Tire Considerations

[TrailSeeker]

Hi guys! I had a quick question on bike tires. I am going to be picking up my new Allant +7S soon, and wanted to know the whole deal with tubeless tires / Tube Armor.

The tire on my new Allant will be the Schwalbe G-One, 650Bx57c. I'm told this type of tire does NOT have any tube protection. I was thinking of adding some, since I do a lot of rocky and gravel-type trails. The last thing anyone wants when doing a long trail is a flat tire, so I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were?

1A. I could add tube protection, but what brand would you guys recommend? Is it hard to do for someone who is new to biking?

1B. Another option I have is to go tubeless, as I believe these are tubeless ready tires. What would I have to do for this? I know I can use less air pressure - but supposedly you can still get a flat tire going tubeless, and would need to carry emergency sealant with you (not 100% on this). Would I just need to tell my LBS that I wanted to buy the green goo to fill the tire with, and do this when I get home? I can probably search YouTube for specifics, but just wondering how hard this is to do on my own or if the LBS would needed to do it for me?

Tube protection might be better in my situation, so just curious on everyone's take on these 2 options. My main goal is just to have durability and avoid having to worry about getting any flats on the trail.

Thank you everyone for your help with this stuff. I just started biking and really enjoy it. I hope ill start to learn all this stuff, as time goes on.

 

[Dallant]

FWIW…I had three flats with my rear SCHWALBE G-One in less than a year and have added Tannus Armor to both of our my Allant+7. I discovered one more flat in the garage one morning after more than a month of use. I checked it carefully and realized I’d left a patched tube in it. One new tube later and it’s been about two months with no leaks or flats. Best of luck.

 

[Taylor57]

FWIW…I had three flats with my rear SCHWALBE G-One in less than a year and have added Tannus Armor to both of our my Allant+7. I discovered one more flat in the garage one morning after more than a month of use. I checked it carefully and realized I’d left a patched tube in it. One new tube later and it’s been about two months with no leaks or flats. Best of luck.View attachment 96167

Did you add the Tannus Armor or LBS?

 

[Dallant]

Did you add the Tannus Armor or LBS?

I did mine and the LBS did my wife’s. My fingers were very tired and are kinda arthritic! It’s not real easy but it is doable by the average bear.

 

[TrailSeeker]

Hey guys! Thanks for the information on this. I'll ask the people at my LBS when I go to pick up my new bike, about using this.

Sorry about all the trouble you had. I've read about all the flat tires people have been having with these tires

 

[Dallant]

Hey guys! Thanks for the information on this. I'll ask the people at my LBS when I go to pick up my new bike, about using this.

Sorry about all the trouble you had. I've read about all the flat tires people have been having with these tires

Bottom line is that there is no way to eliminate flats. Don’t believe all the “tubeless is king” talk either.

 

[indianajo]

I do fine on public roads, covered with broken glass metal & plasticparts from wrecks, & shredded tires with wire sticking out. A flat every 3 years, 6000 miles roughly. I use $26 knobby 2.1" tires by Kenda Sunlite or Giant. I take them off when knobs are <3/32" tall, about 2000 miles use. I use $7 Schwinn grocery store tubes and no slime or liners. I do not ride off road on gravel, very much. There are construction zones with gravel & steel plates. There are no goathead thorns on the ground here, as there is out west. Slime plugs up the schrader valve prohibiting adding air more often than it saves me from changing a tube. I no longer have a 100 psi air compressor, I use a floor pump.
I do debur the hole for the valve in the wheel, and I do inspects spokes for protusion into the tube area after tightening them: in which case they get filed down. I do use a rubber spoke cover, or electrical tape sometimes.
My last flat was 2 miles after I installed a new $60 Panaracer FireXPro knobby tire when modernbike.com didn't have any kendas, giants, or sunlites. Piece of **** turned out to be a fold up tire, delivered flat. I got 2 miles out of it before it popped off the rim and blew the side out of the tube. Lesson learned. Throw away fold up or roll up tires before installation. I thought it might be better than those roll up Schwinn tires at the grocery store, but I was deluded. Fortunately the LBS had Giant knobbies in stock. Takes 3 hours to get over there & back, and the other accessories I have bought from them have been garbage, so I'm not super loyal.

 

[PedalUma]

The best combo for me is a tire liner such a Mr Tuffy, tube, and Stan's in the tube. I have tried all of the other options. I also like tires that are e50 and level 6 or 7 protection.

 

[TrailSeeker]

The best combo for me is a tire liner such a Mr Tuffy, tube, and Stan's in the tube. I have tried all of the other options. I also like tires that are e50 and level 6 or 7 protection.

That sounds like a good heavy duty combination. I've never even taken a tire off a bike before, (you can probably tell I'm a newb now, lol ) but I'm going to get these off of Amazon and try it out.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My Schwalbe Smart Sam 47-622 have been ridden for 7,000 km (4350 mi) without any noticeable wear.

I replaced them today only because I swapped them for winter tyres. Will re-use them in the Spring.