Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

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johndoe3
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Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

I bought a new Diamondback Hybrid bike a month ago, and the 700x40mm tires are fast on the street, but I've had 3 flats in a month. :(

Image

The OEM tires are Innova tires. I tried putting in Mr. Tuffy vinyl liners and the last flat had a crossways rub mark and leak right where the overlapping portion of the Mr Tuffy liner ended.

I'm thinking I need heavier tires that have a built-in vinyl liner to prevent flats. I like the bike a lot and the front and rear disk brakes are superb. I just hate getting frequent flats. It almost gives me buyer's remorse and a wish that I had gotten the 29er version (same bike frame but with mountain bike 29" tires).

Any recommendations on a brand and model of tire that would avoid flats?
Last edited by johndoe3 on Mon Jun 17, 2013 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bakerjw
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by bakerjw »

I commute on my road bike on a fairly regular basis. I run Specialized Armadillo tires with stop flat liners. They are 700x25's. A good portion of my commute is along a 4 lane highway and there is a lot of shoulder debris. It takes something severe for me to get a flat. Before I went with the Armadillos, I would get a flat about once a week.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by doubloon »

I've seen some airless tires but they look like they'd gather up crap as you ride.
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johndoe3
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

Baker, I just did a search for Armadillo Bike Tires as you mentioned, and it shows the type of tires I want with a vinyl liner to prevent flats. However, the brand names were Continental, Schwalbe, etc. Is there a brand name of tire named Armadillo, or is this bike lingo for tires with vinyl liners?
Last edited by johndoe3 on Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by bakerjw »

From the specialized website. They go up to 700x28.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/ro ... -armadillo

They're hard and heavy but they are great for avoiding flats. It really does take something extreme to get through them. My last flat was when I hit a 1" small nail. Somehow it managed to hit straight on and went right through.

For fun riding, I have a 2nd set of rims with Maxxis Detonators. Much lighter and better everything... Except flat resistance.
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johndoe3
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

Thanks Baker,

After looking over the tires on the Specialized website you linked, and those other brands on Amazon under "Armadillo bike tires", I just went ahead and ordered 2 of the Schwalbe tires (700x38). I guessed that I should replace the tires as close as possible to the OEM size of 700x40, and the Specialized website only had up to 700x28 (for road bike rather than Hybrid like I have).

Image

I don't really mind the cost to get premium tires for this new Hybrid bike, if it will keep me from having constant flats. I consider the bike a type of preparedness tool for which I prefer ruggedness and reliability, as well as for general use now along with good exercise. Having available options is good.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

I bought the Schwalbe Marathon Plus HS-348 tires (700x38c size) pictured in the post above and installed them this evening. The Amazon.com price was great at $45.16 per tire with free shipping (saving 31% off MSRP and free shipping). They ride smoothly, and I have them at 65psi right now (recommended range from 50-85psi). The sidewalls give good grip on or off road, and are useful for off-road handling on dirt and gravel for my Hybrid bike.

I'll update this post in a month or so after I see whether they eliminate flat tires as expected.

These tires cost 3x (MSRP) what a cheap tire costs (like the oem Innova tires that came with the new bike), but with the Amazon.com savings, it gets it down to about 2x the cost. Considering what new inner tubes cost ($6-12) and the frustration of flats, that extra cost seems minor to me if the tires perform as hoped for--no flats.

BTW, it is true that these Schwalbe tires have a much thicker wire cable bead than the cheap tires as many people wrote in the comments on Amazon, which makes them more difficult to install. However, when I was a teenager I worked in a auto-truck repair place in HS, and as low man on the totem pole, I was the tire repair and tire installer person. :) I learned the tricks that professional tire repair people use. If you use lube to put on a tire of any type, it goes on like butter. For tires, the lube is plain water and a gob of liquid dishwashing soap. For a bike tire, just use a small bowl of water and squirt some liquid dishwashing soap into the water. Then using your finger wipe some of this on the tire for the last part of the installation. What was difficult just became incredibly easy. After you get the tire on, you can wipe off the soapy water with a paper towel or rag, but you don't need to. The water will evaporate and the little bit of soap won't bother anything. Professional tire places use soapy water to remove tires, install tires, and to get a better seal on regular tubeless car tires with the rim.
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time...and those are pretty good odds.
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johndoe3
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

A one month report on Schwalbe Marathon Plus replacement tires: 700x38c tires used on a hybrid bike

Background: The original OEM tires gave me 4 flats in a little over a month. I bought the new tires to try and eliminate the issue of constant flat tires. The results...

1. no flats with the new tires over the last month
2. the Shwalbe tires run smooth and fast, and have a slightly softer ride because of the spongy blue layer to prevent flats
3. The side tread on the Schwalbe tires is much better than the OEM tires, allowing more aggressive cornering both on the road and on paths. The new tires are also more rounded which contributes to the better, high-speed curve handling.

Summary: These Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires are superb, delivering all I expected and more. They are well worth the higher price, eliminated the frequent flat tires, and make riding the new bike fun rather than worrying about when the next flat was coming. For survival/preparedness, having a dependable alternate source of travel is worth it.

3-month report 9/27/2013
No flat tires at all since I installed the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, with probably about 900-1000 miles on the tires. I'm extremely happy with the results, since flat tires are no fun.
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time...and those are pretty good odds.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

1 year update on the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on my Diamondback Hybrid bike.

Zero flats (0). :D

In hindsight, the purchase of the Schwalbe premium tires was a great choice. I have between 1500-2000 miles on the tires, since I ride the bike nearly every day. They don't look worn much at all. I'll probably easily get over 6000 miles on the tires. The tires also handle soft snow well when it was 3" or less.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by doubloon »

nice ... I got a bike in the garage with two flats I need to dust off :)
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by bakerjw »

My wife and I have a new road tandem that came originally with 32x700c tires. We went with Continental duraskins for it rather than the armadillos that I use on my road bike. There are a lot of options out there now for good heavy duty tires. They roll like tricycle tires but they sure are flat resistant.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by tc556guy »

johndoe3 wrote:1 year update on the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on my Diamondback Hybrid bike.

Zero flats (0). :D

In hindsight, the purchase of the Schwalbe premium tires was a great choice. I have between 1500-2000 miles on the tires, since I ride the bike nearly every day. They don't look worn much at all. I'll probably easily get over 6000 miles on the tires. The tires also handle soft snow well when it was 3" or less.
Thanks for the update
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by ThaDoubleJ »

Stupid Goat Heads!
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johndoe3
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by johndoe3 »

2 year update (2 years in May).

Zero (0) flats in 2 years, and riding the bike nearly every day. I probably have in excess of 4000 miles on the tires. The tires still have tread left, but are worn down about 2/3rd of the original tread depth. So...the original estimate of 6000 miles may be doable. One cannot ask for more of premium tires than these Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires have delivered--who would have thought you could go 2 years on a bike and have zero flats!
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time...and those are pretty good odds.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by a_canadian »

My daughter rode a 6,700km tour a couple of summers ago and didn't have a single flat. By the end of the tour all the other riders were using the vinyl tire liners she started out with. I suspect if you're having a 'rubbing' problem it might be that your tire pressure is too low, could that be the case? There shouldn't be much, if any movement inside between tire, liner and tube. She just maintained her pressure at 60lbs with an all-weather mountainbike touring tire. Wore the rubber down pretty far but no punctures.
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Re: Recommended Bike Tire to avoid flats?

Post by ThaDoubleJ »

He's in Colorado, it's goat heads. When I first moved here, made it about three blocks and had two flats and walked the bike home. I don't know much about the metric sizes, but for 26s I run a tube that's about 5x thicker than normal, and it's full of puncture sealing goop, so when one of them does get through, you don't lose too much air.
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