Cycle punctures

[furnessvale]

Answer is to invoice CRT for punctures cause by their negligence in not clearing up the thorns.

You missed off the smiley, but if you are serious I can think of more deserving cases where boaters hit underwater obstructions and damage rudders and propellors.

 

Boaters don't even have the choice of using their eyes to see the problem.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[Graham Davis]

Answer is to invoice CRT for punctures cause by their negligence in not clearing up the thorns.

 

I really do hope that you are joking!!

 

If not, then you are a first rate Richard Cranium

[b0atman]

Has CaRT tried a Dyson ?

[MtB]

 

How about some sort of double sided tape, isn't that what's used to fix 'tubs' on?

 

 

That sounds like a Good Idea. I'll try it and report back with results in a month or three.

 

MtB

[cereal tiller]

 

That sounds like a Good Idea. I'll try it and report back with results in a month or three.

 

MtB

Considering the evolution of bicycles,the trend is toward suspension back and front.

 

Would a semi-solid tyre be suitable?,no need for pneumatic tyres at all?

 

CT

[MtB]

Getting back to the schwalbe marathon plus tyres, the more I look into them, the less convinced I get that they offer much, it any, resistance to thorns.

 

The schwalbe website claims 'even a thumbtack can't penetrate', but the reason for this is obvious from the diagrams published of a drawing pin embedded in these tyres on loads of sales pages, they penetrate into the tyre perfectly easily, but just don't go right through because the pin length is slightly shorter than the thickness of the tyre tread. I bet a 20mm hawthorn would go all the way though, perfectly easily.

 

The blurb on these tyres always focuses on street use and resistance to broken glass etc. I also see their review page describes the tyre as follows: "Thanks to its thick layer of springy sub-tread rubber - called SmartGuard - the Marathon Plus is virtually immune to through-the-tread punctures". 'Springy sub-tread rubber' really doesn't sound at all resistant to needle sharp thorns, to me.

 

I'm actually gonna stick with my lurid green tyre liners. If I try to push a thorn through one of these, the tip of the thorn actually bends over and breaks before it penetrates!

 

MtB

[Barry]

The schwalbe website claims 'even a thumbtack can't penetrate', but the reason for this is obvious from the diagrams published of a drawing pin embedded in these tyres on loads of sales pages, they penetrate into the tyre perfectly easily, but just don't go right through because the pin length is slightly shorter than the thickness of the tyre tread. I bet a 20mm hawthorn would go all the way though, perfectly easily.

 

MtB

 

Wouldn't surprise me. I had a thorn go through the tread on the front tyre of my Bonneville. Saw off the inner tube big time.

 

Not on the towpath you understand - I was going round that big roundabout on the A46 at the arse end of Coventry at the time

[Phil Ambrose]

Considering the evolution of bicycles,the trend is toward suspension back and front.

 

Would a semi-solid tyre be suitable?,no need for pneumatic tyres at all?

 

CT

Problem is that a semi solid tyre would not be able to form the right footprint and would not hold the road when cornering etc.

Phil

[cereal tiller]

Problem is that a semi solid tyre would not be able to form the right footprint and would not hold the road when cornering etc.

Phil

What if it were of composite construction,with a core of flexible and compressed material?

 

CT

[furnessvale]

Problem is that a semi solid tyre would not be able to form the right footprint and would not hold the road when cornering etc.

Phil

It probably would for recreational cyclists eg, dad, mum and kids out for a quiet run on the towpath on a sunday.

 

It probably wouldn't for the lycra louts who treat the towpath as a racetrack.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[cereal tiller]

It probably would for recreational cyclists eg, dad, mum and kids out for a quiet run on the towpath on a sunday.

 

It probably wouldn't for the lycra louts who treat the towpath as a racetrack.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Yep,got me thinking(that takes some doing!)

 

Will make that a summer project

 

CT

[Phil Ambrose]

What if it were of composite construction,with a core of flexible and compressed material?

 

CT

Possible I suppose as long as rolling weight was not an issue.

It probably would for recreational cyclists eg, dad, mum and kids out for a quiet run on the towpath on a sunday.

 

It probably wouldn't for the lycra louts who treat the towpath as a racetrack.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Might be OK for pople who only want to potter about.

Phil

[MtB]

There is this

 

Possible I suppose as long as rolling weight was not an issue.
Might be OK for pople who only want to potter about.
Phil

 

Is there any other sort of cycling one should be doing on a thorn-strewn towpath?

 

This bunch claim to have the answer but somehow I just don't trust the site.

 

http://www.tiredofpunctures.com/cycle/easyfit.html

 

 

MtB

[cereal tiller]

Possible I suppose as long as rolling weight was not an issue.

Might be OK for pople who only want to potter about.

Phil

Any towpath cycling i do is definitely of the pottering style!

 

Bikes with suspension have only been around a relatively short time,the dunlop pneumatic tyre may just be obsolete ere long?

[Pluto]

Cut the wire reinforcement from an old tyre and fit the rest of the old tyre inside a new tyre, thus doubling the thickness - it is what old boatmen I knew used to do.

[bizzard]

An excellent get yer home measure is to go to a butchers or supermarket and buy a string of nice big fat Lincolnshire sausages, remove the tube and stuff em in. When you get home on your bike you'll be already for a sausage meat and chips dinner.

[Alastair]

Any towpath cycling i do is definitely of the pottering style!

 

Bikes with suspension have only been around a relatively short time,the dunlop pneumatic tyre may just be obsolete ere long?

Unlikely. Anything else has much, much higher rolling resistance.

[ditchcrawler]

Same happens all around mk and fenny Stratford, garenteed puncture on the towpath, when the thorns are dry. Its not even worth considering biking in hedge trimming time.I was going to complain but I can't see any answer to it now they only use contractors, are they going to pay for a third bloke to follow up with a leaf blower ?

Two blokes with blowers at Hillmorton today, a photo on my blog but I can't post a photo here as I am short of allowance this time of the month.

[MtB]

Unlikely. Anything else has much, much higher rolling resistance.

 

Is that really the reason?!

 

I've often wondered why we have pneumatic tyres. They seem unnecessarily complicated. One has to pedal harder or pay for more fuel with solid tyres then?

 

 

MtB

[Roadsteam]

I had 'greentyre' solids on a bike that i used on the towpaths. They were bloody awfull, the effort to pedal was higher than on pneumatics, on soft going they were hard work as the footprint was smaller than pneumatics so the tyre sank in and on tarmac etc they could slide out from under you very easily being made of plastic rather than rubber which has a better grip. As well as the problem that they wrecked the wheels by breaking the spokes cos they transmit a lot more shock thro to the wheel which also showed up in that after some time i would find my hands tingling from the transmitted vibration and one day the jolting thro the saddle put my back out.

Changed over to Schwelbe Marathon Plus and still had punctures so fitted 'Slime' tubes. That cured it but eventually you will get a flat tyre that wont blow up or reseal as the slime is exhausted, removing the tyre to change the tube the sight is that the tube is absolutely covered in tufts of fluff and the inside of the tyre is riddled with thorns, i think there was something like 50 thorns in each tyre. Now the slime is a double dose plus slime thorn bands.

[MtB]

I had 'greentyre' solids on a bike that i used on the towpaths. They were bloody awfull, the effort to pedal was higher than on pneumatics, on soft going they were hard work as the footprint was smaller than pneumatics so the tyre sank in and on tarmac etc they could slide out from under you very easily being made of plastic rather than rubber which has a better grip. As well as the problem that they wrecked the wheels by breaking the spokes cos they transmit a lot more shock thro to the wheel which also showed up in that after some time i would find my hands tingling from the transmitted vibration and one day the jolting thro the saddle put my back out.

Changed over to Schwelbe Marathon Plus and still had punctures so fitted 'Slime' tubes. That cured it but eventually you will get a flat tyre that wont blow up or reseal as the slime is exhausted, removing the tyre to change the tube the sight is that the tube is absolutely covered in tufts of fluff and the inside of the tyre is riddled with thorns, i think there was something like 50 thorns in each tyre. Now the slime is a double dose plus slime thorn bands.

 

 

Excellent information, many thanks for all that!

 

So your experience of the (weirsly spelled) Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres is just as I suspected. Not thorn-proof at all. The tyre linings I have that work pretty well are the thorn bands you mention http://www.slime.com/shop/slime-tube-protectors/

 

I see from the website they DO come in different widths. Mine are probably no more than 30mm wide and sold to me in a proper bike shop by a geezer who said 'only one width mate'.... I'll track down and order some in that nice fat mountain bike tyre size. My tyres are usually full of thorns too, but will all the ips snapped off where they fail to penetrate the Slime Tube Protectors.

 

MtB

[bassplayer]

I had a dream...of riding my push bike back to the car so that I could drive back to my boat after a days cruising. Little did I know that any schwalbe tyre with green stuff doesn't do the business. My conclusion, try to find a road to cycle on or don't bother with a car.

[MtB]

I had a dream...of riding my push bike back to the car so that I could drive back to my boat after a days cruising. Little did I know that any schwalbe tyre with green stuff doesn't do the business. My conclusion, try to find a road to cycle on or don't bother with a car.

 

I do this all the time. It's my normal cruising method. It's how I get to know so much about punctures!

 

Tried the 'road' idea too, and an unexpected problem crops up. The road routes nearly always involve cycling up hills unless the road runs next to the canal. No fun at all. Obvious though when you think about it, as the canal generally takes the round-about, level route and roads don't have to bother, they go straight over the hills not around them!

 

MtB

Edited March 6, 2014 by Mike the Boilerman

[bizzard]

An excellent get yer home measure is to go to a butchers or supermarket and buy a string of nice big fat Lincolnshire sausages, remove the tube and stuff em in. When you get home on your bike you'll be already for a sausage meat and chips dinner.

On the other hand if you've been and gone and run over masses of of broken razor blades or huge megga thorns which have ripped your tyre to shreds and destroyed it, proceed as follows.

Remove wheel. Remove remnants of tyre and save. Drape string of sausages all around the rim as a tyre substitute and tie off firmly. Make a nice little bonfire on towpath. Feed fire with the remnants of old tyre. Cook sausages over fire by slowly turning turning wheel in the flames. Cook until sausages are golden brown and all that horrid fat and grease they contain has expanded and firmed them up. If your a heavyweight cyclist cook well to make to make em stronger. Leave to cool down until grease and fat has solidified. Refit wheel to bike. Ride away gleefully on bike. If you get hungry stop and nibble substitute tyre.

Edited March 6, 2014 by bizzard

[Pluto]

On the other hand if you've been and gone and run over masses of of broken razor blades or huge megga thorns which have ripped your tyre to shreds and destroyed it, proceed as follows.

Remove wheel. Remove remnants of tyre and save. Drape string of sausages all around the rim as a tyre substitute and tie off firmly. Make a nice little bonfire on towpath. Feed fire with the remnants of old tyre. Cook sausages over fire by slowly turning turning wheel in the flames. Cook until sausages are golden brown and all that horrid fat and grease they contain has expanded and firmed them up. If your a heavyweight cyclist cook well to make to make em stronger. Leave to cool down until grease and fat has solidified. Refit wheel to bike. Ride away gleefully on bike. If you get hungry stop and nibble substitute tyre.

In the early days of motoring they used something like glycerine - fairly solid at normal temperatures, but liquid at higher ones - to fill tyres and make them safe from puncture. Unfortunately, tyres get warm in use, and motorists would get to their cars the morning after use to find that there was a flat spot which only disappeared when the tyre was warmed up after some time in use. It was not considered a success.