Puncture Prevention?

[burncycle]

Now that Ive started my daily commute to work, the anxiety of suffering a puncture on route, with no bike maintainence knowledge is ever present.

So I need all the advise I can get regarding puncture prevention for my Pro-Connect.
I want to best Puncture prevention money can buy, though not effecting performance too much.

How good at pucture prevention are the continental contact extra-light tyres that I have on my Pro-Connect?

Ive looked at the stuff you put in your tyres to stop deflation (Slime).
The tyre gaurds that you put between the tube and the tyre.

If a combination of products need to be used then I'll use them !

Any and all advise will be taken gratefully by me about this issue.

Regards Bob.

[stokepa31_mk2]

Hi Bob

I've gone for Marathon+ simply because many in the forum have used them for long periods without punctures.

your conti's seem to come wih a one year guarantee against puntctures so they must be pretty confident.

Ive never seen the attraction of slime. To me its just a load of crud you have to clean up that renders the tube unrepairable if it doesnt work properly. Adds weight too. At least if anything does get through my Marathons, i will be able to fix the puncture.

necessity is the mother of all invention and speaking as someone that is traditionaly crap at all things mechanical, you soon learn the skills needed to perform the basic maintenance your bike will need. I use utube to watch someone else doing it first. there are loads of videos of the more common tasks.

i'm waiting with interest to see what happens when you try to pump your tyres up

p.s. get some oil or grease on that chain tensioner soon

[john]

I have kind of come to the conclusion that there are two types of puncture hazard and some protection systems are better at one hazard than the other.

One type is fairly large sharp objects like glass and metal, the other is small fine ones like thorns.

I think that kevlar is good for the first type but doesn't help for the second, for which you need a thicker compound in the tyre or use a liner under it.

[musicbooks]

Originally Posted by stokepa31_mk2

i'm waiting with interest to see what happens when you try to pump your tyres up

p.s. get some oil or grease on that chain tensioner soon

Like trying to push a watermelon throught the eye of a needle. I huffed and I puffed and as I pumped away in vain in the porch, from the road my wife said it all looked rather rude.. the red face and racing heartbeat didn't help to make her even more worried about my obsessive biking habits

bw
musicbooks

I agree with stoke.. oil up your tensioner and she'll run like a dream (there I've gone and done it again)

[maryinoxford]

I had slimed tubes for a while, two or three bikes ago! Never actually had a puncture with them, so I can't comment on that. However, I was advised, if I needed to pump up the tyres, to turn the wheel so the valve was on the high side, and leave it for a minute or two, for the slime to drain away. If I did that, pumping up wasn't a problem. The slime did tend to pool at the bottom if the bike was standing. I wasn't aware of it riding, but if I let the bike stand and then lifted and spun one wheel, you could see it was going unbalanced, with a heavy bit. I presume the slime spreads itself around when riding.

Something I think is helpful, especially if you ride in towns where there can be a lot of broken glass, is to inspect your tyres regularly. I turn the bike over, preferably in full sunlight, and check the tread with a magnifying glass. It's surprising how often you'll find little bits of embedded glass glinting there. I usually prise them out with a wooden toothpick. I don't know if there's a real risk of the glass slivers working through to the tube, but better safe than sorry.

I like to keep my tyres hard, for ease of riding & less battery drain. I'm not sure if a hard tyre is less or more prone to being pierced.

Mary

[burncycle]

Thanks for that guys and gals.
I've also looked at these tyres (continental contact security).

Continental Contact Security Review | BikeRadar.com

And this stuff (Sludge).
Sludge Puncture Sealant Review | BikeRadar.com

Seems to get a better review than slime!

[Aldby]

This is a list of puncture resistant tyres I compiled for an earlier post

• Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyre for £21.59 | Schwalbe Tyres - Road City | Cycle | Wiggle
• Bicycle Parts : Continental Contact Security 08 - £14.99
• Specialized Nimbus Armadillo Tyre 26" - 700c - Only £17.99 - Cyclesurgery
• Vittoria Randonneur Pro Folding Tyre - £17.40
• Dutch Perfect Puncture Proof Tyre Set 700c X 35c (Pair) £42.99-Discount Bicycles Ltd.

N.B. I accept no resposibility for any punctures if you use these tyres and obviously these tyres are available in sizes for most bikes.

[flecc]

On the Schwalbe Marathon Plus that John lists, the cheapest are always:

All Terrain Cycles

currently at £19.99
.

[Falstaff]

If you don’t already have one sitting in the garage, get an electric air pump from one of the local hardware stores. Save the cardio for the bike ride. Since you are going to be checking tire pressure and gassing them up on a regular basis, might as well get organized...

The one I have has no air tank. It is rather small, so the cost is modest. It should come come with a Schrader valve fitting for automobiles and many of the wide rimmed MTB tires.. If you are going to buy new tires, might as well buy new Schrader valved inner tubes at the same time. Then you can use the air pump as is. Otherwise, stop by a local cycle shop and get a Presta adaptor, which should work with the Wood’s Valve inner tube that came with the Karkhoff Pro Connect. They are very low cost item. Otherwise, you can buy a air pressure replacement head for the air pump at the cycle shop that has a duel head, one Presta and one Schrader fittings.

[CheKmx]

I had a puncture this week and learned the stupidity of commuting with out a puncture repair kit. My puncture was on the rear tyre and I was surprised how easy it was in the end I bought some of those self adhesive patches which seemed to work quite well. I also think having a decent pump at home is a good idea although I just use a track pump which seems to get the job done with out too much effort