Puncture proof tyres

[red devil]

Which are the best?

I have just had my first puncture after 100 miles on my Boardman Hybrid Team, (Maxxis Detonator 700mm x 28mm). Did about 1500 miles, same route to work, on my old Raleigh Mohawk; weighs about a ton and using Schwalbe City Jets (26" x 1.75") - no problems.

Any recommendations would be appreciated!!

Just a thought; seems strange to name a tyre after something you would normally associate with explosions.......

 

[Mark_Robson]

As said the Schwalbe Marathon Plus are about as puncture proof as you can get.

 

[MacB]

I checked tyres on all the bikes yesterday, found one little thing to extract from one of the sets of M+ tyres, nothing on the others. Whereas my middle son has Continental Sport Contacts on his bike and I spent ages taking bits out. There are little cuts all over them and I was waggling the tip of a small penknife blade in them to see if there was anything to remove. I reckon I took out about 20 bits of glass and flint, though was quite impressed that he hadn't actually had a puncture from any of them as yet. When they wear out I'll probably put Marathons or Marathon + on there for him.

 

[red devil]

OK, thanks. Will probably go for the Marathons; I like Schwalbe - been pleased with the City Jets.

Are the plus worth the extra cost over the standard Marathons?

 

[Sysagent]

I checked tyres on all the bikes yesterday, found one little thing to extract from one of the sets of M+ tyres, nothing on the others. Whereas my middle son has Continental Sport Contacts on his bike and I spent ages taking bits out. There are little cuts all over them and I was waggling the tip of a small penknife blade in them to see if there was anything to remove. I reckon I took out about 20 bits of glass and flint, though was quite impressed that he hadn't actually had a puncture from any of them as yet. When they wear out I'll probably put Marathons or Marathon + on there for him.

I have the Continental 4 Seasons and on Friday a shard of glass had worked through and caused a flat on the fron wheel, so I spent a good ten minutes or so checking and removing more out of them before inflating tyre...

On way into work today it was the back wheels turn, yep again a shard of glass had worked through and caused the flat so another ten mins or so spent checking and removing glass.

They are good tyres but like anything if they get glass in them it's going to get through one way or another at a 110psi with 14stone on top of them.

 

[jayonabike]

I invested in some specialized crossroads armadillo tyres. They wern't cheap at £50 for 2 but i think they're worth it

 

[gbb]

Lazyj..i love your sig line...made oi larff

Perhaps the same for you red devil, we've just had quite a bit of rain lately and the roadsides are awash with debris...two punctures for me yesterday.

One day i'm going to try some schwalbes....i'm more of a Gatorskin man but they do cut up, although its generally accepted they're fast tyres. Got Vredstien Volantes at the mo...theyve cut up just as bad.

 

[Moodyman]

M+ on the rear and a regular M on the front.

Punctures are almost always on the rear as this takes the most load and is the driving tyre.

 

[Crankarm]

A totally puncture proof tyre does not exist. The SMP+ are heavy, very heavy. That's the trade off, but they can still puncture and are a bitch to get on and off when they do. Just avoid cycling through glass or crud at all costs. If I see any glass on a cyclepath I go on the road or if there is an adjacent grassy area will ride across this to avoid getting shards in my tyres.

 

[Moodyman]

You're right Cranks, but it depends what the OP rides his/her bike for.

If s/he's racing then the M+ is no good, but if s/he's commuting then the slight (and it is only slight) reduction in speed with the M+ is made up with the increased reliability.

I rode with M+ on the front & rear and they made the bike feel dead. So I reverted to regular M on the front and the M+ on the rear. Perfect compromise as you don't need as much protection on the front.

I also agree that nothing beats riding carefully and avoiding hazards.

 

[kewb]

city jets fan myself .

 

[MarkF]

Marathon +'s for me too. 2 years of road, rough trail and towpath riding without a problem.

 

[Aperitif]

M+ Only had one flat. (That was face, tyre+tube and nose - all in one go, just recently) Prior to that, many 1000s of Kms. Heavy means nothing when you don't have to stand around in the cold and/or wet making a repair.

 

[GrasB]

I checked tyres on all the bikes yesterday, found one little thing to extract from one of the sets of M+ tyres, nothing on the others. Whereas my middle son has Continental Sport Contacts on his bike and I spent ages taking bits out. There are little cuts all over them and I was waggling the tip of a small penknife blade in them to see if there was anything to remove. I reckon I took out about 20 bits of glass and flint, though was quite impressed that he hadn't actually had a puncture from any of them as yet. When they wear out I'll probably put Marathons or Marathon + on there for him.

The main reason for this is the M+ rubber is frankly rather low on the grip front when compared to Specialized All Condition Armadillo, Continental SportContacts or even Schwalbe's own Durano+ tyres when riding on fast & technical roads. With that said M+s aren't a race tyre, they're a trekking/touring tyre where reliability rather than performance is the priority so it's no surprise that this is the case.

As for weight, okay they're certainly not feather weight but the quoted weights tend to be for the big tyres, 700x25Cs are shy of 600gms that's 35% more than Specialized All Condition Armadillo at the same size &55% heaver than the Schwalbe Durano + neither of which can hold a candle to the M+ for puncture protection & durability.

 

[cyberknight]

Just splashed out on continental gator skins, heres hoping they are good