Panaracer Flat Away Warning

[DiggyGun]

Fitted these Kevlar Panaracer Flat Away puncture resistant strips a while ago and have done 1165 miles on them.

I got a puncture in the rear tyre yesterday and even with these, tyre sealant, Schwalbe Air Plus inner tubes fitted to my Schwalbe Johnny Watts tyres the tyre went flat instantly.

Got the bike home and started to repair the puncture and found something very strange. There were two equidistant grooves on the entire length of the inner tube, matching up with the edges of Panaracer tape. I found the puncture and it wasn’t a normal puncture, but a split along one of these grooves.

Essentially, the puncture resistant strips had actually weakened inner tube and caused the puncture.

Not very happy, as having to buy two new inner tubes as these are basically unsafe to repair and the cost of throwing away the Panaracer tape.

 

[kevinmccune]

Of course, some things do not work as purported, one of the best anti-puncture things is proper inflation, that tire looked like it was under-inflated just saying, perhaps the strip had a chemical in its composition that weakened the "rubber".

 

[DiggyGun]

Of course, some things do not work as purported, one of the best anti-puncture things is proper inflation, that tire looked like it was under-inflated just saying, perhaps the strip had a chemical in its composition that weakened the "rubber".

Thanks for the prompt reply. There is no photo of the tyre. The inner tubes are partially inflated to show the damage.

 

[sc00ter]

I've had a Slime liner fold over and slice the tube. I found it a bit funny that the liner sliced the tube.

 

[DiggyGun]

Update;

After further examination of the inner casing of the tyre after taking off the Panaracer strip, I found that it had also damaged that. Some of the rubber has been eaten / rubbed away and exposed some of polyamide / nylon casing material.

The marks are equidistant and correlate with the Panaracer strip.

I’ve sent some photos to Schwalbe for their opinion. They replied promptly and advised that it’s best not use liners as that can cause friction and actually create punctures.

For peace of mind I have decided to change the tyres and am going for the Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB to replace the Johnny Watts.

 

[rich c]

Good report. Looks like a solvent degradation to the rubber compounds to me. I've never used any kind of puncture fix product, just ride on Schwalbe.

 

[Solarcabin]

I use flatout and just changed my rear tire today after it started showing the red warning liner. Over 1100 miles this year and not a single flat.

 

[tomjasz]

That looks like it took one hell of a hit.

 

[Lbrava]

Just wondering, on the tube vs. tubeless (I'm new to the emtb world) & why not just go tubeless or is tubeless primarily just an off road advantage ? Seems it's a selling point on rims where they advertise "tubeless ready" and from what I've read on forums tubeless helps prevents flats & if you do get one that doesn't seal itself it's a simple plug fix without removing the wheel.
My bike has 29" Maxis minions on Mavic rims with tubes, I started out at 26 PSI now running 18 in the front & 20 in the rear much better traction at low pressure but not so great on pavement. I've bought rim tape & Muc off sealant but haven't gotten around to installing it.
I read where one advantage of tubeless is you can run lower pressures but I don't think I'd go much lower than the 18psi I'm running for fear of denting the rim. I have not had a problem running 18psi with the tubes am I just lucky ? My bike weighs about 54lbs & I'm about 170lbs.
Any insight from those that have gone tubeless or those who haven't would be appreciated.

 

[DiggyGun]

Update;

My Nevo3 is at my LBS to get the Enviolo cable replaced. Noticed when changing the rear tyre that one of the cables was badly frayed, so they are going to change both of these out for me.

Whilst it’s there they are going to put some new tyres on for me. Decided to change from the Schwalbe Johnny Watts to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB tyres. These have a puncture protection strip as part of the tyre construction and are presently, their best puncture resistant tyre.

Good news from Amazon, they not only refunded the full cost of the Panaracer strips But also as a goodwill gesture, they have given me gift vouchers for the replacement costs for the Schwalbe AirPlus inner tubes, the WeldTite inner tube sealant and the Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB tyres. So overall, I’m not out of pocket.

Looking forward to getting my bike back as it’s been off the road for about two weeks now.

 

[Djangodog]

It’s nice to learn a lesson and not be out of pocket. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Are you not afraid Diggy the MTB tyres would be noisy?

 

[DiggyGun]

Are you not afraid Diggy the MTB tyres would be noisy?

No. They are very similar to the Johnny Watts. Plus Mrs DG has them on her Nevo3 and they’re not that noisy, that we’ve noticed.