Toughest puncture-proof 2.0 tires or a tiny bit bigger

[Mr. Coffee]

@Stefan Mikes , @Tars Tarkas ,

You're both kind of right, and both kind of wrong.

The big huge win with tubeless is that you can run much lower tire pressure without the risk of snakebite. Slime tubes aren't likely to survive a snakebite.

So if you need to run low pressure because you ride on the loam or even the gravel, tubeless has a huge advantage. While the technology is dramatically improving year by year, it isn't yet clear that tubeless is a win for road riding.

Note that neither sealant in a tubeless tire or in a tube will actually prevent a flat. Your expectation and assumption should be that you will likely have to feed the tire some air, and if you have a tire that is losing air, once you get home you damned well should inspect it and figure out why.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I am looking for a puncture-proof (or at least puncture resistant) tire for my new ebike (26").
I can't change out a tire and have no intention of learning, so need something strong.
Perhaps an upgrade to the tube?
And I've heard something about sliming the tires. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

My suggestions are:

1. Purchase a high-quality e-bike rated tire with some kind of puncture protection. Schwalbe makes good tires, just choose one that is appropriate for how and where you are riding and fits your bike.
2. Purchase either extra-thick tubes or Slime (tm) tubes. I think extra-thick Slime tubes are available. Note that extra-thick tubes are noticeably heavier than regular tubes.
3. Replace your tires and tubes frequently. If you ride on good roads and smooth pavement with little debris that might be once a year. If you ride on atrocious roads or highway shoulders covered with tire belts, chunks of metal, and broken glass that might be every 1200 miles. In any case I'd strongly recommend new tires and tubes once a year.
4. Check your tire pressure before every ride. If the tire is low add some air. If a tire is losing air consistently figure out why and fix it.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Read the second sentence, FlatSix911. I don't quarrel with you

blueskycycling.com

blueskycycling.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

[...]

1. [...]
2. Purchase either extra-thick tubes or Slime (tm) tubes. I think extra-thick Slime tubes are available. Note that extra-thick tubes are noticeably heavier than regular tubes.
3. [...]
4. Check your tire pressure before every ride. If the tire is low add some air. If a tire is losing air consistently figure out why and fix it.

Not sure whether the Michelin Protek Max tubes are available in North America. These are extra thick, have an innovative design, are filled with a sealant, and are very very heavy. It is my choice for my tubed tyres.

 

[FlatSix911]

Read the second sentence, FlatSix911. I don't quarrel with you

blueskycycling.com

blueskycycling.com

No worries... the term tubular has been used for the last century on race tires that have the tubes sewn into the tire and glued to the rim.

Only recently has the term been misappropriated for tubed tires on mountain bikes... no matter the long history of the Tour de France.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

• You cannot get a pinch flat (a.k.a. snake-bite) with tubeless tyre
• Lower pressure = less bumpy ride
• Lower pressure = better traction
• Less of rolling resistance in rough terrain
• Lightweight wheel.

You do not need to agree with me. I keep tubular tyres on two of my three e-bikes, for road use. I never dare ride into the sand or just into the forest on any of those two bikes.

I ride in the sand often with 8 psi in my tires. And on fairly rough forest trails with never over 20 psi in my 26 x 4 tires. Never had a pinch flat. Anyway, my point is, the advantage of tubeless tires, such as it is, is largely theoretical. For a dedicated purist or professional rider with time and money to spend, tubeless tires may be the way to go. For the average recreational rider with tube tires, it is probably not worth the expense to switch to tubeless, especially if it means new rims. For that person, if they're worried about flats, my recommendation is to add Slime to their tubes. They get the vast majority of the advantage of tubeless tires at none of the cost.

TT

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Try riding on the rocks
Or, try the curbs at speed.

 

[linklemming]

I ran tubeless tires for 5 years many years ago on acoustic MTBs before giving up on them as the 'theoretical' advantage didnt seem to apply to my riding and the hassle wasnt worth it. I also had a bad crash due to 'burping' when running too low of a pressure on a fast technical rocky trail. Search on youtube for burping examples.

Since that time I have been running stans in tubes and have only had 1 flat in over 10 years (only because I hadnt refreshed the stans in awhile, putting in 2oz of stans fixed the leak, I ran over two nails sticking out of a board).

You can still get snake bite flats with tubeless tires, especially if you run low pressures and try curbs/rocks at speed.

I recently re-tried tubeless again on 2 ebikes. I did this to simplify fixing any flats and gave up on it because:

Constanly having to check pressure/add air. My stans tube bikes hold pressure for over a month if not longer.
Its just so friggin messy and a hassle to set up.
If I ran pressures lower than what I did on stans tube setup, the tire would squirm too much. I ran 27.5x2.8 at 15psi with tubes, tried 12psi when tubeless and hated how the tire squirmed. Im about 250# with all riding gear. I now run 20psi on that setup.
I felt like I was solving a problem that didnt exist since I hadnt really had any flats since going to stans tube setup.

FWIW, stefan I live/ride in the 'rocky mountains', I can guarantee I ride much more rocky terrain than you do. I have had rocks fly up and damage the rebound adjuster on several suspension forks.

I just recently misjudged a 'curb hop' on my Juiced CCX which is running a 2.1 tire at 35psi in the rear. I hit hard enough that the back wheel shifted in the dropout and I had to stop, loosen the bolts (which were on super tight) and readjust the wheel so the disc brake wouldnt rub. No pinch flat.

So I agree with TT.

Note that I recently went tubeless on a 2019 Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon acoustic bike mainly for weight savings, definately worth it on that bike.

 

[OldGalOnBike]

@Stefan Mikes , @Tars Tarkas ,

You're both kind of right, and both kind of wrong.

The big huge win with tubeless is that you can run much lower tire pressure without the risk of snakebite. Slime tubes aren't likely to survive a snakebite.

So if you need to run low pressure because you ride on the loam or even the gravel, tubeless has a huge advantage. While the technology is dramatically improving year by year, it isn't yet clear that tubeless is a win for road riding.

Note that neither sealant in a tubeless tire or in a tube will actually prevent a flat. Your expectation and assumption should be that you will likely have to feed the tire some air, and if you have a tire that is losing air, once you get home you damned well should inspect it and figure out why.

Again, thank you for your continued input. I am just learning about the most basic of things to keep myself safe and keep my bike in reasonably good condition (considering I am the owner). I appreciate that all the people who have posted treat me as though I am a new rider who wants to learn, instead of the completely ignorant person that I am. REALLY. I do appreciate it. I have been on forums where I have wanted desperately to ask a question or two, but never got the nerve after reading some of the responses others received. Not a good feeling. I will probably be back again as I ease myself into this new hobby.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I hope you gleaned something worthwhile out of all this.... we might have gone off on a bit of a tangent.

TT