Punctures............

I have been riding bicycles for over fifty years and joined the ebike revolution a few years back with a A2B Metro which I have altered to suite my riding style and use it to commute to and form work.

I recently bought a new Haibike XDURO to get me a little further on my weekend rides of forest trails and old wagon way routes.

In all my years riding I can only remember a couple of times a had the misfortune to get a puncture - licky I hear you say!

Since mid May I have suffered SEVEN punctures in the rear tyre - replaced two inner tubes - one being full of slime which got me home but I found the tyre flat in the morning.

 

The tyres on the bike are Schwalbe Racing Ralph and are as much use as riding on tissue paper!

They are very light and very easy to remove - in the event of a puncture - but offer no protection when off road.

 

Do any members have similar tyres or can advise of a decent replacement.

 

My normal MTB has 26 inch wheels and is currently shod with Moto tyres and has never let me down off road but then again the bike only weighs around 10 kg so that possibly makes a difference.

I had Racing Ralph's on my KTM eRace P 29 and when they picked up a puncture simply pushing it along on the pavement I replaced them with Big Apples. Problem solved.

I have had many puncture free miles with Fat Frank's (like Big Apples), and DMR motos.

I agree Wicky - the lad I ride with was going to purchase the same bike as me but he is very reluctant now after being with me on the rides I picked up the punctures. these tyres should come with a puncture warning - you will get several!

Big apples looks a good choice along with Mike's suggestion of Fat Franks - are these good off road in the mud?

Thanks for the reply guys.

My pedal mtb has Racing Ralphs, and whilst they don't have any grip on wet Wealden clay, they roll fast and are pretty good as summer tyre.

 

I run a mix on the Lycan, a WTB vigilante on the front, and a Rocket Ron on the rear. The combination only came about because a failure of the Stans tubeless set up, and the WTB was such hard work to fit, so I switched to the OE Rocket Ron for ease . The only downside that I have found with this combination is that that the Rocket Ron needs to run at a lower pressure than the WTB. I'm quite happy to run with this set up until the autumn, then it will be back to WTB at both ends. They are one hell of a tyre for the price.

Edited June 9, 201510 yr by EddiePJ

Smart Sams are a decent touring/trekking tyre.

 

There's now a Smart Sam Plus with extra puncture protection.

 

But the tread is too shallow for grip on mud.

 

For that, there's no substitute for some knobbles.

Marathon pluses for me. I have the tour version with some tread, but wouldn't fancy doing serious off road work with it. They do a mountain bike version with knobblies which might be worth checking.

I'm at 780 miles without a puncture so far...

Thanks EddiePJ - I like the look of both those tires.

RobF - I am thinking of another brand other then Schwalbe - I have lost confidence in this brand.

I used to remember a tire from Maxxis called the holy roller which I had on my normal bike a few years back and would love to get hold of that tyre in the 650b mould, but I cannot find them anywhere - must discontinued:(

cheers pn_day - they look a good road tire - I am off for a seven day break - I think I will grab a few bike magazines from the airport as this looks like I need to a bit of research to get the one I think might be thorn needle resistant.

Thanks EddiePJ - I like the look of both those tires.

RobF - I am thinking of another brand other then Schwalbe - I have lost confidence in this brand.

I used to remember a tire from Maxxis called the holy roller which I had on my normal bike a few years back and would love to get hold of that tyre in the 650b mould, but I cannot find them anywhere - must discontinued:(

 

Conti X King worth a look - it is lightly knobbled which should give you some grip in mud.

 

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/continental-x-king-mtb-tyre/rp-prod83008

The combination only came about because a failure of the Stans tubeless set up and the tyre WTB was such hard work to fit,

 

my new tyre was also a pita to get it on the rim and inflate it was like a gun going off at the garage air pump lol.

 

mine had a Schwalbe as well not much wear either 1 bit of glass and it went bang, id have gone flying if was at speed flat in 2 seconds flat.

 

evens wanted 30 quid to fit a new tire so just done it my self cant afford 75 quid blow outs.

What has impressed me with the WTB's is their mud plugging ability.

 

To keep clearing and griping in conditions such as this, is pretty good.

 

http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae217/eddiejefferies/DSCF0624_zpsaieslyzc.jpg

 

I'm a fan of Pannaracer Fire Pro's and would have gone for those before fitting the WTB's but at the time, there weren't any 650b fitment available. This has now change though. Puncture resistance aside, pretty much everything else to do with off road tyres, is just in your head. Think that a tyre will have you on your backside, and it will. Think that the tyre will make you invincible and launch you across anything, and it will. Correct tyre pressure, is probably the single most important thing to off road riding.

 

edit.. A friend runs the Conti's that Rob has linked to, and he appears to be able to climb and get across anything using them. It helps that he weighs next to nothing, but it's still an impressive feat.

Saw the conti's in Halfords at lunch time looked OK:)

The problem has been before we get to the interesting part of the ride we have to go through trails that seem to have thorn needle traps everywhere. Same ride different bike - no problem.

Same ride E-bike with Schwalbe tires = bloody punctures.

Today the wheel was out of balance that much with two patches about eight inched apart, when you picked up speed the bike was lurching every revolution of the rear wheel - not good when I still had twenty plus miles to get home!!

 

Appreciate all the replies - it is good to know what other folk have on their bikes at the moment - thanks.

My off rode steed has Nobby Nicks not had any problems yet and I go over anything and through anything.

have you examined where the punctures are occuring?

 

is it from items puncturing the tyre wall and then the inner tube?

 

or is it the rim itself? do you run a rubber band thingy round your rim to protect the inner tube?

 

my rim came with unburred holes and no rubber bang thing. i went through 2 inner tubes before i realised and deburred every hole and put a rubber band thing on. so far so good

 

edit:

 

one of them to pop was a a 2.3"schwalhbe then i went back to a 1.95" cheapo and it popped then i di said fix

I had the same problem as soon as I bought my e-bike..all caused by 3 corner jacks (thorns).

 

I then switched over to mararhon plus tours. Best money I ever spent as I now have about 30 thorns that have broken off and are still in the tyres.

 

Yes that is 30 times I have not had to walk home. Dont have to carry a punture repair kit and pump either.

 

No good for full off-road work though

I was seriously considering going tubeless...I ride mainly off road and in the past week have picked up 3 puncture caused by thorns. What do you guys think?

mine are tubeless had to replace the front tyre as i ran over a bit off glass and it took out the front tyre but not had a problem since then tho Schwalbe tyres are rubbish tho.

 

i use stans no tubes in my tyres

I was seriously considering going tubeless...I ride mainly off road and in the past week have picked up 3 puncture caused by thorns. What do you guys think?

 

 

I was running a Stans tubeless set up, but gave up with Stans after the fluid kept balling up after just a few months. I had already heard and read that this could be an issue with it, but choose to ignore the warnings.

It appears that Joes eco sealant is the way to go.

 

Soundwave, why do you consider Schwalbe tyre to be rubbish?

I can't say that I've ever had any problems with them. Both my bikes are running Schwalbe with no issues, and in fact I rather like them. They are light, sure footed, offer excellent grip, are very good across sketchy root sections, and roll well. I'm swapping them on the e-mtb for my WTB's vigilante set up for my trip to the Swiss alps, but that's simply because the tread pattern is more suited.

i just think there a bit thin rubber wise for the weight of the bike after taking it of tho i was prob just unlucky hitting a sharp bit of glass imo.

 

new tyre is thicker rubber wise but was a pita to get it on the rim tho.

 

i still got it if you want it not much wear on it either be a easy fix if you got inner tubes

It appears that Joes eco sealant is the way to go.

 

ill get some n try it when i run out of stans as it was all they had in stock at the store.

I've been running Stans for a few months. No a single flat despite many thorns.

 

Ran with 80 ml in each tyre. Removed rear tyre Friday during a service, probably about 20 ml still in the tyre.

 

I'll not be swapping back to tubes. Does make me wonder why others have suffered balling. Less latex to start with?

Can't argue with them being very thin, so I can see where you are coming from.

The WTB's are pretty heavy, but I still had three failures due to flint cuts. Two sealed almost straight away, but the third took about ten minutes to seal, and the bike looked like it was throwing out a Catherine wheel of fluid as I rode off.

 

Stans or Joes, tubeless is definitely the way to go.

 

Edit.. I wonder of my Stans fluid was old stock. It could explain why it completely balled up, and failed after just four months.

 

When I removed the tyre, there was a very thin elasticated bead around the rim, and the rest was just pea size balls. The tyres were also very wet inside. I never lost any pressure between rides though, so they sealed very well.

Edited June 14, 201510 yr by EddiePJ

Marathon pluses for me. I have the tour version with some tread, but wouldn't fancy doing serious off road work with it. They do a mountain bike version with knobblies which might be worth checking.

I'm at 780 miles without a puncture so far...

i have the tour version too, in 28 on a citybike, why did schwalbe make them smaller diameter than regular marathon plus'? i wipedout twice in winter on them, once semi seriously on a very fast decent while breaking, a proper health and safety moment. i guess one cant get high mileage and grip.

Thanks for all the replies - much appreciated.

 

Back home now and went to the Newcastle Cycle Centre to see Rob a very knowledgeable guy who persuaded me to try a Kevlar protection strip inside the rear tyre. I bought the 29 inch strip just to make sure I had enough and fitting was a doddle as one side has adhesive to stick to the tyre strange thing is I had to cut off 7 inches after applying all the way around the tyre - so you get plenty on a roll and it is really difficult to cut through, you need a good pair of sharp scissors.

 

I have been back on the same track I was getting the punctures and covered around 50 miles back and forth and to my relief I have not had any further punctures - hooorrrraaaayyyyy.

 

After the rides I inspected the tyres and needed to pull three thorns from the rear tyre (funny how the front seems to escape the thorns - tempting fate now!) and each time waited for the sudden hiss of escaping air.............nothing - phew!

 

The rear tyre pressure has remained constant since fitting the Kevlar strip so it seams to work but will not stop punctures from the side wall - which I presume would be rare anyway.

 

Twelve quid well spent as I did intend to buy a new tyre on my visit to the shop. I will be out again this weekend so fingers crossed - no punctures and a little bit more confidence back in the bike.