Hi All

Talked a while back on here about road tyres and punctures.

Its starting to really annoy me now, I am just getting punctures all the time. One on Sunday at the New Forest Sportive 100 and another last night. It seems like almost every ride.

I am currently running the Maxxis Cormet tyres that came with the bike. I diligently pump them up to 120psi before every ride.

They are a combination of punctures from debris or hitting a small stone in the road, was dark last night and didn’t see it. Strange thing is if I accidentally hit a pot hole I seem to get away with it.

Is this just the way it is or am I doing wrong.

Bazzer

Maybe try a new rear tyre? I get on well with the specalized road tyre with the puncture protection in them. For twenty quid it might be worth a shot, and if successful you can swap the front.

You will get alot better puncture protection with a conti gatorskin, specialized armadillo, bontrager hardcase etc.

Check the rim tape and inside of the rim for damage, bit 120psi! I assume you weigh about 15 or 16 stone? Why so much pressure?
Just get decent tyres and tubes, talc the inside and fit carefully, think about your tyre pressure and see what happens.

I put 120psi in as I assumed that would roll the fastest and give best puncture protection.

I am new to this road riding game 🙂

No problem with buying good tyres and tubes, always used continental tubes in my mountain bike.

What sort of pressure should I run ?

Bazzer

I go with 100 and have had one puncture in 6 months. Last week. Grr.

120psi isn’t silly high. Most people ride between 100 and 120psi depending on personal preference. Higher pressure doesn’t necessarily result in faster rolling, particularly if you ride on less than smooth roads.

optimum pressure in terms of rolling resistance is dependent on how much you weigh and what the road conditions are like.

However 120psi is fairly normal. Might be a harsher ride than 90psi but should in theory give a bit more protection from punctures.

only from pinch punctures which IME (even at the heavy end of the scale) are pretty rare.

do people not run less pressure on the front?

you should be.

120 rear 85 on the front. (based on 15% tyre wall drop)

I’ve had cheap maxxis tyres on a carrera road bike and, like you, got a puncture every ride.

Changed to continental gatorskin – no problems regardless of pressure.

I run 115psi+ and weigh 67kg and haven’t had a puncture in years. How worn is the tyre? Have you checked the inside of the tyre for debris? Small stones have a nasty way of working their way through the rubber. Check the rim tape. Is the tube in good condition?

85 on the front are you insane ? Or perhaps just lucky ! Not with the potholes on my commute roads !

I have used Conti GP 4000s (or whatever number they are up to now) for years now takes a lot to puncture those. And I never leave the house without 120 psi. Got some really heavy Conti’s for winter bike tho.

worse than small stones is slivers of glass – can very easily sit in the tyre but not puncture the tube until you actually ride the bike.

Tyres are pretty new as is the bike and I have had this problem from new.

I have not checked the inside of the rim for burs etc, but I am going to at the weekend. Will make sure rim tape is in place and there are no burrs etc. Its a set of own brand Planet X wheels so not sure what the quality is like.

I think the Cormet is not a cheap tyre either, in fact its more expensive than a Gator skin. But I guess it may not be designed for puncture resistance.

85 on the front are you insane ?

but it equates to the same loading as 120 on the rear.

weigh the weight under the wheels – it will all make sense.

Road tyres do need to be checked, both on the inside (run your thrumb around) and also on the outside for anything embeded in the rubber.

Tyre pressures I run vary.

Commuter/winter tyres – Vittoria Pavé. 90 front, 100 back. These are rated to 135.

Race tyres (1) Vittoria Corsa – anything up to 140 (though usually a bit less on the front). These are rated to 145 (open tubular design, and 320tpi). Superb in the dry, less good in the wet (file tread).

Race tyres (2) Pro Race 3 – up to 115.

Hmm I bet I have some loose debris in there.

I obviously check the inside of the tyre for thorns/flints etc after getting a puncture, but I bet I have some other crap just floating around in there.

Bazzer

I use Conti Grand Prix with poly-x breaker and black chilli compound on the back. Never punctured in over a year, not the lightest at 270g but very puncture proof, I got my cheap from Ribble. Had a set of Gatorskins before and they were cr4p for small pieces of glass as the rubber was too soft and the glass would get through the rubber and then the belt and puncture the tube, was not impressed at £40 a set and all the good reviews on the net. I find Black Chilli compound very good in the wet as well.

On the front used to have a Bonty Race Lite hardcase, no punctures in over a year, cheap at £16 or so but again not light, over 300g, now use the Spesh Armadillo on the front and again no punctures. I run mine both front and back at 100psi, mainly because I weight about 89kg so not a lightweight. If You’re concerned about weight than You would probably get from A to B quicker on heavier tyres without puncturing than on lighter tyres but having to change the tube during the ride.

Also worth mentioning riding on the road and having to change tubes couple of times in pi55ing rain and cold evenings in winter I now pay more attention to what’s in front of me, avoiding big potholes, larger stones, broken glass etc.

I think you are right. There is either loose debris in there, or something stuck in the tyre which you cannot detect by hand but which pokes through when a bit of pressure pushes it through. I’ve seen that loads of times, when someone keeps getting a puncture and everyone in the group ends up checking the tyre and only one person eventually finds a small bit of glass in it.

I almost never get punctures on the road and I often run the tyres very soft purely due to laziness. But I find the ideal pressures are quite low, around 90psi, maybe less in the front as mentioned above. I never get pinch punctures (some people in my road club have never heard of pinch punctures other than from mounting the tyre!!)

the only time i find i get puncture issues is when the tyre is getting on and needs to be replaced.

Sorry for being thick – but what is the point of running lower pressures on the road ? I understand offroad with the whole grip v speed v pinchflat etc – but do you really notice a handling difference between 85 and 120 psi, that is worth the higher incidence of punctures both pinch and foreign object related ?

I obviously check the inside of the tyre for thorns/flints etc after getting a puncture, but I bet I have some other crap just floating around in there.

Have a clean out of the tread side too, you might not feel anything on the inside, but it’ll be there somewhere. I had a broken thorn on an MTB tyre that I tried pushing back out of the tyre and it broke leaving the smallest piece in the carcass, I had slow punctures for months until I decided not to be a tightwad and bought a new tyre.

I’d agree with it being the tyres.
My experience is purely commuting on my roadbike, where I do not want punctures any more than racers do, but I guess I’m not so bothered about having super-lightweight tyres.
Over the years I’ve found Bonty Hard case (X-Race Lites) to last the longest with punctures, Conti Gatorskin to be one of the worst (which there is a lot of disagreement with, but I can only talk about my experience eh?!)
Using a Hutchinson Equinox at the mo as the were cheap on Ebay and Hutch MTB tyres are good – seems to be lasting well.
Interestingly I’ve had 2 pinch-type punctures (hitting an unseen object on the road) on the rear Bonty recently and though there was a hole in the tube, enough pressure remained to get home. Very unusual with high pressures.

but what is the point of running lower pressures on the road ?

comfort / grip.

15% drop is the optimum balance between comfort and rolling resistance. at higher pressures the bike is no faster but comfort is decreased.

aee this for more explanation

weighing the wheel weight is a right faff – trying to get me on the bike balaced with one wheel on the bathroom scales and the other on a block. shouting at my helper to read the weight before i fall off!!

however since doing it it was a revelation the bike corners better, due to lower front pressure (might be 90 not 85psi btw – i cant actually remeber!! – it’s written down somewhere though!) and rolls faster too due to the higher pressure in the rear.

i used to run 100 both ends after using tyre drop i dropped the front and raised the rear. which is sensible thinking of it.

Hels – tyre pressure makes no difference to getting non-pinch punctures.

Lower pressure gives a bit more grip, smoother ride and on rougher roads potentially less rolling resistance.

do you really notice a handling difference between 85 and 120 psi

Comfort mainly.

At 120psi the whole bike vibrates and bounces along the top of rough roads, at 85psi it rolls much more smoothly (which is probably more efficient depending on how rough the road is).

I’m with Horatio – better grip and more comfort at 80-90psi.

At 120psi the whole bike vibrates and bounces along the top of rough roads,

I actually like that 🙂

Hmm the theory sounds like it may have some merit – although I am somewhat loathe to test it – hate changing punctures !

Just a thought here – you say you are new to road bikes. Are you making the mistake of cycling in the gutter?

105PSi for me and not a single puncture in the much derided Spesh Mondo Pro tyres.

Weigh about 11.5 stone.

I find it’s worthwhile spending a minute after each ride digging out any bits of gravel or debris that have worked their way into the tyre… I reckon that helps protect against punctures…

bluddy hell, ive just built up my first road bike for commuting, and guessed at 60psi. looks like i need double that!!
might have to just pop back into the garage before i ride it 🙂

sadexpunk – Member
bluddy hell, ive just built up my first road bike for commuting, and guessed at 60psi. looks like i need double that!!
might have to just pop back into the garage before i ride it

I’m sure that somewhere on the tyre sidewall it will have recommended minimum and maximum tyre pressures.

A roadbike with under pressured tyres really is a waste of time. When mine was new, I assumed the shop had pumped them up correctly. Rode it and thought – this is fairly nippy but not much quicker than my Stumpy. Sorted the tyres and suddenly the difference was massive!

Just a thought here – you say you are new to road bikes. Are you making the mistake of cycling in the gutter?

Not generally, but obviously sometimes you have too. I am however riding on roads with a lot of debris at the moment.

bazzer – Member
> Just a thought here – you say you are new to road bikes.
> Are you making the mistake of cycling in the gutter?
Not generally, but obviously sometimes you have too.

I don’t. Seriously, it’s gonna be as much a function of the sort of detritus you’re riding through as it is the tyres. It’s definitely worth investing in tyres with some protection built in. And bear in mind that punctures seem to be more common when the roads are wet.

I don’t. Seriously,

On some of the roads I ride on they are single car width. Don’t often meet a car. The only way you would get away with not riding in the crap at the edge of the road would be for one of us to turn around or back up into a passing place, cars don’t seem to happy to do that 🙂

So I think I have a few things to look at.

Something inside the tyre, if that does not cure it then more puncture proof tyres.

Bazzer

Get some tyres with kevlar protection. I had some, they were full of cuts down to the canvas (so I thought) so I replaced them. Out of interest I then tried to see how close to failure they were. The rubber was only cut down to the kevlar, and I could NOT cut it with a knife at all. Seriously bombproof.

I’ve probably had one puncture in two years now with kevlar protection. Having said that….