Never, Never Get Punctures = True

I ran ArMADillos (25c and £20 a pop) for a long time (perhaps 2500 miles) and got a puncture every 200 miles. Without fail. Glass was often the culprit. I have now switched to Michelin Lithions (23c and £11 a pop) and have had but one puncture over 700 miles and counting. I'll stick with the Lithions for a while, methinks. They also have significantly less rolling resistance. It's a no brainer.

what pressure were you running the armadillo's? this is the first case ever of someone getting multiple punctures that i've heard.

I ran the MADillos at 110-120psi

were the the newer style with hoops or older style with slits

Just like the one in your picture.

In fairness, one puncture would have taken any tyre out. In fact it took my wheel. A screw on Upper Street, when I was doing 20mph, went through the tyre and right through the wheel. Fluke.

The rest were glass. I pumped them every week to 120.

mmm, those are the newer ones. i've only ridden the older style and still have a few pairs up my sleeve.

Armadillos are bombproof, but ride like a brick and slip when wet (if you have one at the front!)

Does HTFU mean "buy cheap shit and sacrifice ride quality"?

I like my low rolling resistance, high puncture resistant Conti 4000's.

Marathon Plus tyres are comparable in price to your conti's, and sometimes even more expensive.
I note your tyres didn't confer much grip up that little wooden bank on the second bridges ride.
I seem to remember you going ass-up, but to be fair it was damp.

I have been riding as a courier, worked in a bike shop, can fix or change a puncture in under ten minutes.
I have done enough in my time to never want to touch my tyres until they need replacing.

I am not going to be frail about a little extra weight or grip because I have a tyre that is 99.9 percent puncture proof.

I didn't get many punctures with my Gatorskins, I don't bop my wheels on curbs or ride like a noob in gutters. but punctures are just boring and I have better things to do.

Comments like this make me laugh:

23c all the way. I'll never sell out to 25c. I've only ever had pinch flats and that's only when I've not been bothered to pump my tyres up enough.

Wooo I'll never live that down.

I got bontrager hardcase's... the only ones that didn't puncture within a week...

Bare rimz FTW.

25c armadillo is the only tire I've ridden without punctures. Also, who really cares about rolling resistance in London? I'd rather find it minutely more difficult to turn the wheels than get a puncture.

25c armadillo is the only tire I've ridden without punctures. Also, who really cares about rolling resistance in London? I'd rather find it minutely more difficult to turn the wheels than get a puncture.

I care.

I care too and the difference between the 25c MADillos and the 23c Michelins is considerably more than minute

I want some super light minimum rolling resistance tyres fitted to my fuck off heavy ass deep V's. They should help cancel out the wind drag of my undone jacket and jeans too.

I want some super light minimum rolling resistance tyres fitted to my fuck off heavy ass deep V's. They should help cancel out the wind drag of my undone jacket and jeans too.

hehe nice one :)

hehe nice one :)

You know it's true ;]

I can't tell the difference in rolling resistance between a rubino pro, a gatorskin, and a 23/25c armadillo. I find that the crank length (165 vs 170) has a more noticeable difference.

Does this make me hard as fuck or just stupid?

I can't tell the difference in rolling resistance between a rubino pro, a gatorskin, and a 23/25c armadillo. I find that the crank length (165 vs 170) has a more noticeable difference.

Does this make me hard as fuck or just stupid?

a little of booth.

I notice a difference, it bugs me, not enough to go and buy new tires mind.

For real puncture resistance, and still cheap enough to skid through, how about a rubino with a bontrager hardcase inside?

Thats one of shoreditch's finest nails right through my (outer) tyre..didnt puncture though. And we dont talk about the extra weight:)

i copped a 2.5cm self-tapping phillips head screw through my rear tyre this week (they were shitty kenda cheapos that came on the bike) and have upgraded to a gatorskin. can we continue this discussion in 3 months when i have a better idea how it's performing? kthxbai.

"upgraded to a gatorskin" hahhahahahaaaaaa

how long did your skins last? haven't had a puncher on my brew yet, despite streets paved in glass.

Since switching to a Michellin Pro 2 and a Pro3 I haven't had a puncture in months. Am I just lucky or are these really good tyres?

depends how many miles you've done in the months,

mich pros have a rep of being a bit soft, and attracting stones in the wet

i was a pedicab rider for two and a half years so punctures were a nightly occurance for me.

i just thought i'd mention it as it kind of highlights the rolling resitance vs puncture resistance debate. as a pedicab rider every minute off the road was lost earning potential so i got pretty slick at fixing flats and fanatical about tyre characteristics and the trade off between speed and puncture-resistance. being quick didn't actually mean you made any more money than the slow guys but it did make a whole lot more fun.

my cab was one of the rob brock built recumbant quads, so you're talking, four tyres, double the rolling resistance of a standard bike. add two or three passengers to that and you really start to pay attention to rolling resistance, most of the riders ended up going for these verrry heavy, knobbly nokia snow and ice tyres (they had holes in them for the spikes!) but they were painfully slow. christ the thought of pulling three overweight americans up charing cross road with 4 of those bastards at 35 PSI is bringing back some interesting memories.

aaanyway, after much effing about with various high pressure skinnys (that went pop every other mile and rattled the hell out of the cab) i ended up going for some middle ground-ish conti tourers. i'd still expect maybe a puncture or two a night but they were fast enough to be fun, comfortable enough for the passengers and easy to get off for repairs (the nokias when they did go often required another pair of hands to get back on the rim). I think tyre technology is a lot better now that it was ten years ago (when i was pedicabbing) so i'd be interested to see what most of the guys are using now. i notice quads have gone out of favour too. there were only six pedicabs in london when i started. must be over a hundred now.

with a road bike that is essentially just for commuting and shortish fun rides, punctures aren't really a major issue for me. but like someone said above, i'd rather not be messing about fixing them needlessly. i don't want anything that's going to noticably slow me down but i'd probably err on the side of durability over rolling resistance these days. the contis that came on my flyer seem okayish but i've had two flats in two months as opposed to none in 18 months on my mtb with schwalbe kojaks. i'm in no big rush to bin them but i'll definitely be looking for something with better reinforcement when i do wear them out.

^ Talk about resistance training man.
I couriered for several years and that got me into a decent cycling shape but you must be able to fairly fly along dooks.