How long should a (rear) bike tire last?
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@sethpo 124449 wrote:
How hard are these to get on the rim?
I’ve been skeptical of tubeless on my commuter for fear of not being able to fix a puncture on the side of the road.
@hozn 124456 wrote:
I guess it depends on which rim, but these were about as difficult as GP4000S tires to put on my Flo30 rims. The Flo30 rims are in the “difficult” category, so I may have had to use a lever to help with install, but otherwise no problem. I’m not afraid of trail-side removal of the tire to put a tube in.
I also carry the little tire plugs in my saddlebag. Those work well for dealing with punctures too large for sealant when pressures are low (MTB or CX), though not sure how well I’d expect them to work for road pressures.
My road bike came with Ultegra wheels, which are “tubeless ready”, and Michelin Pro 4 Endurance tires (with tubes). I blithely ignored (actually I think didn’t even know about) that tubeless-ready part, until I got my first flat. I promptly broke both tire levers trying to get the tire off the rim. Then I broke both of them again trying to use the wrong end to pry with because, you know, I still needed to get the tire off the rim. I eventually managed to get the thing off, and couldn’t get it back on again. When I *did* get it back on, I ripped the new tube trying to get the bead seated. So then I had to get it back off again. Patched the originally punctured tube. Got the patched tube and tire back on the bike. All of this accomplished with much difficulty and scraping of knuckles and other nonsense. Turned out I again punctured the (patched) tube getting it back on, but this leak was slow and my poor repair at least got me back home again. The whole thing took 2 hours on the side of the road. I spent a similar amount of time, and another ruined tube, doing it all over again the next weekend at home before it was finally fixed for real.
So I figured if I have to deal with the difficulty of getting tires on and off these #%:mad:^^:mad:&#@ tubeless-ready rims, I might as well try out tubeless tires. I bought a set of Schwalbe 1s and just looked at them awhile because I didn’t want to go through the trouble of changing the tires again. (yes it was that much fun). Until I got another small puncture in the rear tire (which luckily was a slow enough leak I got home with it) and had to take that tire off anyway, so went ahead and put the new one on. I would say it was comparably difficult to putting the Michelin on– it was actually easier but I think mainly because there wasn’t a tube I was trying not to ruin, and I only had to do it once, (rather than doing it once, and then a second time to replace the tube I ruined the first time).
I am, actually, afraid of trail-side removal to put a tube in.
What are these “little tire plugs” of which you speak? I am a not-very-heavy person and will happily ride quite some distance on pretty low-pressure tires (even skinny ones) if it means I can avoid a repeat of that previous side of the road experience.however, since my fear is based on the difficulty of dealing with my rims, unless I decide to buy new wheels, I don’t see a downside to the Schwalbe’s vs. tires-with-tubes. Particularly since, while I couldn’t determine the cause of the first flat, the second was a tiny thorn that worked its way through the tire and which I’m pretty sure would have easily been closed up with sealant if I had switched out the tires first. I really need to get around to changing the front, too.:rolleyes:
@Amalitza 124470 wrote:
I am, actually, afraid of trail-side removal to put a tube in.
What are these “little tire plugs” of which you speak? I am a not-very-heavy person and will happily ride quite some distance on pretty low-pressure tires (even skinny ones) if it means I can avoid a repeat of that previous side of the road experience.
Yeah, I have a couple sets of these in different saddle bags: http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Innovations-G2650-Tubeless-Repair/dp/B000P1RP48
I would probably try these first if/when I do have that first flat that sealant doesn’t fix. And I agree; I wouldn’t have any problem riding these tires home on 50psi, so they may actually be a good option for the road too.
@TwoWheelsDC 124439 wrote:
Also worth noting…the more bikes you have, the less you have to worry about changing out worn tires.
Actually it’s more about how many wheels you have
at last count I had 33 but I really don’t use them all. (And I’m sure I have more tires than wheels.)@hozn 124456 wrote:
re plugs in my saddlebag. Those work well for dealing with punctures too large for sealant when pressures are low (MTB or CX), though not sure how well I’d expect them to work for road pressures. I expect I’d need to unmount the tire if I flatted.
So far (1500 miles) these tires have been flat free, but I carry 2 tubes when I run tubeless.
Hmm maybe I should start carrying plugs just to ward off the flat demons. I am carrying 2 tubes now though (first tubeless commute today).
@vvill 124474 wrote:
Actually it’s more about how many wheels you have
at last count I had 33 but I really don’t use them all. (And I’m sure I have more tires than wheels.)Jeebus. All of my bikes basically require different wheels and none are really “multi-purpose” (8spd hybrid with discs, old road bike with 8spd cassette, new road bike with 10spd cassette, mountain bike, and fixed gear), so I’ve not had much reason to have extra wheels lying around, but I do switch between bikes quite often. I think my only spare set will be for studs for the mountain bike this winter.
Slightly off topic, but this is a new one for me. Opened a new cross tire and found this. It looks like a nail from a nail gun, flush with the tread side and sticking out the inner wall.
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