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I was going to title this thread "Hard or Soft? Which is better for penetration?" but thought better of it...
Suffered three punctures in the last couple of weeks, and I reckon all are entirely down to the flinty gravelly stuff that they've found from somewhere now the snow is gone. Fixed one last night and got the tyres ramped up to 110psi. Right or wrong?
"tyres ramped up to 110psi. Right or wrong?"
Mmm whole lot of other questions raised there -
Presume the tyre/rim is OK with that(?)
How about the shock dampening in your frame, forks, bars/tape, saddle?
Higher pressure probably reduces chance of puctures - but what about overall comfort?
In my opinion - right. The only real trouble I've ever had with a tyre was a low pressure (i.e. 65psi) Schwalbe delta cruiser. The high pressure tyres rarely (touch lots of wood) suffer flats and none are anything special in the "puncture proof" department.
Time and empirical observation shall tell!
Speed is my comfort :)
High for me. 100 psi.
K's right - the faster you go over those cobbles, the smoother they become! Just keep thinking "Paris-Roubaix"...
Tyres and rims can go up to 120, so no worries there. The only question was really, does higher pressure stop punctures.
Comfort and so on is an entirely different question. For the record the steel frame seems to dampen everything nicely and not really had a comfort problem in three annabit years on that particular bike.
Running at a tube-and-tyre*-recommended (no idea if the rims are supposed to be happy with this but I've never had anything burst off or through them) 115-125psi results in no punctures (at least whilst the tyre is in good shape - when it gets very old and worn it's vulnerable to thorns on the front path) though lots of jiggling over cobbles.
*Armadillo All Condition
No idea what pressure I bled them down to during the snow but the reduction made it quite pleasant to go over cobbles, even those covered in icy slush. Didn't get any punctures from either spiky stonelets or ginormous sharp-edged craters, though most of the reason (besides the greater efficiency) why I keep them quite high is to reduce the risk of rim-stabbing punctures on potholes I see too late to evade.
Apparently keeping the pressure high reduces punctures. Maybe because flabby tyres present a much great surface area for the stuff to squeeze in to?
I got a flat yesterday (just as I got in the bike shed) and having felt the difference having used the track pump when I got home, they were a bit soft right enough!
I thought the make and model of tyre might havea greater affect?
I have Schwalbe Marathon Plus on my Dawes.
110psi - on Edinburgh's roads! Don't your (ahem) contact points suffer somewhat from such an unforgiving ride (ooh-er missus etc)?
My personal preference is about 85psi - hopefully firm enough to repel nasties but soft enough to cushion a few of the many, many bumps.
bumps = jumps :)
I stand up over the bumps... ;)
Now jumping on the mountain bike, THAT shows up a difference...
I find if you're pedalling reasonably hard that you are generally lifted slightly out of the saddle anyway and that the road bike posture lends itself to this as you're not so much sitting down as crouching over. I feel most of the effects at the front end in the hands and wrists. Carbon fork has helped that out a lot. Realise it's not to a lot of people's tastes, but despite appreances I'm quite comfortable!
There's not much weight on my ischial tuberosities during times (or speeds) of maximal rattling and I have a cloven saddle to make sure no weight rests upon more delicate structures. I've recently been micro-fiddling with my bars and hoods to get them properly comfortable in the absence of any gloves with padding in the correct place which will just leave the pedals, whose shapes sometimes poke at my feet.
My rear tyre wears significantly more quickly than the front (and needs to be topped-up more) and evening-out the fore-aft weight distribution of the things attached to the bike would also make it easier to hop obstacles cleanly. Finding a way of fixing my D-lock nearer the front of the crossbar (to balance the coiled cable lock and padlock in the saddlebag) would help but so would adding a handlebar bag containing a camera and a couple of lenses.
Bump
Is it simply bad luck that punctures / non puncture weeks seem to come in waves - and then affect just one tyre ???
Nothing for months (except my smug 'cant remember the last time I had one' chat) and then -
Saturday (road bike, rear), in the Lyne/Meldons road during a hailstorm - obviously I was not wearing the correct clothing as it was semi tropical in edinburgh.......brrrr.
Today - came out of office to a flat (rear) on my hack - clearly I had left the fast gas in the roadie, cue mini pump action - hmmm, right arm is out of practice, lucky if I got 40psi.
Not cycling tomorrow, so hoping for the hat trick on thursday - perhaps on the canal with the added frission of dog poo ?
"during a hailstorm"
It is statistically proven that punctures have a higher opportunity factor in direct correlation to bad weather.
There is an inevitability that things happen in threes (bit like leylines).
Dog poo is a naturally occurring substance with magnetic properties.
All that aside, it might be worth spending your day off examining your tyre for minute things that are burrowing their way through the casing.
Required implements - Marigolds, facemask and lashings of Dettol.
Different bikes, but a fair point in most circumstances - I did (as a whippersnapper) have one on way to work, one on way home, then spotted another when I got home - turned out to be a combo of the same bit of glass and laziness !
Puch, rear 3 times in the last few weeks and I've now just blown the tube up, ear ringing frantic search for another tube in progress
tourer on specialised nimbus armadillo around 85psi (max rating on the side of the tyre), roadbike on schwalbe durano S, about 100psi at the front and 110 rear.
Touching lots of wood, only one puncture in the last year or two.
Tyres and rims can go up to 120, so no worries there.
The Stelvio-on-Moulton rim front wheels on my trike can go up to 150psi. :-p I usually run them at about 90; my current Brompton tyres (Primo Comets) are rated to 85psi, but I run them at 100.
Mostly the high pressure does the trick, but evidence my recent flat tyre from that arrowhead shaped bit of grit. Alternatively, Panaracer Flataway is supposed to be quite good; it's basically a strip of 'Kevlar fuzzy felt', so soft and compliant next to the inner tube.
Warning - dull story -
Chap at work came to borrow tyre leavers as he punctured his Schwalbe Marathon Plus back tyre, he brought the wheel in to the office. ANyway, he made good job, slight faff on the presta valve but super strong thumbs he must have I thought in my Yoda way. Dug out a shard of glass, I thought sharp but a bit on the short side for Schwalbe Marathon Plus as I have dug out similar from non-punctured tyre of same make. Anyhoo, the day progressed to home time, I was out at bike shed with him and something made me look at his back tyre. Turned out hilariously to be merely Schwalbe Marathon a far inferior tyre. HE bought two Schwalbe Marathon Pluses from EBC but they sold him one Plus and one Mere Marathon. Please note which one took the puncture.
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