good though they no doubt are - what about if I keep my perfectly serviceable & new tyres (Schwalbe Land Cruisers & Delta Cruisers) and fit Slime inner tubes?

Are they any good? I searched but couldn't see anything in The Knowledge.

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 May, 2011, 03:16:05 pm »

Quote from: A Warwickshire Lad on 27 May, 2011, 05:32:04 pm

The Extremes look good, but, eek! the price!

So, as a parsimonious alternative to all these rather dear tyres - good though they no doubt are - what about if I keep my perfectly serviceable & new tyres (Schwalbe Land Cruisers & Delta Cruisers) and fit Slime inner tubes?

Are they any good? I searched but couldn't see anything in The Knowledge.

Just realised, I'll have to bump this as modifying it won't move it.

Biggsy · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 May, 2011, 04:04:10 pm »

Slime and the like: it works sometimes, not always.

If it was my bike I'd give the M+s another chance. Perhaps some extra rim tape will help if they're otherwise too loose on your rims.

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 May, 2011, 04:17:31 pm »

Sorry Biggsy, I was doing everything right with the M+'s, AFAIK, & they will be sold on. It was a case of the beads not sitting right on the rim and no matter how hard I tried, they just wouldn't go on until BANG!

The Marathon Extremes look like the right profile, but I can't afford £70 for a pair right now (am on the dole), so I'll take the (much) cheaper option IF it works.

FWIW, my nemesis recently has purely been the hawthorns, so if the Slime tubes will seal that kind of puncture well, it's a go.

Andrew Br · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 May, 2011, 06:04:43 pm »

My experience of slime tubes is mixed.
I didn't have a puncture for ages with them (can't remember which Schwalbe tyres) but, when I did have the puncture, the tube had to be binned.
Worst feature was that the slime tended to settle at the bottom of the tyre when the bike wasn't used for a period of time. Riding it didn't seem to spread the Slime out evenly again.

If Extremes are out of the question (and I appreciate that they are exactly the opposite of cheap, I bought mine as part of £3000+ Ti bike so the tyre price was just noise) then how about the Slime rim liners (or similar) ? They'll give you some extra protection in the tread region. I have also used these and didn't suffer any punctures but I didn't do a huge distance on that bike.

FWIW, the current fleet (3 bikes) have 35mm Marathon Supremes, 35mm Marathon Extremes and 25mm Gatorskins. Jury is still out on the latter since that bike only did ~200 miles before it went back for "modification".
I recommend Supremes and Extremes

.

BrianI · « **Reply #13 on:** 31 May, 2011, 08:56:31 am »

Currently both my steeds ron Bontrager tyres:

23mm Bonty Race X-Lite hard case tyres on the road bike (wich hasn't been used much at all so far this year.....)

On my tourer I've currently got 32mm Bonty race light hard case tyres.

Not any tread on them, but are quite fast.

CrinklyLion · « **Reply #14 on:** 31 May, 2011, 09:11:44 am »

I know nothing like enough to be strongly opinionated about tyres, but I also have Bontrager Racelite hardcases on the Very Lovely Valencia, and have found them to be reasonably resistant. I wore out the 32s that she came with - well, the rear one got a few cuts in them that I wasn't happy to run with any longer - after somewhere between 3 and 4 thousand miles including plenty on the glass-covered cyclepaths and thorny lanes of York or thereabouts-ish. 2 deflations in that time, one was a monster hawthorn that made it straight through (and showed me the value of the hardcases at preventing a snakebite!) and one hole that appeared whilst she was locked up in a school bike shed, which I suspect may have been scrote-inflicted. The first time I had the tyre off I really struggled to get it back on, but after that it was fine. I don't ride fast enough (or have a lot to compare with) to be able to have much of a view about grippiness or how fast rolling they are, but they are relatively cheap.

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #15 on:** 31 May, 2011, 05:04:45 pm »

Not that it's an issue right now, but in our usual damp climate, I need a fair bit of track on canal towpaths. Even on dry, compacted mud, good tread helps. That's why I went from Schwalbe Slicks to Land Cruisers, the latter having a raised central track with hefty tread on the sides, but not being too heavy. I like them a lot, but they gave very little protection against punctures despite having an anti-puncture rating.

On the Schwalbe Slicks riding on canal towpaths was hairy, as the lack of tread meant I'd weave out of control on the slightest patch of rutted mud. This is not good when a canal is less than a metre away. Speed is less of an issue for me than grip.

Ham · « **Reply #16 on:** 01 June, 2011, 08:33:40 am »

Quote from: A Warwickshire Lad on 31 May, 2011, 05:04:45 pm

On the Schwalbe Slicks riding on canal towpaths was hairy, as the lack of tread meant I'd weave out of control on the slightest patch of rutted mud. This is not good when a canal is less than a metre away.

A heartfelt +1 from here, but then I have an addiction to slicks on my commuting bikes. The Kojacs on the Pompetamine seem OK, but not as good as the Conti Sport contacts.

numbnuts · « **Reply #17 on:** 01 June, 2011, 08:52:06 am »

Panaracer Crosstowns work for me on my shity country lanes

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #18 on:** 01 June, 2011, 09:16:11 am »

I found Vittoria Randoneur to be pretty good, as long as I didn't over inflate.

BrianI · « **Reply #19 on:** 01 June, 2011, 09:22:06 am »

Forgot to mention that last winter (before it got silly winter with 3 foot deep snow!) I was using 700x32 Continental City Contacts. Reasonably fast tyres, with enough of a tread to go down light off road paths. Only puncture was a very sharp flinted picked up when I cycled past kincardine power station.

I'll probably fit these again or something a bit sturdier for my planned camping tour in the summer! (Or if I decide to do a bit of light off roading on my tourer. The bonty race light hard case are nice tyres for road rides, but not particularly grippy offroad...)

rafletcher · « **Reply #20 on:** 02 June, 2011, 11:39:24 am »

I was musing on this issue on my ride last evening, and the potential efficacy of slime tubes. It seemed to me that the majority of punctures are from 2 sources; sharps such as thorns, splinters or wires, and cutters like small flints and glass.

With sharps, provided one can both see then offending article, and get a firm grip on it to pull it out, then doing so at the lowest point should allow the slime to seal the penetration, and the tyre to be re-inflated.

With cutters IME these tend to "creep" through the carcase, and are not readily vissible in the tyre, nor easily removeable externally, so slime won't really help as any cut in the tube sealed is likey to re-occur shortly thereafter.

In either case the solution would seem to be a tyre with substantial tread depth, wiich tends to prevent penetration by virtue of the thickness of rubber over the majority of the contact area of the tyre.

Maybe.

CAMRAMan · « **Reply #21 on:** 02 June, 2011, 04:57:22 pm »

Thanks for all the tips.

Penury/parsimony means I have bought a couple of Slime tubes and will fit them to the Orion.

My recent punctures have all been of the thorny variety, so I hope to keep the fairy at bay, but will report back.

£11 from fleabay for 2, £8 from Halfrauds for one...