Punctures

[energyman]

My LBS is promoting TANNUS inserts.
They look like solid tyres but if one is paranoid, like me, then they could be the answer.

[PH]

I do not know if they sell this in UK or not.
https://www.autozone.com/suspension-steering-tire-and-wheel/rubber-cement/p/slime-rubber-cement/487520_0_0

Yay, 70 miles today and no punctures, yet...

I was half joking about bulk, though at the current rate that doesn't look a bad idea...
I tend to buy cheap kits and supplement them with a sheet of Rema patches in the size I use most, I hardly ever use the bigger patches in the kits. On the bike I carry a part used kit and an unopened one.  If I'm not in a rush or holding others up, I don't mind patching roadside, if the cause is obvious, I'll do that without taking the wheel off.  I can't remember when I last bought any, the kit I've just opened was Halfords branded, £1.29, they're now £3.

[PH]

My LBS is promoting TANNUS inserts.
They look like solid tyres but if one is paranoid, like me, then they could be the answer.

The sort that's a thick foam tube with a smaller inner tube?  These:
https://tannusamerica.com/products/tannus-armour

I tried one on my delivery E-bike, with 60mm 650B tyres, I didn't like it. it made it feel like you had a puncture when you didn't! I did less than 100 miles before removing it.  That bike is now on Schwalbe Pick-Ups, a tyre intended for, as the name suggests, cargo bikes.  I notice some tourers are now recommending them, but not for me, even if they came in my touring bike size.  The ones on the E-bike are doing the job fine, though it's difficult to evaluate them as the bike itself is very different to anything else I ride.  The tyres are 1.4kg each, so not for the weight-watchers.

[JohnR]

Would inner tubes with sealant be worth considering https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/inner-tubes/slime-filled-normal-length-presta-valve-butyl-inner-tube-700-x-2832-2832622/ ?

Perhaps the problem will now go away as you've done your best to remove the thorns embedded in the tyres. Flail hedge trimmers and thorn hedges create a big hazard but this usually only lasts a few days after trimming as the vehicle traffic either picks up or squashes the thorns.

[PH]

Would inner tubes with sealant be worth considering https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/inner-tubes/slime-filled-normal-length-presta-valve-butyl-inner-tube-700-x-2832-2832622/ ?

I don't know if they've improved over the last couple of decades, my experience when I used Slime filled tubes on a rough commute was that they'd stop two out of three and then make a real mess when they were beaten.  If it keeps up at this rate I'll consider options, though at this point I'm still trying to prioritise the data from the last ten years rather than the last month

On a similar subject - On my delivery bike I'm carrying a can of Vittoria Pit stop, which seals and inflates. That's it, that's all I'm carrying.  I'm never more than 4 miles from home, so worst case scenario is a taxi ride as a business expense, or more likely a walk.  I was sceptical about this stuff until I saw another delivery rider use it, it's supposed to be a get you home fix, he hadn't done anything else when I saw him months later.  I haven't had need to test it.

[j-ms]

We have today just finished a five month tour of six thousand six hundred kilometers from Foz de Iguazu in Brazil through Paraguay, Argentina  and Chile to Ushuaia puncture free running on Schwalbe Marathon Mondials 2" x 26".  Heavy yes, but also puncture resistant.

[steve216c]

I got a puncture a fortnight ago in a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre!!! I usually carry spare tube and repair kit. I gave the spare to another cyclist struggling at the roadside in the autumn and forgot to replace it. And my tube of vulcanised rubber solution had solidified meaning I couldn’t even fix it on roadside. Murphy’s law.
I assumed it was tube fatigue or slow valve issue, pumped some air and started my 17km home commute getting about 3km till air needed again. Took bike by train to about 3km from home pumping in the carriage and managed to get home. On inspection I found a long thin piece of green glass embedded in the tyre that had barely got through the puncture resistant layer which I removed carefully with a small screwdriver. It took a while to even find the hole on the tube which only hissed with significant volume of air inflated, but otherwise went down slowly even outside the tyre.!

In fairness to the 35-622 tyre, it is over 20,000km old, had never punctured till now and was showing signs of extreme wear and onset of rubber fatigue. It was well overdue for a change which I was hoping I would do on my next oil change planned for Easter. I already had spare on hand as I wanted to get slightly wider 40-622 tyres anyhow, so put fresh tube and new tyre on rear, and the repaired tube ready back in my bike bag for the next emergency. Note to self: Get new rubber solution too, just in case 

[PH]

I got a puncture a fortnight ago in a Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre!!!

That's a decent mileage. both for the tyre and to be puncture free.  I've only had one pair of Pluses and they wore out afte about that use, without a single puncture.  I have had a few other tyres wear out without ever puncturing, a couple of Supremes, a standard Marathon and a Vittoria Randonneur, though nothing like in the same distance. 

[PH]

#6
It's not funny anymore, fixing a puncture before a ride has become the routine.
Soft tyre noticed last night (Front wheel, new Marathon Racer) about 10psi down, might have been normal loss so pumped it up.  Checked first thing, down 10psi again, another thorn, removed and tube patched without taking the wheel out.  There was a lot of hedges recently cut on Thursday's club ride route, one rider punctured on the day, I thought I'd got away with it.  I made a mental note to check my tyres when I got home... but didn't.
One a week average, heading for 50 a year!

[mickeg]

#6
It's not funny anymore, fixing a puncture before a ride has become the routine.
...
One a week average, heading for 50 a year!

How many in front and how many in rear? 

Mine are typically rear, but I have heard some people complain that most are in front.  For me a front puncture is quite rare.

[PH]

How many in front and how many in rear? 

2 front, 4 rear, which I think is about the ratio it's always been for me.
Also, this was the forth tyre, so any idea that it's a tyre fault is unlikely.
Anyway, 50 mile club run this morning, no hedge cuttings seen, though a fair bit debris on some urban pathway, no one punctured on the ride and mine are still fully inflated.

[energyman]

In the days before all my bikes were equipped with Marathon Plus and SLIME I used to occasionally meet and converse with interesting passers-by.
These days I intend to phone my dear wife to put the rack on the back of the car and tell her where I am.
Yes.  I know, I'm pathetic    !

[PH]

Nearly got through March without another, beginning to think the run of bad luck had ended, then in the last three days...
#7
40km onto a 220km ride, front tyre on the Mercury, Marathon Racer.  Took me ages to find the cause, reluctant to put a new tube in without, very clear hole in the tube.  Eventually found a thorn that couldn't be felt on the inside and could only be seen from the outside after washing the tyre with a water bottle! I lost the group I'd been riding with and for the next 100km rode alone.  Passed another rider later on who was on his third puncture, and making a proper repair in a bus shelter.

#8
This morning went to get the Nomad out to go shopping, front tyre soft, Marathon Almotion.  Shard of glass that might have got through anything, I recall a lot of glass on a bike path a few days ago, been over both tyres and haven't found anything else embedded.

Is that it for the year, or will this be the first year I reach double figures?

[PH]

#9
Two months since the last, around 3,000 km, so not too disappointed by this one.
Was away for an Audax weekend on my Mercury last week, back on Monday, fine when I put the bike away. Swapped a tyre this afternoon, half an hour later flat! Big thorn, in the tyre I'd taken off, it must have sealed it well enough to stay up all week. I'd rather not have any, but if I must, then at home on a lazy Sunday afternoon is better than most times.

[JohnR]

On a similar theme, I spent part of yesterday changing the tyres on a bike from G-One Allround which had been on all winter to G-One Speed (both tubeless). The latter were part-used but still in good condition. When I pumped one tyre up to  60+ psi to make sure that the beads were seated there was suddenly a pop followed by hissing - the higher than normal pressure had blown out the sealant for a small (~2mm cut). The tyre wasn't in a hurry to seal so I decided it was time to try using one of the wrinkly rubber worms which I've been carrying for nearly 3 years. The first attempt wasn't successful (I pushed the worm too far into the tyre and it disappeared) but the second attempt seems to have worked OK. It was much better to develop the plugging skill at home rather than by a road but I wasn't prepared to make a hole in an otherwise good tyre for practice.