# Recommendations for puncture proof Winter tyres?



## Custom24 (26 Oct 2012)

Hi
This will be my first Winter commuting. I'm using a 26" MTB for a mostly off road commute, which is quite muddy in parts. With the original tyres that came with the bike, I was getting about 3 punctures per week, so I switched to Schwalbe Marathon Plus ATB tyres, the tread pattern below. Since then, I've had just one puncture, but I'm sliding around on the mud and to keep going throughout the Winter, I think I'll need tyres with more grip. I don't want to go back to having punctures, so if I keep the ATB tyres for the Summer, does anyone have any recommendations for something for the Winter to complement it?

Thanks
Mark

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0T02DF9GWMXJ9G4EV8KR


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## MrJamie (26 Oct 2012)

Im using Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour on both my bikes, 700*40mm on the hybrid and 26*2.00 on the mtb. The latter looks really wide and knobbly and is way more grippy on mud than standard M+, although Ive not really done many miles on either yet to test - hopefully over the weekend. Actually, just remembered they do M+ MTB http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schwalbe-Ma...sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1351289326&sr=1-2 Cheapest here, but you will have to add £6 postage (for the pair iirc) http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a47391/marathon-plus-mtb-21-wire.html?lg=en&cr=GBP&cn=gb

Punctures are always bad, but in the winter in the cold when the glue doesnt work and your fingers are freezing off, I wont go for anything less protected than marathon plus .


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## VamP (27 Oct 2012)

3 punctures a week indicates incorrectly fixed punctures to me. Even on lightweight Ultremo's I have had 2 punctures in the last 1000 miles, pretty much all of this in the wet and with tons of debris on the roads.

Check your old tyres for lodged sharps - stones, glass, thorns - as that is most likely causing your problems.


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## screenman (27 Oct 2012)

Throw away your inner tubes and go tubeless, far fewer punctures.


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## Custom24 (27 Oct 2012)

VamP said:


> 3 punctures a week indicates incorrectly fixed punctures to me


 
Even off-road? I was checking carefully after each puncture repair that there was nothing left in the tyre. Most of the repairs I did at home, so there was enough time to check properly. I think it may have been more the surface which is part of my commute.


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## Custom24 (27 Oct 2012)

screenman said:


> Throw away your inner tubes and go tubeless, far fewer punctures.


But I'd have to throw away the wheels as well, right?


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## screenman (27 Oct 2012)

No!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stans-Not...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item35ba86025e


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## Drago (27 Oct 2012)

In my experience puncture resistant tyres never work well off road where you're running much lower pressures, so I use slime tubes.


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## GrumpyGregry (27 Oct 2012)

VamP said:


> 3 punctures a week indicates incorrectly fixed punctures to me. Even on lightweight Ultremo's I have had *2 punctures in the last 1000 miles*, pretty much all of this in the wet and with tons of debris on the roads.
> 
> Check your old tyres for lodged sharps - stones, glass, thorns - as that is most likely causing your problems.


I'd done the same only more so; more miles. Then I swapped tyres, same routes; three visits in a week, and I'm certain they were fixed right, put the gatorskin hardshells back on, same routes, no visits.


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## VamP (27 Oct 2012)

Custom24 said:


> Even off-road? I was checking carefully after each puncture repair that there was nothing left in the tyre. Most of the repairs I did at home, so there was enough time to check properly. I think it may have been more the surface which is part of my commute.


 
I was gonna say I never heave punctures offroad, but I had my first one today, so that doesn't stand. Three a week still seems really high.


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## VamP (27 Oct 2012)

VamP said:


> I was gonna say I never heave punctures offroad, but I had my first one today, so that doesn't stand. Three a week still seems really high.


Erm, have.


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## bjellys (28 Oct 2012)

I ride 95% off road and was getting lots of punctures which were mainly thorns.Since putting slime into the tyres I have had zero flats & when I changed from my summer tyres to my winter mud tyres I found I had 5 thorns in the the front tyre, which slime had sealed the inner tube .I put the tube back in into the new mud tyres without mending the punctures ( not through laziness just as a test ) and now 6 weeks later still no punctures .I always carry a spare tube and pump as a backup.
So It is 1 vote for slime from me


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## Dan151 (29 Oct 2012)

Give these a try 

http://www.conti-online.com/generat...es/plusseries/trafficplus/trafficplus_en.html


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## Custom24 (29 Oct 2012)

bjellys said:


> I ride 95% off road and was getting lots of punctures which were mainly thorns.Since putting slime into the tyres I have had zero flats & when I changed from my summer tyres to my winter mud tyres I found I had 5 thorns in the the front tyre, which slime had sealed the inner tube .I put the tube back in into the new mud tyres without mending the punctures ( not through laziness just as a test ) and now 6 weeks later still no punctures .I always carry a spare tube and pump as a backup.
> So It is 1 vote for slime from me


I should have said - I tried Slime. It helped - it probably reduced punctures by about a half. But changing to the puncture proof tyres (without Slime) reduced punctures a lot more (don't know yet as I've only had one in three months)


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## Custom24 (29 Oct 2012)

Dan151 said:


> Give these a try
> 
> http://www.conti-online.com/generat...es/plusseries/trafficplus/trafficplus_en.html


Those do look like the kind of thing I'm after, except I'm unconvinced about the amount of extra grip they'd give me over what I'm using at the moment. They're listed as urban MTB, which I am not.


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## SatNavSaysStraightOn (29 Oct 2012)

I used to commute off road as well (about 50% off road of a 15 mile round trip). I started on a dirt track, then gravel track, over to grass, then over to tarmac for hlaf a mile, back to a dirt sandy track which then became a muddy bridle path with tree roots and fallen trees quite common. once I left the nature reserve I had a short section along a cycle path alongside the A3 (think tarmac with broken glass and lots and lots of thorns), then it was single track country lanes, muddy farm vehicles, flooding, sandy patches across the road and slippery leaves in the autumn, then the reverse for the home trip. 

I went over to Schwalbe Marathon Extremes (26x2.25 initally). Deep mud (think dipping frame into mud type depth) they were not that good but little is, on tarmac and well inflated they are not as slow as you would think and are quieter than standard mtb tyres. they have really good puncture resistance and handled what was thrown at them amazingly well. I still really like them after 12 months of them on my touring bike (26x2.0) fully laden across dirt and gravel roads, some sandy roads and thousands of kilometers without a flat, in fact I went 14,500km without a single flat on the rear tyre and only 1 flat on the front on the fully laden touring bike and 3-4,000km of commuting on them without any issues at all. Handling was much better than expected and it seemed to work well for us both on the expedition (off road touring) bikes and on my mountain bike which I used for commuting.


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## tincaman (29 Oct 2012)

Dan151 said:


> Give these a try
> 
> http://www.conti-online.com/generat...es/plusseries/trafficplus/trafficplus_en.html


 
Weight 1.1kg!


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## Dan151 (29 Oct 2012)

Custom24 said:


> Those do look like the kind of thing I'm after, except I'm unconvinced about the amount of extra grip they'd give me over what I'm using at the moment. They're listed as urban MTB, which I am not.



Could go for the mountain kings


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## Motozulu (30 Oct 2012)

bjellys said:


> I ride 95% off road and was getting lots of punctures which were mainly thorns.Since putting slime into the tyres I have had zero flats & when I changed from my summer tyres to my winter mud tyres I found I had 5 thorns in the the front tyre, which slime had sealed the inner tube .I put the tube back in into the new mud tyres without mending the punctures ( not through laziness just as a test ) and now 6 weeks later still no punctures .I always carry a spare tube and pump as a backup.
> So It is 1 vote for slime from me


 
I use slime as well and have'nt had a puncture since fitting it. I HAVE had blocked valves though, which I have had to replace but I think that was maybe my own fault for not having the valves at 10 'o clock when inflating/releasing air pressure. Something to bare in mind - I ride trails only (with a 3 mile road journey each way to get there) so it's a thumbs up from me too.


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## Custom24 (30 Oct 2012)

Motozulu said:


> I use slime as well and have'nt had a puncture since fitting it. I HAVE had blocked valves though, which I have had to replace but I think that was maybe my own fault for not having the valves at 10 'o clock when inflating/releasing air pressure. Something to bare in mind - I ride trails only (with a 3 mile road journey each way to get there) so it's a thumbs up from me too.


It might be possible to repair blocked valves by using a value extraction tool (such as comes on the top of a bottle of Slime) to remove the valve, and cleaning it out.


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## Motozulu (30 Oct 2012)

Yep tried that several times after a suggestion by a reg on here - one valve core totally kernackered and the other one only half unblocked. Went and bought 4 new cores for £1.99 in the end and a proper valve core remover for £3 so not too painful.


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## Dan151 (31 Oct 2012)

I might need to try this slime stuff


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## PJ79LIZARD (4 Nov 2012)

Two punctures, last Sunday, this Sunday flat on the front, changed tube, slow puncture on the back. Made it home after stoping a couple of times to add some air in the back. Washed my MTb off very muddy today. Had two thorns in the front, pulled them out instant flat. Took both front and rear wheels off took out the tubes two holes front and back, plus two on the first tube I changed on the front. That's SIX holes, all by thorns. Thats it it's official I need to do something either slime tubes or better puncture protected tyres. The tyres I'm running are only stock tyres and don't offer much in the way of protection. Loads of bikes on route, only me again having trouble with flats, they obviously know something I don't


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## lulubel (4 Nov 2012)

Maybe, next time you're out, ask some of the people riding the same trails as you what tyres they're using.

(That's going to be my next step if the tyre/tube combination I've just ordered doesn't work for me.)


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## PJ79LIZARD (4 Nov 2012)

I think i'm going to try some slime tubes! where i've been riding theres just loads of thorns and thorn twigs, I ride road mainly, and tend tomix it up more in the winter and cycle more off road. but I tend to ride more dec and after usually. I think cause Ive started a little earlier this year i'm riding over the autumn debris which i'm not used to, its generally icey when i'm usually covering more miles. ive not had a problem with punctures in this quantity like this before, considerring i'm riding with the same setup as always, so it must be the time of year.


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