6 punctures in 16 months, help!

[Smurf2]

Hi guys. While I leave in village, I drove my bmx and othet bikes almost all my childhood, I can't remember when I puncture the tire. If there was, it was very rare.

Now, when I bought this M bike (7.2022.), converted in E-bike, in 16 months I puncture REAR tire 6 times! Yes, I ride more than ever now, about 50 km at good weather day. I have around 63-65 kg. Battery is think 4KG. ODO 4.480km.

My all 6 rear punctures:
1) 22.7.22. (Kenda gravel) Used tires which come with bike. At the bridge, all I saw is metal wire bellow me.

Then I think I need new tires. Brother told me buy 1.75, you will be faster. I bought Vittoria:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vittoria-Randonneur-26x1-75-Rigid-Refl/dp/B07RMHZ649

2)14.9.22. (Vittoria)
Found a nail on speed bump (pic a)).

3) 3.4.23.(Vittoria)Found a piece of straight metal on the road (pic b)).

I saw that this tire too thin so I search better solution. I want to go on max width size tire. In local shop recommend Continental tires "Traffic II"! That tires are very hard move with hands. They look very hard and thick. I said that is it ! But they look too expensive :/

So they recommend me Race King tires. Saw that "RK Protection" tire have extra protection, and from sight, but I don't need from sight!

Then found similar and cheaper normal tires - "Race King SKIN" (26x2.0), for which told me in shop that are stronger for punctures too(than others), and no one tire prevent 100%! Then I bought them!

But after I order them I saw in hands that are too soft (not hard like Traffic II) tires. I mean, maybe will be good.

4) 22.5.23. (Race King) Four puncture are little strange. I go faster and not straight, but from the side on entry in the yard (see pictures c) & d)) It seems "rim cut".

5)14.9.23.(Race King)My last puncture, a little piece of glass. Very rainy day, drive on water (pic e)).

6)22.11.23.(Race King) At river bridge. Piace of stone.

How I am drive then? You can check here in details:

E-bike without rear disc mount

Hi. I build my ebike started from forum here: https://endless-sphere.com/sphere/threads/help-me-build-e-bike-mtb.116704/page-4 It is more than 1 year and working fine, for now. I noticed that my rear rim start wear and create a little channel. So, before I destroy it, I want switch to...

endless-sphere.com

After every puncture I am learning and adapting my drive (no more fast over speed bumps etc.).

Feeling strange:
In really hot weather, on these tires, I have been felling that they will "melt" itself, and when go down from bridge I am braking because feeling that something is not alright. I pump tire on 4.0 bars now, but still when cross over a little tiny stone, have feeling like my rim touch that stone, like my tire not pump too much, understand? Tire so thin like I drive on pastry. And feeling like tire wobbling and will go out (not rim). Feeling like rim close to ground.

Maybe is just my feeling and fear by remembering of lasts punctures, don't know Maybe is just when is really hot? I had drive other normal MTB and never that feeling..

But what you recommend me? Is there will be help of Puncture Protection Strip installation (like ZEFAL Z-Liner), can be maybe help against tiny glass, thorn, etc.?

What tire you heard that is thicker and good at preventing puncture?

 

[scianiac]

There are tons of solutions and somewhere around here there is a thread talking about many of them but I can't seem to recall what it was called. Anyway I've been using some Tannus Armor inserts for awhile now and so far have liked them, I can't say how well they work against piecing punctures but they are very good at preventing pinch flats as I've put them through hell over rocks at too low tire pressures and some flats (the flats were due to ripping the valve stems which is what happens when you try and put 5kw through and old tire at low pressure). They are heavy of course but in many ebike applications we don't care so much about weight and we're already talking about heavy tires anyway.

I did have an idea the other day that may come in handy for someone who gets punctures often. Of course combined with tough tires and inserts, these new TPU tubes are so light and thin it would be pretty easy to install two of them into a tire, one of them inflated as normal and a backup tube that is uninflated against the rim. Then if you get a puncture from something like a nail that was able to break through the protection you could remove the nail and just inflate the backup tube and be on your way. Only real modification would be drilling a 2nd valve stem hole. Both tubes would probably weigh about the same as one standard rubber tube.

 

[From-A-To-B]

Lots of people like using Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires because they're 5mm thick through the tread. I read somewhere on ES that "tougher tire carcasses" and "hard rubber compounds" work well until they don't -- and everyone seems to pick up staples or a nail at some point in time. It's little wires from exploded tires on the side of the road that seem to get me most often.

Cars, mopeds, and motorcycles solve this problem by throwing more rubber on the road -- the tread is so thick that small pokey bits just can't make it all the way through. I use Marathon Plus tires and I've still gotten flats, but they're fewer and farther between than with other tires. To add more rubber, I bought extra thick tubes to accompany them. I was waiting until my next flat to install the extra thick tubes, but I've been flat-free for the last 1,000 miles so I haven't mounted them yet. I'd be happy if I could keep my flats to one per year.

Other people use various tire liners and goop with mixed results. Some people love these solutions, some people don't care for them. Can't comment, myself. The extra weight of hub motors and heavy ebikes are working against us when it comes to puncture resistance.

 

[amberwolf]

Lots of posts with varied solutions posted over the years. See these searches

Search results for query: flat tube

endless-sphere.com

Search results for query: puncture tube

endless-sphere.com

Search results for query: flats tire

endless-sphere.com

for some of my posts, which will lead you to threads about it.

 

[Chalo]

I read somewhere on ES that "tougher tire carcasses" and "hard rubber compounds" work well until they don't -- and everyone seems to pick up staples or a nail at some point in time. It's little wires from exploded tires on the side of the road that seem to get me most often.

Here's the last item that gave me a flat:


It went in through the tread, and out through the sidewall. Passed through a Kevlar belt, 5mm breaker belt, and Tannus Armour on the way. That's the breaks.

 

[Diggs]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires

+1 for the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires!
Over 7,000 miles of open road riding without a flat (knock on wood as we say in the US).

 

[2old]

+1 for the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires!
Over 7,000 miles of open road riding without a flat (knock on wood as we say in the US).

+2; I rode my rear hubbie for five years without a flat (fortunately most flats in "the OC" are caused by "goat heads" and the Marathon either repelled or absorbed them.

 

[batteryGOLD]

What tire you heard that is thicker and good at preventing puncture?

Hi there. no tyre is bullet proof! unless tyre is made of steal mesh. maybe could add a steal mesh inside tyre
or just use bicycle tubeless foam..

some people use slime for tyres air tube extra protection, but it will get into a dirty mess..

 

[From-A-To-B]

Here's the last item that gave me a flat:
It went in through the tread, and out through the sidewall. Passed through a Kevlar belt, 5mm breaker belt, and Tannus Armour on the way. That's the breaks.

YIKES. Yeah -- nothing was going to stop that from getting through, including a car tire. Y'all have some mean roads down there in Austin.

+1 for the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires!
Over 7,000 miles of open road riding without a flat (knock on wood as we say in the US).

+2; I rode my rear hubbie for five years without a flat (fortunately most flats in "the OC" are caused by "goat heads" and the Marathon either repelled or absorbed them.

7K miles // 5 years without a flat is incredible -- Marathon Pluses are the best tires I've ever ridden on, and I still get a flat every 2-3,000 miles (which is fine by me -- knock on wood!). I roll with them on both my analog and digital bikes. They're certainly heavy, but I like how well they grip the road and repel punctures. And they roll pretty well as long as I keep the air topped up towards 60PSI. How many miles are you getting out of a set of tires before replacement?

 

[lnanek]

Technically there's memory metal tires/tubes now where that would have just poked in-between the loops of spiral metal harmlessly:

Cycling — The SMART Tire Company

www.smarttirecompany.com

Their Kickstarter was like $5k a tire, though, so sticking to thick rubber and Flat out here.

 

[Diggs]

How many miles are you getting out of a set of tires before replacement?

2-3,000 miles for the rear which I find remarkable. The front may have 7,000 miles on it? I don't remember replacing it. I originally had some soft Kendra tires and the rear were gone in 200-300 miles.

 

[Smurf2]

tha puncture nail picture remembers me a movie that I havn't seen yet, but here is tha pic offtopic
is this just crazy?

Please guys, dont't go outside of topics.

Only real modification would be drilling a 2nd valve stem hole

That is awesome idea, but not sure that I will drill a rim which cost hundreds of dollars.

Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires

I will not again use a slick road tires. The roads and obstacles where I going are not for that tires.

Chalo said:
Here's the last item that gave me a flat:

Chalo, I had nail too, see pic. A at post #1.

I saw that peoples install two outer tires with inner tube, how about that?

If I buy strip like ZEFAL Z-Liner, and place 2 layers of strip on inner side of outside tire, I think that can help in metal and glass which stuck in tire, but not going too deep (see my pic b and e at #1), or thorn, right?

 

[Chalo]

YIKES. Yeah -- nothing was going to stop that from getting through, including a car tire. Y'all have some mean roads down there in Austin.

What we have are lots of construction pros who can't be bothered to secure their materials and garbage before hitting the road. Probably eight of my last ten punctures have been nails or construction staples. One time there were about a dozen staples in the tire by the time it went soft.

The rest of the time it's broken glass, because being a dick crosses social and economic classes.

 

[Diggs]

I will not again use a slick road tires.

I wouldn't call them slick but we all have different standards

The Marathon tires can get pretty aggressive but are specialized in their sizes -

 

[circuitsmith]

The regular Schwalbe Marathon (non-plus) and Continental Ride Tour
are lighter and roll easier than the Marathon Plus.

These would go several years between flats for me when I commuted to work on pretty hazardous city streets.

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004T0GCTU

 

[Smurf2]

That is good news. Didn't know that they have a gravel tires too..

Ok, I did a diagnosis of the last tire puncture. Is it possible for a tire to be punctured by a stone? Is that a stone?
I know that is not a metal.
A microscope can be useful here.

Also, I carefully inspected the inside of the tire to make sure there was nothing left behind.

 

[Chalo]

Is it possible for a tire to be punctured by a stone?

Absolutely.

Is that a stone?

Looks like it. Possibly some kind of ceramic.

 

[99t4]

Is it possible for a tire to be punctured by a stone?

Yes, especially moreso with low quality or well worn tires.

Also, if the innertube is undersize for the tire used, it will appear to work fine, but the tube must inflate larger to fill up the extra space, and this extra stretching thins out the tube wall thickness, making it easier for objects to cut thru the (now thinner) material.

 

[Grautuefel]

I'll second the Schwalbe marathon/tannus armour combo. After a period of getting punctures every couple of weeks, I went with this set and haven't had a flat in almost two years. This is with 250kg+ GVM

 

[neptronix]

I used schwalbe marathon pluses and something above that grade, but they only have 7mm of rubber at most.

Nothing short of motorcycle tires ( thicker and harder rubber ) will stop the 10-12mm goatheads that continually puncture tires in my area.

 

[calab]

6mm tubes

Recommend best Ultra Heavy Duty inner tube?

Friends: Which is the best Ultra Heavy Duty inner tube to use in an enduro bike? Where do you all recommend buying them? Migs

www.thumpertalk.com

 

[Chalo]

6mm tubes

Recommend best Ultra Heavy Duty inner tube?

Friends: Which is the best Ultra Heavy Duty inner tube to use in an enduro bike? Where do you all recommend buying them? Migs

www.thumpertalk.com

Well, sure, but thick tubes have probably the worst benefit-to-weight ratio of all the possible measures. Spend the same amount of weight on tire armor or sealant, and you'll likely shrug off the same hazards that can poke through a thick tube like it isn't there.

 

[Smurf2]

99t4 said:
Yes, especially moreso with low quality or well worn tires.

The Race King tires are mentioned as high quality tires and they are expencive.

As you can see, after 2000km in 6 months, the rear tire is much worn than front.
Rear threads in middle are 0.8-1.0 mm, and front 1.8-2.2mm.

Usually my rear tire is punctured between the threads, but this time the stone passed through a big threads.

I always thought that gravel tire with more threads will prottect better, i.e. that the tire will never be punctured at the place where the threads is. But it seems that is not true.

 

[Smurf2]

I study tannus armor a bit. It looks great. Only need smaller inner tube and maybe cutting it, right?

But, is it worth it?
Will it squeeze over time and become useless? (15mm of armor turns to 1??).

The cheapest I found is €62 per tire (with shipping) from AliExpress. That is a lot. If I ever buy it, it will be just one for rear wheel, for now.

 

[lnanek]

The Race King tires are mentioned as high quality tires and they are expencive.

Looking at reviews, they actually score very poorly on puncture resistance. Even the protection version only scores a 29, and there are even weaker versions like performance ones:

Continental Race King Protection Rolling Resistance Review

Rolling resistance and puncture resistance review of a Continental Race King Protection mountain bike tire. Also includes detailed weight and size measurements

www.bicyclerollingresistance.com

More commonly recommended on these forms is the marathon plus, which you can see weighs 300 grams more and scores a 129 on puncture resistance:

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Rolling Resistance Review

Rolling resistance and puncture resistance review of a Schwalbe Marathon Plus touring bike tire. Also includes detailed weight and size measurements

www.bicyclerollingresistance.com

I think since the name is "race" king, it's trying to be a lightweight tire for human powered bicycles running races. Ebikes often need something thicker in my experience.