Which is better to buy for a new bike?

[DragNLady]

Puncture proof tires or a liner and goop?

Am buying a Rad City Step thru, it has 26’’ x 2.3’’ Kenda K-Rad Tires, but I want to make sure I have the best tires or liner to help prevent flats. I will be riding in AZ, where we have a lot of goatheads. My biggest fear of riding this bike is getting a flat, and I wouldn't be able to change it with a rear drive motor.

Thanks!

 

[indianajo]

I'm getting a over a year (~2000 miles) flat free out of Kenda off road tires as long as I keep the tread thicker than 1/16". The off road ones come with tread thicker than 1/8". I use no slime or goop.
Reading the threads about fighting puncture proof tires to get them off the rim, I'm definitely not buying any.
We don't have "goat thorns" here and I ride on-road. There is plenty of glass, nails, screws, and truck tire chunks with wire protruding on the berm where I ride.
For differring opinions, see this thread: https://electricbikereview.com/forums/posts/171777/

 

[DragNLady]

Thanks for the info and for the link, Indianajo. . . . . . . . Still not sure what route to go though.

 

[Feliz]

I use pucture resistant tires, always Schwalbe, and add slime, I've never had a flat.

 

[Figs]

Feliz has it right. We have goat heads, huge thorns, glass, nails...etc. when i rode mainly a recumbent trike, my wife also had one, she had the stock Kenda tires, I had Schwalbe Marathons. In less than 250 miles she had 3 flats. In thousands of miles I had zero.

My current main ride, an eBike, has over 2,300 miles and zero flats with Schwalbe Big Bens. A few months ago I had a 2 inch nail stuck in the rear tire (yes, I measured it, a finishing nail). 6 miles from home and I pulled it out and kept riding. That’s why I pay more for good tires.

 

[AHicks]

I would say goop at minimum. From there it's more about local conditions to my way of thinking. If I were replacing tires that were shot or damaged, I would likely spend a little more on a good tire to minimize my chances of a flat (same reason for running goop).

Too, after my second flat the same season, there would likely be action taken to avoid a third incident. For me anyway, much easier to spend money for lessons already learned....

 

[mrgold35]

Are you thinking 18 or 19 Radcity?

Purchased a Radcity Step-Thru back in June/18 and I added Mr. Tuffy Liners and one 2-oz bottle of Stans tire sealant to each tire. We also have a huge amount of goatheads and cannot ride without getting 2-10 stuck in your tires when you get home (usually 10-20 stick and eventually fall off during the ride).

Goatheads are a bigger issues with my 16 Radrover with the wider 4" fat tires. Did the same with Mr. Tuffy and used two 2-oz bottles of Stans per tire. Almost zero flats from goatheads now on my Rover. The combo doesn't protect from road debris like screws or glass that is too large for Stans to seal. I carry a spare tube on those occasions.

I haven't had a flat yet with the Radcity with the combo of Mr. Tuffy+Stans with the standard tires. I've seen the +19 Radcity now have K-Rad tires with Kenda K-Shield puncture resistant liners compared to the 18 Radcity with just K-Rad tires. I don't know if the K-Shield is a liner like Mr. Tuffy or build into the new tires?

I think I would still add Mr. Tuffy and Stans if I had the 19 Radcity. Might be overkill or might save me from pushing my ebike +4 miles.

One tip I've learned with goatheads is to never remove until you get home. Sometimes the thorn is keeping the tire from going flat if the tire sealant isn't working. I rather fix a flat at home compared on the road. I've also notice I need to add additional tire sealant every 2-4 months because of so many goathead thorn. No flats when riding; but, I do see wet spots on the tires sometimes and I know Stans is doing its job.

 

[DragNLady]

Feliz has it right. We have goat heads, huge thorns, glass, nails...etc. when i rode mainly a recumbent trike, my wife also had one, she had the stock Kenda tires, I had Schwalbe Marathons. In less than 250 miles she had 3 flats. In thousands of miles I had zero.

My current main ride, an eBike, has over 2,300 miles and zero flats with Schwalbe Big Bens. A few months ago I had a 2 inch nail stuck in the rear tire (yes, I measured it, a finishing nail). 6 miles from home and I pulled it out and kept riding. That’s why I pay more for good tires.

Thank you Figs, I sure do appreciate your info. I will definitely be buying Schwalbe tires.

 

[DragNLady]

Hi MrGold35, I responded to your message after you wrote, but I do not see my reply. Strange. Anyway, I am getting the 2018, as there is a great sale on. Thank you so much for your advice to not remove goatheads until after I get home.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

No reason you can't do all three.

 

[mrgold35]

Hi MrGold35, I responded to your message after you wrote, but I do not see my reply. Strange. Anyway, I am getting the 2018, as there is a great sale on. Thank you so much for your advice to not remove goatheads until after I get home.

It was hard to remove goatheads using needle nose pliers when the head breaks off with only the small thorn in the tire. I found the best way is to use a box cutter to remove the broken off thorns. The tip of the blade can dig into the tire to pop it up a little bit. The side of the blade is sharp enough to grab the side of thorn to remove. That is my routine every weekend to remove any thorns with broken heads from my tires (usually about 5-15 broken off thorns per tire).

 

[6zfshdb]

Your Kendra tires are already near the top end of tire quality. Adding liners and slime will give you some additional protection. If you are worried about removing and reinstalling your rear wheel with the hub motor, carry a Gaadi style replacement tube. This Huffy tube is a third the cost of a Gaadi but uses the same principle. It also comes with a Shrader valve, not Presta which most Gaadi's use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071CNWJ91/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This style tube lets you change a flat without removing the rear wheel. Make sure you carry a knife of scissors for cutting the old tube in half to remove it.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

This style tube lets you change a flat without removing the rear wheel. Make sure you carry a knife of scissors for cutting the old tube in half to remove it.

In fairness, you don't need to remove the wheel to patch a leaky tube anyway.

One of the downsides of tire sealant(s) is that they make it much more difficult and sometimes impossible to patch a tube in the field, because the leaking sealant will contaminate the patch adhesive. Sometimes if you can tie a really tight overhand knot in the tube you can "patch" the tube well enough to get you home (although you'd certainly need to remove the wheel to pull that off).

If you don't like dealing with the "goop" Slime does sell inner tubes with Slime already injected into them.

 

[DragNLady]

6zfshdb, wow, thank you very much for that info and link. Amazing. I have already bought one!

 

[DragNLady]

In fairness, you don't need to remove the wheel to patch a leaky tube anyway.

Thank you for that info., Mr. Coffee, much appreciated.

 

[linklemming]

Puncture proof tires or a liner and goop?

Am buying a Rad City Step thru, it has 26’’ x 2.3’’ Kenda K-Rad Tires, but I want to make sure I have the best tires or liner to help prevent flats. I will be riding in AZ, where we have a lot of goatheads. My biggest fear of riding this bike is getting a flat, and I wouldn't be able to change it with a rear drive motor.

Thanks!

Out here in the denver/boulder area, 95% of any flat I encounter is due to goatheads. I started putting stans in my tubes about 12 years ago and havnt had a flat since. Well I did get a flat on a loaner ebike last week. I put stans in the tube (requires a removable vale core), pumped it up and its been fine since.

If using stans, you need to be aware that over time it hardens/dries up. I typically add more stans after 6 months or so and replace my tubes every year but I have tubes over 2 years old still running flat-free

I dont even bother removing the thorns

 

[DragNLady]

Thank you linklemming. I appreciate everyones input! But I still don't know which would be better. Which would be the most "flat preventable?" Putting Stans in a tire, or getting puncture free Schwalbe tires? I don't want to have to change tires every year, so maybe the puncture proof tires are the route I should go. I got my bike ordered, it is on it's way, so I have to make up my mind in the next few days what I am going to do. Or would tubeless tires be better?

 

[6zfshdb]

I have Schwalbe "Fat Frank" tires and I know from experience, they are puncture resistant not puncture proof. I have slime in my tubes and as Mr Coffee says, the slime makes it difficult if not impossible to patch a tube. That's why I carry the Gaadi type tube for field repairs.

Tubeless tires are also not puncture proof but, with the proper kit, they are usually easier to repair than a tube. Your rims must be tubeless ready or suitable for conversion to tubeless. Getting them to seal initially can be a chore and breaking the bead for a field repair can also be a problem.

I'm afraid all you can do is minimize your chances of getting a flat. There is no way I know of to prevent them completely. A good tire, liners and slime working together are your best bet. Tubeless tires are certainly an option but it is a matter of debate as to whether they are better overall.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

I'm out east in NJ. We don't have those things called Goat Heads but we have more than our fair share of thorns and other sharp objects ready to puncture your tires at any moment. I have two fatbikes, a Specialized Fatboy and a Haibike Full FatSix ebike. With both bikes, I initially went with and ran for years, the Mr Tuffy liners and though they worked fairly ok with my 4.6 and 4.0 tires on these fatbikes, I still got flats. This late summer, after really getting tired of flattening out on the roads and trails, I scrapped the idea of tire tubes and liners and went with the tubeless setup that everyone on the fatbike forums said I should have been doing in the first place!

DragN: I would strongly suggest looking over the Schwalbe catalog for a tubeless ready tire in the size you need. From there, I would then look over and familiarize myself with the various tire guards they have on hand for your size tire & see if it also tubeless compatible. In that same vein, a note to Rad Power to see if their rims for your bike can be converted tubeless. If everything points well for going tubeless, I would go for that route first. Trust me, Mr Tuffy's can only do so much. I've had plenty of thorns go through my fatbike tires and Mr Tuffy's only to puncture out and flatten the tube.

If you go tubeless, do understand you will need to still carry a spare tube in case of a big tire slash that no tubeless sealant can handle.

Check with your friendly local bike shop and inquire as to the price of doing the tubeless set up for you. Stans sealant has their fans as well as the Orange Seal brand. My Haibike is a Yamaha mid drive, so changing a rear flat is no different than changing a traditional bike rear flat. Your hub drive is a different beast that requires different steps to remove and reinstall the tire/rim. I'd suggest a few practice runs in the living room, and not on the trail, where it's getting dark, a storm is approaching or the heat is too intense to get comfortable with the steps needed to be done to fix a rear flat or that tire slash that your tubeless set up cannot seal.

Speaking of fixing a tubeless flat, there is a pretty cool system based on larger tubeless car tire flat repair technology: http://www.dynaplug.com/bike.html I myself have the DynaPlug Mega Pill along with some spare plugs and carry this with me, along with a good air pump, tire irons, spare tube and tire patch kit....just in case. The system is not cheap to buy into, but it buys tremendous peace of mind knowing you've got the bases covered should you flatten out on the trails.

So, to make a long winded post short: 1. Schwalbe tubeless ready tire with some kind of tread guard technology. 2. Go tubeless with a good name brand sealant 3. Carry spare tube, tire pump, tire irons, tubeless tire plugging system at all times along with a good pressure guage. 4. Ask local bike shops if they can convert you over to tubeless 5. Learn how to remove the rear wheel and reinstall in the comfort of home before the poop hits the fan out on the trails!

PS: A catastrophic tubeless flat or tear on the trails means you must use a tube as the tire pressures required to set a tubeless tire bead onto the rim can never be achieved with your hand tire pump. Good luck!

Mike

 

[DragNLady]

I have Schwalbe "Fat Frank" tires and I know from experience, they are puncture resistant not puncture proof. I have slime in my tubes and as Mr Coffee says, the slime makes it difficult if not impossible to patch a tube. That's why I carry the Gaadi type tube for field repairs.

Tubeless tires are also not puncture proof but, with the proper kit, they are usually easier to repair than a tube. Your rims must be tubeless ready or suitable for conversion to tubeless. Getting them to seal initially can be a chore and breaking the bead for a field repair can also be a problem.

I'm afraid all you can do is minimize your chances of getting a flat. There is no way I know of to prevent them completely. A good tire, liners and slime working together are your best bet. Tubeless tires are certainly an option but it is a matter of debate as to whether they are better overall.

Thank you 6zfshdb or that helpful information!