CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Tyre liners - what do you know about them?

(25 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by Greenroofer
  • Latest reply from Snowy
  • This topic is resolved

  1. Greenroofer
    Member

    So I've been telling people that I don't get punctures. I've been expounding the benefits of hub gears for city cycling. I'm an advocate for studded tyres in winter. Today I got my comeuppance. I had my first puncture for 12 months on the back wheel, which has a hub gear. It was late, I was hungry, and it was a complete PITA to fix. At least I was in the bike park at work, rather than on a dark wet towpath.

    Anyway. The puncture was caused by a tyre stud wearing through the inside of the tyre and wearing a hole in the inner tube. Inspecting the inside of the tyre, this is just the first: there will be more wearing through and more punctures. What can I do to stop this?

    Does you have any experience of tyre liners (this, for example)? I'm unwilling to spend £80 on two new Marathon Winters if instead I can spend £20 on tyre liners. Are tyre liners any good? Will they see me through the winter?

    Any advice welcome

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. SRD
    Moderator

    I had similar punctures after two years on my last marathon winter. Will definitely be interested if you discover a way to extend their lives.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I use the Panaracer Flataway liners on my Brompton. It mostly works, but 'mostly' may be because I cut it in half lengthwise because the Primos are narrow. Full width would give more protection to the edges of the tread.

    I would try it. It's thick felted Kevlar.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. Snowy
    Member

    Would a couple of thicknesses of gaffa/duct tape on the inside of tyre do the job? Although I suspect that once the studs wear through to the inside, they'll also not be as effective on ice since the tyre won't be 'pushing' them into the ice.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. gembo
    Member

    Back wheel always worse then front. Hub gear also bit trickier than dérailleur?

    Do you think running marathon winter tyres on non icy roads will contribute to the studs going in the way?

    it is possible to replace the studs. On my advice my colleague contacted Schwalbe and they sent some free replacement studs. They declined to do this for me in a curious twist.

    So studs can be taken in and out but if rubber of the tyre has become too flexible then maybe need a new tyre. Might not need a pair?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. Dave
    Member

    Swap your front and back tyres around? That should take away the worry at the rear at least. Then you can just wrap a couple of layers of duct tape on the inside of the formerly rear tyre and try that on the front, I reckon.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. remberbuck
    Member

    The Flataways are very good and will last you many winters. I used them with Nimbus slicks on a hack mountain bike I used for winter riding and never had a puncture.

    And once, for reasons I forget, I found myself inflating the tyre without a liner, and when it had water on the inside. The number of water jets that that spouted forth was spectacular. The job had been done many times over.

    I've also tried the Slime tyre liners - which are better with skinny tyres - but was never really confident that they would stay put and not cause rolling problems. The Zefals stocked by EBC are similar.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Punctures discovered at the end of the working day are infuriating, aren't they? In general I use puncture-resistant tyres, but my Schwalbe Land Cruisers failed to resist the attentions of a large Blackthorn thorn last night, so I may have to rethink that strategy.

    I've tried the Panarecer Flataway tape, but I found the 29 inch tape a bit too narrow to fully protect commuter tyres. What I have put into action is this;

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_842767_langId_-1_categoryId_273923

    which I used to protect a cheapo trailer tyre from some extreme cycling this summer. It's not the lightest, but it is bullet proof, probably literally bullet proof. It also has the advantage of being fitted without adhesive, which means you don't have to change it when you change tyres.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. 14Westfield
    Member

    I used the slime tyre liners for years and years on the NEPN as they were totally resistant to glass! I did get a pinch puncture the 1st day i fitted them so gaffer taped the edges and after that didnt have to take the tyre off until it wore out.

    Never bothered to switch them to a replacement bike (itself 5yrs old now) which has always had Marathons..
    I dont get punctures with them either but now theres more use and maintenance of the NEPN there is very much less broken glass around than there used to.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. ARobComp
    Member

    I used two old and fairly worn summer tyres (23mm) that I cut the side walls off then put inside the slightly larger winter tyres. That worked fairly well but rather heavy I guess if you're worried about that (this was on my 26inch commuter)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. Greenroofer
    Member

    @ IWRATS - indeed. Thank you for your help in fixing my puncture last night. The blackthorn thorn that came out of yours was impressive. I'm interested in the Halfords stuff: it's definitely cheap, but the reviews on their site are (shall we say) 'mixed'. The thing I'm trying to protect against is relatively blunt things wearing a hole in the tube, rather than penetration from sharp objects, so it's hard to know what to choose!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I suspect the utility of the Halfords stuff is down to the care taken on instalation - like anything to do with wheels, tyres and tubes. I can only report that it kept one of the worst tyres I've ever used puncture free carrying heavy loads over some of the roughest cycling in Scotland.

    I'll have a look this weekend to see if I've still got some of the stuff lying around somewhere and you can cast an eye over it...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. Greenroofer
    Member

    This evening I went to Wiggle and bought some Panaracer Flataway*. I'll let you know how I get on.

    *Annoyingly, I also bought some new tubes, a bottle of oil and some brake pads, which I'm sure I hadn't intended to buy when I started shopping...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. Greenroofer
    Member

    P.S. IWRATS I'd still be interested in seeing your stuff if you do happen to have any lying about: the key thing for me is finding something that's abrasion resistant rather than thorn/glass proof.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. Greenroofer
    Member

    Panaracer Flataway installed last weekend. For those who use Marathon Winter tyres, here's what I found...

    My back tyre is much more worn than the front. Many of the centre ring of studs have worn through the inside of the tyres. I put a new inner tube on after the puncture that prompted this thread, and in just a week it had got a whole series of oval wear spots from the studs and I think would probably have punctured in another week (i.e. about now!). No studs on the front tyre have worn through. The tyres are three years old and have done between 1,500 and 2,000 miles I'd guess.

    The Flataway stuff is a soft fibrous mat. It's seems pretty flimsy until you try to cut it, when you find how tough it is. I doubt it would provide much protection from thorns or tacks, as these would just push the fibres apart, but it looks promising for protecting from tyre studs (or cuts). It's adhesive, so once it's on the tyre, it's not coming off to re-use.

    It has no discernible effect on the ride.

    I'm not planning to take the tyre off for a while just to have a look, but I'll let you know if there's another puncture or if the worn tyre survives the winter.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    Thanks for the tip ARobComp. I have tried that with an old inner tube cut length ways and glued inside my worn rear tyre.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. kaputnik
    Moderator

    @Greenroofer if your rear tyre is taking significantly more wear than front did you consider swapsying them over? at least that way if the worn tyre flats again, it will be on the front which is less faff to get off and repair.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    Sheldon "Put The Good One In Front" Brown

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. Greenroofer
    Member

    Hmm. Came to the studded-tyre bike this morning to find the rear tyre is flat. I took the other bike, so haven't investigated the cause yet: it might be the studs and might be a thorn or glass or something.

    Anyway, if you've bought some of this Flataway stuff to extend the life of your studded tyres, and haven't yet taken it out of the packet, maybe wait until I report back on whether it's done any good...

    ...you might be wanting to send it back to the shop.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. wingpig
    Member

    If anyone wants to try the line-with-another-tyre thing I've a few dead Armadilloes sitting about where the carcass is intact but the rubber tread separating from the fabric has rendered them unusable.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  21. Darkerside
    Member

    I think studs wearing through after a few years are just the downside of not breaking limbs the ice. I can't think of any kind of liner that would resistlots of tiny sharp bits of metal for any length of time...

    I am impressed by the much cheaper Schwalbe Winters (ie not marathon) that I'm running this time round. Makes a new set every two years much more palatable.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  22. wingpig
    Member

    "I can't think of any kind of liner that would resistlots of tiny sharp bits of metal for any length of time..."

    Armadilloes, unless the studs' rears are made of hawthorns. Perhaps the occasional full-deflation-shoogle-and-reinflation would be enough to shuffle the liner along a fraction relative to the tyre to present a fresh bit to each stud.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  23. Greenroofer
    Member

    Took the flat tyre off this evening. Found that the studs had worn through the Flataway in several places, and one had then worn through the innertube as well.

    So if you have Flataway on order to make your worn tyres usable (HankChief, I'm looking at you) then I'd suggest you don't bother with it...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  24. HankChief
    Member

    Well, that will save me a frustrating evening in the garage trying to fit them... And I guess I can eat the haribo while I fill in the return details...

    Does make me wonder if I can get through to Spring on the current set. I experimented with putting an old inner tube round my new inner tube - not sure how much that will help but here's hoping.

    Only getting 2 winters out of them isn't great but that is probably due to them being on permanently for 5months and my 20" wheels doing more revolutions per mile than a standard tyre.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  25. Snowy
    Member

    my 20" wheels doing more revolutions per mile than a standard tyre

    Back of the envelope calculation - 20" would do roughly 3 revolutions for 2 revs of a 29"/700c wheel? So 50% more wear for distance traveled. Or 33% more wear versus a 26".

    2 x 5 months doesn't sound bad actually. Based on general consensus on CCE etc, 2 years is what I'm hoping for. But so far this year I haven't put them on. Yet.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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