Road/commute punctures. Tubeless Vs armoured tyres

Seemingly every time I have cycle commuted into work in Leeds city centre on my road wheels recently, I’ve got a puncture.

It’s doing my head in.

I’m on panaracer gravelking slicks, 32c, which I use for the occasional road ride in the winter, in addition to commuting

I often ride the same commute route on my 40c tubeless gravel wheels and never seem to have any issues…so erring towards trying the road wheels tubeless also.

Any opinions about whether armoured tyres would be a better solution here? Im a bit concerned the higher road pressures will just fire the sealant out in the event of a puncture, rather than sealing.

Thanks

By armoured tyres do you mean like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus? If you do they are draggy and heavy but mostly commute proof. I ran them or the continental equivalent for years for commuting and almost never had a puncture but if you commute a long way the weight and rolling resistance might be an issue.

Another Marathon Plus user. Haven’t had a puncture for years, commuting about 40km a day, mixed off road and road.

Cheers, the weight of armoured tyres wouldn’t bother me when commuting, but I do use the same wheels on the road, where it would be annoying.

I had some continental gatorskin tyres in the past that seemed pretty indestructible, however the grip was shocking, especially in the cold and wet

I rate the marathon supreme if you can find them. Seem to roll a bit better.

Been through this on my commuter

Tubeless works great on the commute until it dosent work, worst ones are a tyre slash or a large hole that a plug wont fix, sealant everywhere including over my clothes, then i had to fit a tube with a piece of cardboard covering the slash which meant getting even more covered in sealant by the side of the road in the dark faffing around with tyre levers slippery hands and tight tyres, once back home i then had to strip it all down and get messy again, fix the tyre with a mushroom plug, add more sealant, then clean up the bike and my clothes

I now just run Schwalbe Durano Plus 28mm tyres (just below Marathons in the puncture protection scale) with tubes, ive had less punctures than i had with tubeless and worst case if i do get a puncture its easy and clean to fit a new tube

Durano plus tyres weigh 480 grams, tube 100 gram so thats 580 grams per wheel, where as tubeless was 350 gram tyres, tubeless valve 15 grams, sealant 60 grams, so thats 425 grams in total, so the tyre and tube set up is 150 grams heavier but a lot less messier

I use Continental GP 4 Seasons on my winter road bike / commuter. They’ve been pretty good over the years and several pairs (the only time I’ve punctured them I also wrote off the rear rim in the pothole that pinch-flatted both tyres, and that history includes accidentally wearing one rear down to the canvas). I think their successor model is called something else now, but might be the same tyre. They’re a whole lot livelier than the Schwalbe Marathon Pluses on my cargo bike.

Thanks all, you’ve changed my mind back. I’ll stick with tubes.

I’ve pulled the trigger on some 32c gatorskins…will see how I get on I guess!

I’ve pulled the trigger on some 32c gatorskins…will see how I get on I guess!

Not sure if they’ve been updated (new compound etc) recently but Gatorskins have a bit of a reputation for being notoriously slippy slidey on wet roads, especially things like manhole covers and painted white lines.

Gp5000S TR even in 32mm is 300g, sealant is 35g and the valve is 8g.  That’s over 250g saving per wheel.  Well over 0.5lb.  I’ve only had 2 tubeless punctures which required intervention in 10years of commuting 6000km+ a year.  Both of them were fixed with an insert without needing to remove the wheel.  I never fixed the tyre with a more permanent solution, I just ran both until the canvas.

I think the S TR is less solid (both puncture and wear) than the older TL, but is lighter and has a nicer feel.  I may go for the all road version next time.

Yeah, as above, I hated Gatorskins for that reason, but this was about 6 years ago, so they may have improved…

Frequently got punctures on Gatorskins pre tubeless. Glass works it’s way through. They’re also not much fun..

Have some Conti Touring something or other on the commuter, similar to Marathons, 40mm bullet proof and horrible to ride, so I use my tubeless road wheels on my gravel bike unless the weather is truly grim.

30mm Pro One on front and GP5000 to the rear, I fix a puncture every couple of months with a plug, the rest just sort themselves. Nearly always glass, worst was a large roofing screw..

12 miles each way through central London, all year round. Doubt I’ll go back to tubes… (That’s jinxed it…)..

Not commuting, but I use the same tyres set up tubeless on my “winter” bike that is ridden through all the crappy weather and roads, and I’ve just replaced them due to wear after 4000 puncture free miles.

I used to commute on Marathons, felt heavy and dead, and when I did get a puncture it was a sod to fix at the roadside.

I used Schwalbe Durano Plus on my road commuter.

They’re called something else now, I think the Schwalbe One (not to be confused with the Pro One which is their race tyre).

They were reliably excellent and way less skittish than Gatorskins. Just the right balance between puncture protection and ease of fitting, ride comfort etc.

those gravelkings are useless on a commuter

i had them in 38? and they punctured every commute, i did the commute maybe 3 times on them? every time. yet dozens of times on schwalbe g-ones and vittoria something or others and i remember only once having to top up with a little air

You need flint catchers, even the pros are using them now!! https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/oscar-sevilla-revives-retro-puncture-protection-hack/

I agree with alan1977 – Gravel kings are nice tyres (on the road) but not even remotely puncture resistant, especially with regard to things that cut the casing. I would be tempted to try a decent standard tyre (GP5000) before jumping to the complete opposite end of the spectrum with armoured/gatorskins (*shudders*).

My commuter bike came with maxxis overdrive which looks very similar to schwalve marathon. I’ve been happy with their speed and weight, and I’m 1000s of km in without ever having had a puncture.

Also you can just put some sealant in your tubes as backup – the one exception to the above for me was a pinch flat going over a harsh dropped curb, which dropped about 20psi and then sealed up with the stans that I had forgotten was in the tubes!

@el_boufador – my mate commutes from Woodlesford into Leeds and he’s had no end of punctures the last few weeks, so it’s not just you. He said he keeps pulling bits of what seems like wire wool out of his tyres. He’s gone back to Gatorskins now as well.

My “commuter” bike is my everything road bike so it has GP5000 AS on them (set up tubeless). Not cheap, but seemingly lasting well and ride great.

Gatorskins are horrible to ride, and no confidence in the wet (or dry tbh).  I tried hardskins once, they were even worse.

My Brompton has Marathons though – it rides funny anyway so you get used to it 😉

Also, re the Gravelkings, i believe there is a new model with improved resilience, but i’m still put off them, they are the lightest tyre i have ever tried, and loved their performance.. until i didn’t

IME:

Punctures on the road are just a sign the tyre is on it’s way out.  Once you’ve had one you get loads and it’s time to swap them.  They may not be worn, but the rubber or the puncture belt breaks down. With few exceptions any long-term online review that bemoans a tyre for puncturing is usually worth considering in the context that all tyres eventually puncture.

Cheap tyres are better than old tyres.  If you baulk at £50+ tubeless tires just get Continental Ultra Sports.  They’re what I’m running on the road this winter. They’re not as fast, and don’t feel as nice as Schwalbe One or even the previous winters Hutchinson Fusion 5 11storm, but they’re black and they’re round and touch wood it’ll be a few thousand miles before they puncture even in the flinty Chilterns.

The Marathon Supreme or whatever it’s called now isn’t as slow as the marathon plus, but is probably the closest you’ll get to puncture proof in real world cycling.  The Plus is really a niche product for hire bikes, cargo bikes, and super-utilitarian bike riders who just want to ride from A to B with no issues ever .  Another alternative is the Specialized Borough, but I slashed the sidewalls on mine fairly early on (been fine with a boot ever since) and is a bit square.

Tubes Vs Tubeless ……

I think tubeless is better, but the faff to benefit ratio isn’t as favorable as for MTB’s, cross, or gravel.  I’ve gone back to to tubes, but use those Ridenow TPU tubes.

Tubes? how weird. Been commuting on tubeless (Schwalbe G-Ones) for about 14 years. Probably 3 punctures in that time. Only memorable on was when my pump broke and I had to get a lift home.

Panaracer Paperthins. Never again.

Friends don’t let friends use Gatorskins! 😉

I haven’t bought a Panaracer tyre since I had one explode while I was in the cafe.

Mourning the discontinuation of Schwalbe marathon Supremes. Think they have replaced them with something described as an e bike tyre and which start at 38mm, my commuter only takes 32mm with guards

Mourning the discontinuation of Schwalbe marathon Supremes. Think they have replaced them with something described as an e bike tyre and which start at 38mm, my commuter only takes 32mm with guards

I think the one you want is the Marathon Efficiency, they come in 700×35 but reviews suggest they’re more like 33-34mm.

I’ll see if i can check at lunchtime, a colleague just bought a Ribble last year that came with what looked like marathon supremes with e-bike logos on them.

Tubes? how weird. Been commuting on tubeless (Schwalbe G-Ones) for about 14 years. Probably 3 punctures in that time. Only memorable on was when my pump broke and I had to get a lift home.

That’s impressive seeing as they only launched them 9 years ago.

The Marathon Almotion is another alternative. I use in more rural surroundings.

Cities are more prone to punctures in my opinion esp with glass splinters etc.

Punctures going to work are the worst,.esp if the foreman/manager clocks you in for being late!  Grrrr.

I think the Almotion supercedes the Supreme? There are/ were various options of Almotion when i got them inc a tubed version which was a bit lighter.

Durano Plus were the only road tyre that would cope with the glass on my commute. Cut to bits, but rare to get a puncture. On a commuterised MTB now, and Lifeline Commuter tyres had been good (until the bead separated dumping me on the ground), but switched to Land Cruisers as my commute is mixed surface.

NB if you suffer from Reynauds and /or arthritis in your hands then trying to change a tube in a Marathon plus tyre on a freezing cold, rainy, shitty day is a really, REALLY bad experience. Don’t ask me how I know . :0/

The price always put me off trying Marathon Supremes, until Merlin had them in their sales as the model went EOL around ’21. Had a 40mm and 35mm on the hybrid ever since, that measure ~37/33, with a 32mm in the spares box. No puntures and roll better than I remember my 28mm 4Seasons rolling (still have a pair but not used them since my fatbike crank sheared summer ’20).

Marathon Cross tyres, also EOL now I think, were another good puncture/rolling commuter tyre I used. Easy to put on without getting sore thumbs, by pressing bead into rim well to provide slack for the final ~12″.

That’s impressive seeing as they only launched them 9 years ago

Ooh. He done some research to show I’m lying! Yeah, didn’t start with G-Ones, but use them exclusively now. Sorry pedants.

I think I might have a tube in my saddlebag, but dynaplug will do the job, as long as the pump works!

Haha, I only knew because I moved house around then and remember buying a set off FB marketplace.

I’d agree with tubeless being great for anything >35mm and at off-road pressures where it seals perfectly almost every time without even a plug. But on the road bike, especially in winter I’d rather the known risk of it taking ~3min to swap a tube and inflate with CO2 than the unknown of

Stop

pump it up

still going down

stop

plug it

pump it up again

stop

give up and fit a tube

(and hope that I found all the bits of flint sticking thorough the tyre that the sealent had fixed before so they don’t wreck the tube)

I still use nice tubeless tyres on nice wheels in summer when occasional roadside faffing isn’t a problem.  But in winter I’ll trade potentially more punctures for guaranteed less faff when they do happen.

I stopped using gatorskins about 20 years ago awful things. Bought a used bike with an unused set on recently so took them off that bike and kept them ready for winter use on my gravel bike which doubles as winter roadie…done two rides on them…they are still awful…I’ll use them, carefully but better options are available. Durano plus, I also like Spesh Roubaixs.

Gatorskins were at least easy to take off and put on the wheel 🙂

I also had gravelking slicks and they were rubbish tubeless for puncturing. I think literally any other tyre would be an improvement from a puncture aspect.

Continental Top Contact 36mm or Terra Hardpack 50mm here, both run with Continental Touring inner tubes.

Not a single puncture in 5 years of commuting and wobbling around at weekends.

Nothing is bulletproof – I’ve had punctures with Marathons and Gatorskins. The latter trashed the tyre, which I’d not had all that long, but I was glad to see the back of it for the reasons mentioned lots already. Never had a puncture with Specialized All Conditions Elite, but of course that’s probably luck as much as anything else.

Oh dear, maybe I made a mistake with the gatorskins then! Well at least they were quite cheap. I’ll probably try them and see how I get on.