Thornproof tires

[llile]

This has nothing to do with E-bikes specifically, but all bikes have tires. What is a good brand of thorn-resistant tire?

I am having a lot of flats. Slime really saved me recently - I watched it FIX A HOLE IN THE TIRE with amazement. However, I still need to replace the tube, according to Slime's FAQ.

 

[auraslip]

https://sites.google.com/site/shelbyelectro/design-considerations/recommended-products/tires-and-flat-protection

5,000 flat free miles.

 

[mud2005]

I too want a pucture resistant tire

5 miles from home today and tire went flat. pumped it up and got 1/2 mile before it went flat again. did that over and over until I got home. started looking for puncture resistant tires immediately

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

I have had good luck with the Slime super thick tubes, that are prefilled with slime sealant. I have two or three holes in my current rear tire, and they seal fairly well. I cant run really high pressures without it occasionally leaking, but its been holding up well. Small holes are no issue at all, larger ones DO seal, but its probably not permanent.

I'm probably going to be getting new tires, along with liners. Flats are no fun, I ended up riding several miles on a flat tire on more than one occasion.

 

[Bluefang]

Any large tire with a Kevlar belt in it and a Maxxix downhill tube, and fabric rim tape = No punctures at all. I ride my bike thru a constant party zone 5 days a week to work and back, often over patches of broken glass from cars or bottles and have not had a single puncture in over 6 months. I only check the tires weekly for glass shards and inflation so low maintenance too

Try and stay away from the separate anti-puncture strips you can put in the tire, they often cause more flats then they prevent. Mainly Kevlar inbuilt into the tire and the fabric rim tape = puncture proof, the tube is just bonus

 

[dogman dan]

I ride the worst possible conditions, where my dirt only bike regularly gets a twice a year tube replacement and several hundred 3/4 inch mesquite thorns removed from the tire. How do I keep riding with 50-200 thorns in that tire? Slime, lots of it, using only the chunky 4x4 formula and the thicker thorn resistant tubes. Thin tubes give the slime less surface area to plug up the holes, so the thick tubes are a key part of the system.

Two huge drawbacks, one is the gigantic mess when a tube really rips open, and the second is you cannot ride a low tire with hundreds of 3/4 thorns in the tube. On a low tire, the thorns start ripping through the inner side of the tube, where the centripetal force keeps the slime from working.

But I do ride miles and miles and miles with a huge number of punctures on that dirtbike. In my local desert, the mesquite thorns are scattered everywhere. For these thorns, tire liners and kevlar tires are a joke. Only tons of slime keeps me riding. But for smaller thorns, like the 1/4" goatheads, thick tubes and liners do work.

 

[MikeFairbanks]

Worksman sells airless tires. Don't know how they handle, but might be nice.

 

[mettleramiel]

Don't know about bike stores, but wheelchair dealers can sell you, solid urethane tires, airless foam inserts or double thick tubes and they all come in sizes for bikes too.

The double thick tubes help but obviously you can still go flat. Cost about $25CDN per tube

Urethane tires will never go flat but it adds a bit of weight and they are obviously a much bumpier ride. Cost about $45CDN per tire

Airless foam inserts are the hardest to install and remove, but the are lighter than the urethane and a bit softer ride. Also, you can just keep replacing the outside tire and keep the insert. Cost about $30CDN per insert

 

[dogman dan]

Found one of those airless tires in a used bike I bought. A LOT of more weight. Of course, a quart of slime weighs a bit. I run about double the normal amount, like 10 oz for one tire.

 

[chroot]

+1 I can voucher this!

The CST Cyclop made same company with the Hookworm tires. I have not get any flat tires for almost 1 and half year (roughly over 1500 miles on my Hookworm tires). My friend has CST Cyclop on his ebike and He made well over 3000 miles no flat.

https://sites.google.com/site/shelbyelectro/design-considerations/recommended-products/tires-and-flat-protection

5,000 flat free miles.

 

[Pure]

This used to be a real problem for me. Running kevlar tires with normal tubes I would get flats and have no clue what the hell I ran over. After about the 5th or 6th flat I just put the puncture resistant tubes in and added some slime. Its been well over two years and I've yet to have a flat (knock on wood) and to the best of my knowledge I don't think the slime has ever had to work.

I do ride like I have some sense and avoid hazards like glass as much as possible.

 

[manitu]

why use tubes at all? Ive been using Joe's no-flats rim liners and latex goo for a while , and it works great. Just put the slime in the tire and forget about tubes!
http://www.no-flats.com/ Using UST-compatible rims an tires makes it a no-brainer , but most tires and rims are possible to set up tubeless.

.manitu

 

[dbaker]

Impressive demo, especially where he ice picks through both sides of the tire

 

[alan]

The Michelin Pilot City have 5mm thick armor in the main tread and 2 mm in the sidewalls http://www.michelinbicycletire.com/michelinbicycle/index.cfm?event=pilotcity.view. I get about 3K miles per rear tire, and more per front. Michelin calls the armor Protek, but I think it is Kevlar. Only one I ever got punctured was from a box-cutter style razor blade that made a clean slice. Michelin replaced that tire for free after dealer told them what happened (I didn't even ask!). I was getting punctures every few months on same daily commute route before I switched to the Pilot City. I have over 10K miles on Pilot Citys. I use thin tubes and no slime.

I also concur with the advice to use fabric liner tape, as I was getting lots of tube pinch-flats with the rubber liner.

-- Alan

 

[mud2005]

just got me a pair of better inner tubes from Jenson after getting a flat.
hopefully these + lower tire pressure will prevent flats
I was surprised at how much they weigh though, quite heavy.

 

[Pure]

Mud, I run my PSI at 80 and well over 3k miles and not one flat.

 

[dogman dan]

Really? No sheetrockers in your town at all? Bad enough the thorns in my town, but living in the slowly but still growing part of town is great for flats, on all my vehicles.
All construction vehicles sprinkle nails and screws. You must have really tidy streets. I've gone 2k without a flat, but 1k is more normal on the street bikes. Eventually that staple or sheetrock nail I've been riding with for a month shreds a big enough hole to let the slime out.

 

[alan]

I run my Pilot City tires at 80-85 PSI (26x1.75 tires). When I used the nearly identical Michelin City tires, except thinner armor around the tread and no sidewall protection, I was getting puncture flats every few months (400 miles/month commute). With the Pilot City I have nearly 10K miles of commuting with only one clean-through slice from a razor blade.

I commute in Phoenix (Tempe & Scottsdale) where there are an abundance of nasty cactus needles, insanely large and strong thorns, as well construction nails and man-made crap on my path. For my mountain bike knobbies, I use thorn proof tubes and Slime, and still see lots of green dots on the tire surface after nearly every ride during the thorn-shedding season.

-- Alan

 

[Pure]

Indeed Dog, not one flat. We do have very tidy streets though. At night an army of street sweepers do come out and sweep up all the main roads in the city. They do stay out of neighborhoods though. Construction isn't much of an issue. Most of the city outside of the most outer parts have already been developed. With the property market and economy being the way it is, there just isn't much new construction. About the only thing I have to avoid is broken glass from aholes tossing bottles out their windows.

I guess, now that I think about it, Jacksonville would really be a perfect bike community if they would only provide more bike lanes. This city is huge and pretty much none of the main streets you have to use to get around (if you are going any real distance) have bike lanes. And we do not have one single multi-use paved path that I read so many people on here mention in other cities.

 

[gerrydesign]

Stan's no tube on my schwalbe big apple. Havent riden far but running tubeless works for me.

 

[wineboyrider]

Really? No sheetrockers in your town at all? Bad enough the thorns in my town, but living in the slowly but still growing part of town is great for flats, on all my vehicles.
All construction vehicles sprinkle nails and screws. You must have really tidy streets. I've gone 2k without a flat, but 1k is more normal on the street bikes. Eventually that staple or sheetrock nail I've been riding with for a month shreds a big enough hole to let the slime out.

You forgot windshield glass, metal pieces and old shredded tires. The streets never get cleaned over on this side of the mountains either.
I use thick tubes and slime and now I have more problems with broken spokes than flat tires. :? :? :?