Vado 4 Punctures

RobEich

RobEich

Member
I’ve had my new Vado 4 for about 6 weeks now and have ridden about 1,200km. 90% of my rides have been on paved roads or bike paths. The remaining 10% has been on, very tame, gravel bike paths. The gravel paths are smooth enough to comfortably do 25km/h+. I have the std Trigger Sport tyres and usually have them at 65-70psi. These tyres are supposed to be puncture resistant.

In this time I have had no less than 4 punctures, 3 in the front and 1 in the back tyre. 3 of the punctures have been when on a paved surface, the 4th I’m not certain. I’m very careful where I ride and try to avoid any obstacles that may be in my path.

Years back I had a MTB and for 10+ years of mountain biking may have had 1 puncture.

Has anyone had the same experience?

Does anyone have suggestions on how to reduce the risk of punctures?
 
RobEich said:
I’ve had my new Vado 4 for about 6 weeks now and have ridden about 1,200km. 90% of my rides have been on paved roads or bike paths. The remaining 10% has been on, very tame, gravel bike paths. The gravel paths are smooth enough to comfortably do 25km/h+. I have the std Trigger Sport tyres and usually have them at 65-70psi. These tyres are supposed to be puncture resistant.

In this time I have had no less than 4 punctures, 3 in the front and 1 in the back tyre. 3 of the punctures have been when on a paved surface, the 4th I’m not certain. I’m very careful where I ride and try to avoid any obstacles that may be in my path.

Years back I had a MTB and for 10+ years of mountain biking may have had 1 puncture.

Has anyone had the same experience?

Does anyone have suggestions on how to reduce the risk of punctures?
Click to expand...
I switched to Schwalbe Marathon E+ They promise no puncture. Ride is not as smooth and heavier. For me not to repair flat was more important.
 
FYI. The latest culprit - a splinter of glass so small I had to use a bright flashlight and tweezer to remove it.
 

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Knobby tires don't puncture as easily if that is what you had on the mountain bike. Schwalbe tires are my favorite, but they are not completely immune to puncture. Tubeless might be the way for you to go, not certain about the rims you have.
 
RobEich said:
I’ve had my new Vado 4 for about 6 weeks now and have ridden about 1,200km. 90% of my rides have been on paved roads or bike paths. The remaining 10% has been on, very tame, gravel bike paths. The gravel paths are smooth enough to comfortably do 25km/h+. I have the std Trigger Sport tyres and usually have them at 65-70psi. These tyres are supposed to be puncture resistant.

In this time I have had no less than 4 punctures, 3 in the front and 1 in the back tyre. 3 of the punctures have been when on a paved surface, the 4th I’m not certain. I’m very careful where I ride and try to avoid any obstacles that may be in my path.

Years back I had a MTB and for 10+ years of mountain biking may have had 1 puncture.

Has anyone had the same experience?

Does anyone have suggestions on how to reduce the risk of punctures?
Click to expand...
I had a nearly identical experience; 3 rear tire flats within the 1st 500 miles. I have thorn strips/tire liners in our mech bikes with no flats in several years. Put them in the Vado tires. No puncture flats in nearly 1,000 miles. I did have a rear tire blow out. I suspect the tire wasn't fully seated but same effort as a flat to back on the road and a ruined tube! 😕

I do have sets of Schwalbe Marathons that I'll be putting on when we can travel out of the area again.
 
Unsure of what models come with tubeless ready rims. I had the experience of three flats within the first 6 weeks. Shop put on WTB Byway tires. Rides really smooth and no flats. I've ridden tubeless for years. Never had a flat that didn't seal up right away. Only have to pump the tire usually a relatively small amount, and off you go.
 
Hextall said:
Can't we use the ghetto/split-tube method to go tubeless?
Click to expand...
When my sons raced cross country MTBs in school they tried every method to reliabily convert their non-tubeless rims to tubeless. Periodic problems with all of the options they tired convinced them to invest in tubeless rated rims. Now years later they are very glad they did. They get all the advantages of of tubeless with none of the periodic hassles they had with all the conversions they tried.
 
Sierratim said:
When my sons raced cross country MTBs in school they tried every method to reliabily convert their non-tubeless rims to tubeless. Periodic problems with all of the options they tired convinced them to invest in tubeless rated rims. Now years later they are very glad they did. They get all the advantages of of tubeless with none of the periodic hassles they had with all the conversions they tried.
Click to expand...
@Sierratim is tubeless that much better?
Please elaborate on some of the advantages of tubeless.
 
RobEich said:
I’ve had my new Vado 4 for about 6 weeks now and have ridden about 1,200km. 90% of my rides have been on paved roads or bike paths. The remaining 10% has been on, very tame, gravel bike paths. The gravel paths are smooth enough to comfortably do 25km/h+. I have the std Trigger Sport tyres and usually have them at 65-70psi. These tyres are supposed to be puncture resistant.

In this time I have had no less than 4 punctures, 3 in the front and 1 in the back tyre. 3 of the punctures have been when on a paved surface, the 4th I’m not certain. I’m very careful where I ride and try to avoid any obstacles that may be in my path.

Years back I had a MTB and for 10+ years of mountain biking may have had 1 puncture.

Has anyone had the same experience?

Does anyone have suggestions on how to reduce the risk of punctures?
Click to expand...
You seem to be getting all the laws of average out of the way in one fell swoop : I haven't ridden but a Brief time : About 500 Miles : But my ridding Buddies have ridden in one case over 10 years : With skinny tires and never one flat :) However My best friend bought a Bike 2 weeks ago. On his virgin trip to My Home 1/2 mile away exactly : He had both the front and rear tires punctured :) We spent teh first 45 minutes fixing his flats LOL : True Stories
 
Nxkharra said:
@Sierratim is tubeless that much better?
Please elaborate on some of the advantages of tubeless.
Click to expand...
Once you're setup for tubeless you can ride nearly flat free with some minimal maintenance. Since there are no tubes so you can't get pinch flats when riding at low pressures, very desirable for some riding conditions. These advantages make tubeless attractive for MTBs to the point where upper end MTB bikes are being offered with tubeless as standard equipment.

This is not to say that tubeless is the same as flat free. They can still get punctures that the Slime can't seal. For that reason my sons carry repair kits that include plugs much like auto tires use. This is the plug kit they use;
note the Slime leaking out at the puncture.

This manufacturer recommends replacing the tire after it has been plugged.

My sons tell me that initially inflating a tire on a tubeless rim can require a 'booster' pump like these https://www.roadbikerider.com/these-floor-pumps-let-you-mount-tubeless-tires/ . These provide a high air flow volume to help seat the tire. A shop compressor with a storage tank can also do the job.

So, pluses and minuses. Depends on your riding conditions really. I'm OK with thorn strips and flat resistant tires. My sons are all in for tubeless.
 
Very good explanation, Tim! I've got my Trance with tubeless wheels and tyres as the standard feature. Indeed, I can ride them at very low pressure, which ensures a perfect grip offroad. They seem to be very durable, especially while riding rocks. Yet another feature: these are very lightweight; you wouldn't believe how lightweight the wheels could be, especially after your experience with Marathon e-Plus. Unluckily, tubeless tyres technically require tubeless ready wheels and that means building the whole new wheel-set, which might be not so easy for the Vado. I'm sure @Brendon@TBSM could contribute with his experience.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like you've had some really bad luck with punctures. My recommendation would be to go with Schwalbe Marathon tires. They're very puncture resistant. The one thing I don't like about the Marathons is that great puncture resistance means they're really heavy! But on an electric bike that is pretty much irrelevant, but I'd never put Marathons on my carbon road bike due to weight.

I know a lot of people like tubeless. For mountain biking I understand the appeal, but on the road I'm not a big fan of it.
 
A CO2 cartridge will also usually be a good enough shot of air to seat the tire initially if you can’t get a pump to do it. Conventional wisdom then says once the bead is set, let the air out again and replace it with normal pumped air. Molecule size? I don’t know, I never was much of a chemist.

I personally am way in the tubeless camp, but everyone has their own experiences. The sealant alone can stop the really small stabbing type issues, and you can find a bigger problem, punch it with a plug, shoot some CO2 in there and be back on the road or trail within a minute or two sometimes.

Always carry a spare tube anyhow in case of a complete sort of disaster that you can fall back on when you’re miles from a road or assistance. Learned that lesson too 😎
 
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