Punctures

Gringo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 18, 2013
1,333
835
Northampton
Hum, I wonder ?
As I had my first flat on my new cube last week, I went to get my bike out only to find a compleatly flat 2.2" tyre, there was a thorn in the tyre but the tube was loose inside so the hole in it didn't quite line up with the thorn in the tyre and after patching & re-inflating I found a second hole on the inside (opposite) edge of the tube. It must have been the one thorn in one side of the tube & out the other.
I'm assuming this device will only fix flats when the puncture hole lines up in both tube & tyre and is on the outside of the tube.

Probably a good bit of kit that will fix 80% or more of all punctures but I can't see how it copes with a through & through from a long thorn or a double hole from a pinch puncture.

I'll stick with my skabs for now, tried & tested ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: baldylox

muckymits

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 31, 2011
419
2
I have marathons on mine with slimed giant tubes, earlier in year went out for my first ride. Got half a mile out the village and puncture, No problem I thought just blow it back up and carry on. Nope as I am blowing it up the valve stem broke off. Nothing is fool proof!!!! Had to call the emergency services (the wife)
 

TinKitten

Pedelecer
Feb 26, 2014
153
148
Abergavenny
www.pottylou.co.uk
Has anyone tried going tubeless? I met a mountain biker the other day who swore by Stan's NoTubes. He said it was more effective than Slime and when I asked him about weight he said it was lighter. I don't know about for road bikes but looking at reviews by mountain bikers, it seems like those who use it love it.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,828
30,389
Glueing the tyre to the inner tube sounds like a very daft idea to me.
.
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
As I see it e-bikes have pucture problems of their own.. My first one presented the problem of what to do about al the gadgetry on the bars when you turn the bike upside down. Then there's the hubs and other stuff... Is there a simple way of fixing a flat? I bought a one shot repair inflator thing from aldi, but won't know if it works until I need to use it.
Puncture wise..
Road bike... 1200 miles no flats.
E-bike 2500 miles one flat
 

wissy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2013
543
46
Wales
With my KTM trekking i have used the panniers (soft emptyish ones) and coat / clothes to protect gadgetry on handlebars. That works but bit wobbly. tried watching some youtube vidoes bragging how to fix a ouncture without taking wheel off. they are having a laugh.

Not seen any videos on how to do the same with a heavy pedelec with gadgetry as you say and more gadgetry stuff stuck on wheel thignies. In my case sram click box.. But have learnt how to do that over time.

Despite all the threads about punctures and all the suggestions I have not got a clue which one brand / type is the best. Does not seem to be a consensus at all.
 

jackhandy

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 20, 2012
1,820
323
the Cornish Alps
I have marathons on mine with slimed giant tubes,
I'm running on Schwalbe Smart Sam+'s with slime tubes:
When I fitted the new tyre to the front, which already had the slime tube under a worn-out Bontrager tyre, there were 4 thorn-holes in the tube with slime around them.

As a bit of a hexperiment I left the tube as is & it holds pressure fine after about 500 miles, so I'll probably not change it until something cat-ass-troffick occurs.
 

D C

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 25, 2013
1,140
575
what to do about al the gadgetry on the bars when you turn the bike upside down
A set of end bars works for me, dead easy to fit and gives a good three point solid ground contact.
Also useful for an alternate hand position on long rides and more leverage if standing on the pedals for uphills.
About a fiver upwards.
Dave.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wicky and TinKitten

oldtom

Esteemed Pedelecer
Despite all the threads about punctures and all the suggestions I have not got a clue which one brand / type is the best. Does not seem to be a consensus at all.
There will never be unanimity over which tyre is best but empirical evidence would suggest if we consider only hybrid-type EAPCs, in any poll Schwalbe MP would be highly regarded. Schwalbe also produce very good tyres for other applications though, arguably, many other tyre makers have equally good products for those fields.

As for price, frankly, given the difference between the best and middle-of-the-road priced tyres, allied to the the tyre life and peace of mind from the best, I don't think too many would begrudge paying the extra.

There's a pair of Continentals in my shed with maybe 50 miles of use on them. I had no hesitation about replacing those with MPs immediately after experiencing my first puncture. The MPs will probably last me several years and only added about 1lb in weight to the bike so I'm happy to pay out for increased peace of mind.

Tom
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobF

TinKitten

Pedelecer
Feb 26, 2014
153
148
Abergavenny
www.pottylou.co.uk
A set of end bars works for me, dead easy to fit and gives a good three point solid ground contact.
Also useful for an alternate hand position on long rides and more leverage if standing on the pedals for uphills.
About a fiver upwards.
Dave.
You make a very good suggestion there and one that I hadn't thought of. I was considering buying some ergonomically shaped grips with short horns attached and this would be a good reason to go ahead and get them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: D C

wissy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2013
543
46
Wales
Flecc.. Thanks and a damned good idea. I will look into that... Need cute ones though :)

What are differences between the following:

Scwhalbe Marathon Plus

Schwalbe Energizer Plus 40-622

Schwalbe Energizer Tour 700 x 40c


it must be a man that came up with these stupid names and labelling. Ok i get 700 is the wheel thing but what is 40c and what is 622 ??
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,828
30,389
Not so much gender as the different countries and measurements methods involved Wissy.

We originally used inches of course, 20" and 26" being the approximate overall diameter of a tyre, and the tyre width in inches as well of course, 1 1/2", 2" etc.

The 700 is the overall tyre diameter in millimetres instead, with tyre width in millimeters too, hence those 40 measures.

At some point someone on the continent decided that overall tyre diameter was silly since it varies with the tyre type and tread, so an alternative of rim diameter was used instead, hence that 622 (rim 622 mm = tyre 700 mm diameters).

So we end up with a mix of methods. It's yards, metres, rods, poles and perches, kilometres, fathoms and leagues all over again!

The Energiser tyres are intended for e-bikes and have low rolling resistance with much of the additional puncture protection of the Marathon Plus.

The Pro, Tour and Plus versions have different treads, the efficiency in that order from high to low, but the efficiency differences very small.

The Marathon Plus has the lowest efficiency but the best puncture protection of all those, but again, the efficiency differences are not huge and will hardly be noticed on an e-bike.

Getting the right tread for your usage is more important, fairly smooth for all road use in good conditions, a bit heavier profiled tread if some off road paths are used, and deeper cut all the way to knobblies for really tough off-road stuff.
.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: TinKitten and wissy

RobF

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 22, 2012
4,732
2,311
Has anyone tried going tubeless? I met a mountain biker the other day who swore by Stan's NoTubes. He said it was more effective than Slime and when I asked him about weight he said it was lighter. I don't know about for road bikes but looking at reviews by mountain bikers, it seems like those who use it love it.
Ride quality on firmer surfaces is the problem with tubeless, which is why you only see them on mountain bikes.

A tubeless tyre on cinder tracks or anything harder will not corner or handle nicely - you wouldn't like the experience.

This weakness doesn't matter on mountain bike trails because they are softer and there is so much else going on - rocks, mud, tree roots etc - so you don't notice it as much.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TinKitten