The Chainlink

Tire Advice-- Broken Glass and Commuting

The broken glass on the Prairie Path, with the change in weather, has gone from occasional to very common. I've been commuting on it with minimal incident since May, but now I've had three flats in the last week, and it is becoming tiresome. I'm riding an older Schwinn Suburban with 27 x 1 1/4 tires, and the original wheels. I'm looking for suggestions-- the current tires are nothing special, but have been replaced this season.

On the bright side, I replaced my own tube (front tire) for the first time in 3000 miles of riding last week!

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Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on December 18, 2012 at 10:36am

And I am new at this--  all I know is that my current tires say 27 by 1 1/4, my wheels appear to be original, and the purchase receipt that we got from the original owner says 1971.  That, and no one that's had the bike in their hands has tried to upsell any tires to me...

Permalink Reply by MK on December 18, 2012 at 11:09am

Gatorskin and RibMo have never let me down. I don't think RibMo comes in that size, but shoot, I ran over a nail and it didn't even puncture the tube. Not even after I pulled it out of the tire.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on December 18, 2012 at 11:44am

I've gotten flats with both, but I have a pretty old set of gators on my touring bike that very rarely get any punctures. Something put a hole large enough in my RibMo to render the tire a total loss after riding it for like six months or so. Then again, I have yet to run a tire that didn't eventually get a flat. The only thing I have not tried is the Marathon Plus. 


MK said:

Gatorskin and RibMo have never let me down. I don't think RibMo comes in that size, but shoot, I ran over a nail and it didn't even puncture the tube. Not even after I pulled it out of the tire.

Permalink Reply by MK on December 18, 2012 at 1:24pm

What size do you ride? I do 700x28, have the Gator on the front and ribmo on the back. No problems for a year and half or so but I suppose all things must pass. 

Tony Adams said:

I've gotten flats with both, but I have a pretty old set of gators on my touring bike that very rarely get any punctures. Something put a hole large enough in my RibMo to render the tire a total loss after riding it for like six months or so. Then again, I have yet to run a tire that didn't eventually get a flat. The only thing I have not tried is the Marathon Plus. 


MK said:

Gatorskin and RibMo have never let me down. I don't think RibMo comes in that size, but shoot, I ran over a nail and it didn't even puncture the tube. Not even after I pulled it out of the tire.

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on December 18, 2012 at 1:45pm

I've got a 27x1-1/4 Gatorskin on the rear. That works out to 32mm wide, which is probably less prone to flatting than 23/25mm. I usually inflate to 70 psi, and I've yet to get a 'thing that we do not speak of'.

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on December 18, 2012 at 3:18pm

I'm pretty sure that a nail at a perfect angle (which is rare) could puncture the best of tires.

Permalink Reply by April on December 18, 2012 at 3:24pm

+1

notoriousDUG said:

Schwalbee Marathon.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on February 7, 2013 at 10:26pm
Ended up with Continental Gatorskins, mainly because my LBS didn't have the Marathons in stock. They've been performing fine for a month now.
Permalink Reply by Will on February 8, 2013 at 7:00am

Also, have you tried reporting broken glass on the path to the Chicago Park District? I was doing this when the weather was better, and they seemed very responsive. They never actually responded to me, but the glass would get cleaned up pretty quickly. Once the weather turned cold, they quit being as responsive, but maybe they're sick of me. I was usually pretty specific about where the glass was along my route.

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/contact/

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on February 8, 2013 at 9:32am
This wasn't in Chicago, but in Maywood. The Maywood Public Works Department is somewhat challenged in resources, but it couldn't hurt to ask.
Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on February 8, 2013 at 9:57am

I had a string of flats this summer, and the solution was tightening all of my spokes which I had foolishly not checked in a long time and carelessly let loosen.

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on February 8, 2013 at 10:04am

Good choice. 

It's not a very supple tire, but it gets the job done. 


Tim Heckman said:

Ended up with Continental Gatorskins, mainly because my LBS didn't have the Marathons in stock. They've been performing fine for a month now.

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