tire liners

saturnsc2 said:

i'm so sick & tired of flats! do these tire liners really prevent flats, or is it a bunch of hogwash? oh sure the sites that sell them say they stop flats, but i would like an un-biased real world opinion from people who use these. it's hard to believe that a strip of plastic as thin as scotch tape will prevent a piece of glass from penetrating your tube. the bike paths in our city are filthy. glass, & debris, & just about anything litters them & the cities don't care to clean them up. just more people who care less about cyclists....

mr tuffy liners rock... they are thick rubber and help stop flats... i mean if i run over a larger piece of glass or a nail your screwed but they do help.. combine that with one of thoes 3x thick tubes and you will be good... sure it adds weight but it's less of a hassle

I just bought some Slime liners at [censored]'s Sporting Goods because I had to buy something to pad some coupons I was using. Never have used liners before but I'm going to put them on my MTB wheels when I change tires next.

My flat problem was fixed by new tires. I put Armadillo All Conditions on. They have a kevlar lining. I have picked glass out of the tires and have not had any flats since I installed them over one year ago. Some say they are slow but I do not care. They are perfect for me.

cmoore992002 said:

My flat problem was fixed by new tires. I put Armadillo All Conditions on. They have a kevlar lining. I have picked glass out of the tires and have not had any flats since I installed them over one year ago. Some say they are slow but I do not care. They are perfect for me.

I have gone the full trifecta. Specialised Armadillo Slicks, Mr Tuffy Tape and Heavy duty tubes ( we call them "Prickle Proof Tubes"😉
Gone from 2 flats a week to, mmmm cant remember last one, say 4 or 5 months. Lots of broken glass and burrs-prickles here.
The weight probably works out the same as the tyres are surprisingly light but the kevlar belt really works. Any extra weight in the wheels will only slow your acceleration but the plus is more "flywheel" effect so you will roll longer, slightly.

Hugh

HughMann said:

... but the plus is more "flywheel" effect so you will roll longer, slightly.

Don't think so. Dig up one of the many old threads on rotational weight.

cmoore992002 said:

My flat problem was fixed by new tires. I put Armadillo All Conditions on. They have a kevlar lining. I have picked glass out of the tires and have not had any flats since I installed them over one year ago. Some say they are slow but I do not care. They are perfect for me.

ya i just bought those & still have to mount them. i can feel the difference between the old tires vs the armadillo tires which are much harder with that lining already in the tire. the old tires are very soft rubbber & easily pierced. the liners work i'm told, but very hard to install & if installed incorrectly, can actually cause flats...

Yes, a decent liner can reduce puntures but remember that they do not prevent damage to the tyres.

When you check your tyres, if there are obvious cuts and other damage, you should still consider changing - the damage may lead to a major failure and a liner won't help you then!

Cheers

I have used tire liners for years and they have helped. But, note the key word is helped, not stopped all flats. This past winter, when riding in February, using Gatorskins and tire liners, I had a glass enter to the side of the kevlar and the tire liner. When I don't use liners on road bike tires, I have 3 to 4 flats a year and I ride about 5000 miles a year.

I too change the tire not when they are worn, but rather based on the number of cuts and my comfort level on the integrity of tire (about 2000 miles). I would like to go longer, but don't want something bad to happen when I am going 40mph down a hill!

--Jeff

buckybux said:

I have used tire liners for years and they have helped. But, note the key word is helped, not stopped all flats. This past winter, when riding in February, using Gatorskins and tire liners, I had a glass enter to the side of the kevlar and the tire liner. When I don't use liners on road bike tires, I have 3 to 4 flats a year and I ride about 5000 miles a year.

I too change the tire not when they are worn, but rather based on the number of cuts and my comfort level on the integrity of tire (about 2000 miles). I would like to go longer, but don't want something bad to happen when I am going 40mph down a hill!

--Jeff

i decided to just use those armadillo tires which are kevlar belted. it sounds like an easier thing to mount. i heard those liners could be difficult to mount properly. the armadillo tires already have the kevlar belt & they are also flat resistant on the sidewalls too. that setup probably would work better than a liner i think. if glass or debris works it's way between the liner & tire, that can be a problem, but that's impossible with the armadillo tires i think....

I put some liners into my commuting bike a few years ago. Haven't had a flat since.

Buy em.

Yojimbo_ said:

I put some liners into my commuting bike a few years ago. Haven't had a flat since.

Buy em.

can you use them with armadillo kevlar tires? won't that make the wheels too stiff?

saturnsc2 said:

ya i just bought those & still have to mount them. i can feel the difference between the old tires vs the armadillo tires which are much harder with that lining already in the tire. the old tires are very soft rubbber & easily pierced. the liners work i'm told, but very hard to install & if installed incorrectly, can actually cause flats...

o.k. i just installed the armadillo tires. they are awesome tires! why does everybody say these tires slow you down? i took off like a raped ape on the bike with these tires! no problem there. my old tires were 90 psi tires, & these 125 psi, so the resistance should be less with these i think. anyway, only time will tell how flat resistant these tires are. from what everybody says about them, they are very flat resistant. i also bought a small pouch which contains a small bike tire repair kit that fits neatly in the pouch, a co2 inflator, & some extra co2's. it's about time i have that equipment on board! anyway, my old tires are made of very soft rubber that punchures very easily. the tires i always used are available just about everywhere. they are just a generic tire with a tan sidewall & a lot of tread, but the treads on these wear very quickly. what do you want for $9.00 per tire! actually the tires look like good tires,. but theyr'e really just cheap tires. i never heard of the armadillo tires before & i wish i did. it would have saved me a lot of time. i changed these tires because of wear & flats so many times it's not even funny! actually the rear tire that just went flat was a new tire that i put on the bike at the beginning of summer & the treads are almost all worn off & the tires are very thin. it had a piece of glass from a beer bottle still in it. i'm sure the kevlar lining of the armadillos would have stopped that very easily. i just wish the city would clean their bike path for us. there's so much glass & debris on them it's not funny. i have to swerve into traffic to avoid all the [censored] on the path. what's wrong with that picture?

saturnsc2 said:

i'm so sick & tired of flats! do these tire liners really prevent flats, or is it a bunch of hogwash? oh sure the sites that sell them say they stop flats, but i would like an un-biased real world opinion from people who use these. it's hard to believe that a strip of plastic as thin as scotch tape will prevent a piece of glass from penetrating your tube. the bike paths in our city are filthy. glass, & debris, & just about anything litters them & the cities don't care to clean them up. just more people who care less about cyclists....

I have only just put them on in the past 200km so can't say too much. I haven't had a flat as of yet. The guys in the LBS said that they work wonderfully. They said something about ride quality being disturbed but I haven't noticed a difference there at all. I reckon they are a worthwhile investment for 30 bucks.