Pasela Tourguard can't handle Newcastle

[pwward]

After a year riding on these Thorn reccomended tyres (came with my XTC) I had gathered 10 punctures while riding to work through Newcastle and Gateshead.  Most of them seemed to be caused by glass working its way through the tread.  I tried Slickosaurus and they were just as bad and have had Continental Semi slicks on for 3 months and had one puncture (again glass).  Anyone got reccomendations please.

[tynevalleycommuter]

I will not use any of the cycle paths around Newcastle and stick to the roads as I find the tracks have a high incidence of glass - especially the old railway that follows Scotswood Road in from Newburn. Not sure if same applies to your routes. I use Conti Ultra Gatorskins and have found them pretty good at keeping out glass etc. The other problem I occasionally have is pinch punctures from sharp-edged potholes disguised as puddles. Of course, the punctures always happen (a) in the rain (b) in the dark and (c) in the middle of winter !  Any tyre that has any tread to speak of will tend to trap glass. I find the gatorskins have good grip even in winter - apart from last winter's snow and ice when I used a MTB with knobbly tyres. I've had a total of about 8 punctures in 3 years of commuting from Stocksfield or Hexham. Most have been at the Newcastle end of the run, apart from 1 thorn from hedge trimming on the Wylam Waggonway (Route 72)

[Chris Land]

I swapped my tourguards for Schwalbe Marathons (1.5).  They roll well as they can take a high pressure and I have had no trouble with grip (except once, on some black ice last winter, but I don't think anything would've kept me upright on that - I just should have seen it eariler!).  Most important, I have only had one puncture when using these tyres, and that was on a pretty worn one.  If things are still bad and you don't mind the extra weight, the marathon plus look completely puncture proof, with a phenomenally thick Kevlar belt.  

More recently I have used the marathon XR (1.75) which are good off-road, and at least as puncture resistant as the regular marathons, but very heavy and roll slowly so no good for regular commuting.

[n/a]

Have a look at the Dutch Perfect tyres from trailbuzz.com

[ahconway]

I thought I was the only one who had a problem with the Tourguards. I stopped short on a Thames towpath in Surrey last week and somehow managed to rip a half-inch gash in the sidewall! I looked for the offending stone, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.