Bicycle Austin forum

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

Current tires on my commuter rigs:

About 4000 miles on my 26 X 2.15 Schwalbe Big Apples, 2 flats. Maybe around 1/2 life left. Lots of loads and trailers on this rig. Great tires. Couldn't pry my BA's from my cold, dead, hands.

3600 +/- miles on 700x37 Continental Travel Contacts. Lots of life left. They looked bald when new. Great tires. Zero Flats on this set.

4000+ miles on 700X32 Panaracer T-Servs......maybe 3 flats. Life left in tires. More in front.

400 miles Continental City Ride II 26 X 1.75. No flats. Great riding, great looking tires. New, on my wife's commuter/utility bike.

I do have a set of old design Continental Contact Safety @ 26x1.75 with 9500 +/- miles. Great tires. Only one flat that I can recall. Still roll well, do not flat. Life left.

Stay away from Continental Town & Country tires. Supple tire, nice ride. Flats like crazy. Even sand burrs go right through the large open spaces in the tread block. Serfas Drifters are a similar tire. Look better, much much better flat protection.

My $0.02.

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-16 09:46:28)

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

No one else uses tires, around here ?
:)

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-14 09:41:52)

Donald Lewis

Member

Registered: 2009-07-11

Posts: 184

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

Favorites right now are Gatorskin 25s with SpinSkin anti-flat Kevlar liners.

Found out the hard way if you leave the SpinSkins in too long they will come apart and abrade the tube!   But no flats for about 2000 miles until that happened.

I was getting flats on a regular basis before.

SpinSkins are expensive, but as much as I hate flats I will pay the price and renew them every 1000 miles.

Don

AWG

Member

From: North Austin

Registered: 2013-11-05

Posts: 11

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

I'm using Panaracer Crosstown 700x35C right now.  Can't remember when I bought them - at least in the last year.  I'm not picky - just have to be 35's and have tread.  Lowest I'll go now is 700x32, but I started out riding 28s.  I don't log miles or keep an active repair journal.  Fixed a slow puncture leak about 3 weeks ago.  1st time in about 9 months or more.

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

I'm using Panaracer Crosstown 700x35C right now.  Can't remember when I bought them - at least in the last year.  I'm not picky - just have to be 35's and have tread.  Lowest I'll go now is 700x32, but I started out riding 28s.  I don't log miles or keep an active repair journal.  Fixed a slow puncture leak about 3 weeks ago.  1st time in about 9 months or more.

The Crosstowns are durable and puncture resistant. Good for a lot of the different surfaces we see here in austin; everything but deep mud. Wee bit on the heavy side in the 700c version, only criticism. Tradeoff for wide, grippy, durable, flat resistant. I have had at least two sets of them in the 26X1.75 inch size, branded as Forte Gotham. Got a bunch of miles out of them with minimal flats.

Right price as well. Excellent value in an all a rounder tire.

Thanks for the post.

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-15 00:09:02)

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

Favorites right now are Gatorskin 25s with SpinSkin anti-flat Kevlar liners.

Found out the hard way if you leave the SpinSkins in too long they will come apart and abrade the tube!   But no flats for about 2000 miles until that happened.

I was getting flats on a regular basis before.

SpinSkins are expensive, but as much as I hate flats I will pay the price and renew them every 1000 miles.

Don

Nailed it, here.

SpinSkins are probably the lightest, best rolling tire liners out there.
But they all tend to rub holes in the tubes, eventually.
Tire liners sure can help with flats, though. Particularly in a road tire or more supple tire w/o full blown flat protection.
Used to run them in older design 26 inch tires that spent lots of time in the DT alleys, full of glass.

And Gatorskin 25's are a great compromise of durability, road feel, rolling resistance, speed.
Excellent, but a bit pricey, choice for the roadie commuter.
I bet you aren't the only one on this forum rolling gatorskins, Don.
Thanks for posting.

Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-11-14 17:13:09)

Donald Lewis

Member

Registered: 2009-07-11

Posts: 184

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

Favorites right now are Gatorskin 25s with SpinSkin anti-flat Kevlar liners.

Found out the hard way if you leave the SpinSkins in too long they will come apart and abrade the tube!   But no flats for about 2000 miles until that happened.

I was getting flats on a regular basis before.

SpinSkins are expensive, but as much as I hate flats I will pay the price and renew them every 1000 miles.

Don

Nailed it, here.

SpinSkins are probably the lightest, best rolling tire liners out there.
But they all tend to rub holes in the tubes, eventually.
Tire liners sure can help with flats, though. Particularly in a road tire or more supple tire w/o full blown flat protection.
Used to run them in older design 26 inch tires that spent lots of time in the DT alleys, full of glass.

And Gatorskin 25's are a great compromise of durability, road feel, rolling resistance, speed.
Excellent, but a bit pricey, choice for the roadie commuter.
I bet you aren't the only one on this forum rolling gatorskins, Don.
Thanks for posting.

For 12 years I was a 1/4 mile oval dirt-track race car owner/driver.  I have retired from that and replaced that passion with a passion for cycling.  Compared to the expense of going racing, a set of tire liners is cheap!  :) :)

When the SpinSkins arrived I unrolled a section and pulled it tight.  I had one of my employees try to push a sharp pick through it.  He had to put all his weight behind the pick before it finally popped through.  Impressive!  But at 2000 miles or so, they were definitely coming apart. 

In 2000 miles the Gatorskins have hardly worn at all, so I think they will prove relatively inexpensive long term.

The Gatorskins are tight on the rim and not easy to mount or dismount.         

I have some Michelin "city" tires on a couple of bikes I don't ride much.  They may be flat-resistant, but they are slow as molasses.

Reminds me, I need to go online and order some more SpinSkins as I just installed the second set I bought.

The Gatorskins are going to LBJ ranch tomorrow for a 50-60 mile group ride in the hill country.

AusTexMurf

Member

From: South Austin

Registered: 2008-11-21

Posts: 439

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

Enjoy your ride, Don.
Thank you for participating in our community in many ways.
Need to drop in to your shop on S 1st and meet you in person at some point.
Move through that zone nearly every day, just over on S 5th or Cumberland.
Best,
Larry

Donald Lewis

Member

Registered: 2009-07-11

Posts: 184

Re: What kind of tires are you rolling ? Size, Total Mileage, Flats ?

Enjoy your ride, Don.
Thank you for participating in our community in many ways.
Need to drop in to your shop on S 1st and meet you in person at some point.
Move through that zone nearly every day, just over on S 5th or Cumberland.
Best,
Larry

  I will proudly show you the mini bikeshop inside the automotive shop.  When something needs a special tool I buy the tool rather than use the service department at a bike shop.  I only draw the line at wheelbuilding and powdercoating.  The area is getting out of hand and I need to borrow some tables and go set up at Frankenbike.  I could stand to get rid of things like (ugh...) a suspension seat post, kickstands (ugh...), big fat soft saddles, (ugh...) and even maybe sell one or both of my IGH bikes, maybe sell one of my three MTBs.  Over the years I have tried a lot of different stuff finding out what I most like to ride so I have a fair amount of stuff I DON'T want to ride/put on my ride.  I don't expect to come out with much cash, but less clutter and parts getting put to use is all I want.   

Regards meeting me in person, I am trying to retire @ age 67 and only work officially Mon-Wed.  On those days, I am liable to take off early and go ride a bike if I can get away with it.

Thanks for the kind words...Don