Thanks for the suggestion. A few people have recced these.

One more puncture today! The Clustering Illusion is seeming less likely by the day. It is mostly chips of gravel sticking to the tree then working their way in.

I can pick up Vittoria Revolutions from Planet X for 8 quid each, or for 13 if I Choose Graphene. Does anybody reckon that Graphene is worth the extra tenner?
And will the 700×38 tyres fit nicely to my wheels? The current Riddlers are 700×37.

I keep the pressure high – Ive been riding 65 psi which is the max recommended for the Riddlers.
They’re good tyres – fun to ride and quite quick, but I think they’re just not right for my commute: good bike path/ poor bike path/ canal path/ loose gravel path*/ a bit of mud track when it is dry.

*this seems to be where I get most of the punctures – little bits of gravel working there way through the skin. The local council inexplicably believes that loose gravel is an appropriate material for a recommended bike route.

Hello
I posted a couple of months back about how pleased I am with my 2018 Arkose 3. Still am.
At the time I wrote that the only issue I had was the amount of punctures I’d been getting.

Well, two months later I’m still getting them – 11 since early January, including one yesterday and another today. This is on the same commute where I’d had perhaps 2 in 6 months before changing bike.

I’m going to try new tyres. I’ve thought a lot about what I need, and I think I’ll be getting these: https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVITREVG/vittoria-revolution-g-graphene-700c-wired-tyre. They weigh bout as much as the bike, but other than that they seem perfect.

I just wanted to check to see if anyone has any experience, perhaps even tried them on an Arkose, and to ensure they’ll fit as these are 700×38 rather than 700×37.

The show is moribund

I can see no problems with this legislation – it will work perfectly.

For an example, porn is illegal in Thailand. Anyone who has visited will be able to confirm there is no porn in that country. Making it illegal is 100% effective.

@mechanicaldope
I’m not really sure why not – something to do with damaging the beading if I remember correctly. I don’t know about these things, I ‘m just repeating what I read.

@rjmccann101
Thanks, that was an great reply. I have a friend who is a statistician – I don’t know why they have a rep for being dull, he always has interesting ways of looking at things

@rjmccann

Thanks for the Clustering Illusion link.

In your opinion how many punctures would I need to get over how long a period before I can say it’s not an illusion but probably the wrong tyres for the terrain? I’d say 10 in 2 months up from 2 in 6 months was enough, but I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

Marathon Supreme very interesting. I’d already been looking at the Land Cruisers, so good to get a rec.

The tubeless suggestions are stacking up. I don’t know anyone who rides tubeless or I’d ask if I could have a try.

Some interesting tyre suggestions there. The Clements seem cool, but maybe a little narrow for my use. I really like the look of the Cross Speeds. Probably the Marathons seem most sensible, but they are very heavy, and there are lots of reviews saying people found them hard to get on and off.
I tried Slime tubes – they were great for the first puncture but not so good after that, so I’ll give that a miss for now.

I got another puncture on the way to work today, so I’m going to have to do something. I’ll visit my LBS on Wednesday to see if they have any suggestions. I’ll mention all the tyres suggested here to see what they say.

I’m a bit disappointed nobody has used the Revolutions. They might be just right, and I can get them at a good price, but I’d hoped for a personal rec.

Oh well, thanks once again. I’ll post again if I ever get round to making a decision.

Thanks people.

Lots of suggestions for tubeless, but I have a worry about this: I’ve read a few ‘how to …’s about tubeless tyres, and they all say you should not use tyre levers. I don’t have strong hands, and I sometimes struggle to get tyres on and off even with levers. I suppose on the plus side I’d have to do it less often if I had fewer punctures.

@ rOcKeTdOg
I don’t mind a couple of punctures, It’s when I’m averaging more than one a week I’m not happy. I’ve had tyres that punctures less than yearly in the past (the old-style Crossroads mentioned above), and my last pair nonames gave me maybe 3 or 4 in a year. Surely even tubeless have occasional punctures?

@reformedfatty

Sorry to hear about your wheel. As it’s a 2018 bike I assume it’s still under warrantee – is the wheel being replaced by Evans?

@grantyboy
You know the answer to this – you have to test ride it :)

I’m just a little shorter than you ( I could claim 5’8″, but I’m not quite) and I got the small Arkose 3. I was a little worried as I usually ride a medium, but this fits me very well. It has a higher ‘standover’ height than some similar bikes, so that’s something I’d check

Arkose 3.

I expected it to be a decent but conservative ride – I didn’t realise how much fun it would be. A review complained that it was ‘sluggish’, but I’ve found it to have quick acceleration out of corners and great handling.

It might have looked something like this:

I still use my titanium Airborne Lucky Strike it’s the only mtb I have, so even though it’s getting on a bit I still have fun riding.

Wow! Quick reply!

I think it’s just an unlucky streak to be honest. I don’t think it’s a rim tape problem as all the holes have been on the outer side of the tube, and I found two of the probable causes – a thorn and a sharp bit of gravel. I intentionally took the bike over some gnarly ground today to see if it happened again, but I had no problems. I think you’re right, simply British winter riding conditions.

@willmo
I did a lot of research as well, and no – I didn’t find any negative comments about the Riddlers either.

I’ve just had a look at my bike to see if I could see what you described. The downtube seems to go from circular to a more flattened shape where it fixes to the bottom bracket – this might have caused what you perceive as a ‘bow’ in the tube

Hi,

This is a little beyond your stated budget, and it may not suit your use-case.
https://minirigs.co.uk/speakers/bundles I picked up the 2:1 system a few years ago as I was travelling so much – it meant I could get decent sound wherever I was without carrying around a huge system. Now that I’m more staled I find myself still using them as they are so versatile and the sound is so good.

They can be used with bluetooth (pretty good sound and battery life), or wired (better sound and excellent battery life).

Maybe no good for you, I just thought they were worth you taking a look. I love them, and have had no regrets about buying them despite the high price.

edit: Hmmm, seems like a cannot do a link for some reason. The speakers are minirigs from minirigs.co.uk, and I was specifically recommending the ‘two stereo speakers + subwoofer’ bundle.

Hello People,

I bought an Arkose 3 last week. I’d like to say thanks to everyone here, especially jameso, as reading all your comments helped me to choose this bike over a number of others (Kona Jake the Snake; RX9 S Fresh Orange; Triban RC 520 Disc; Trek FS x 4; Boardman ADV 8.9; Trek Checkpoint AL 4, etc).
Now I’ve only had the bike for a week, and I’ve only managed about 150km so far, but I’m very happy with what I’ve experienced: compared to my old hardtail the acceleration is laughably quick, the riding has been fun, fast, and comfortable on all surfaces, the gears change so smoothly that sometimes I’m not certain they have actually shifted, and I’ve adapted to my new bike easily. The only worry I have is should I have got the Arkose 4 instead?

There’s only thing that has me concerned so far: I’ve had three punctures on three separate rides, all rear wheel of course. Has anybody else experienced anything like this? I’ve not been one especially demanding routes.
I love the feel of the WTB Riddlers, but do I need to thing about changing to something less puncture prone, or have I just had a run of bad luck?

Thanks again for all the comments – they’ve been interesting and informative, and they helped me chose a great (so far) bike.