Puncture-proofing bicycle tires?

[hamsterpower]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

When I first started noticing that the ends of the liners are wearing away at the tube, I shortened them to have a 1-2cm gap, instead of an overlap. That helped, but did not resolve the issue.

I can't find the page now, but when browsing today I came across an idea to line the tire with the metal tape from a tape measure. I think it also proposed putting an old tire between the metal tape and inner tube to protect the latter from the former. This would make the tire almost bulletproof, but it might take some creativity to squeeze an inner tube, metal tape measure and a used tire inside a 700x28C ...

Yes but that still leaves an edge to rub on. carefully trimming flush end-to-end and maybe a bit of glue or tape bridging the gap might eliminate that. the metal tape seems like it would only make it worse. introducing sharp edges inside the tire. I believe tube-less is the future but have not yet tried it myself.

[sid]

I had the same problem with the tape liners when I tried them years ago.

I typically ride about 5000 miles a year. I used to average about 8 flats a year. That was with wider (about 1 3/4 inch or wider) tires. When I was using narrower tires, I would get an average of two flats a month.

About 6 years ago I switched to using those extra thick thorn resistant tires with Kevlar weave in the tread. I also switched to inner tubes that are 5 to 10 times thicker than normal and come with Goop or some other equivalent puncture filling substance inside. I've only had three flats these past six years. They were all due to my not paying attention to how much tread was left on the tire so that I had worn completely through the tread and the inner tube was making direct contact with the road surface. I typically have to replace my tires due to insufficient tread about every 24 months (about 10,000 miles).

[vskid3]

I used a slightly smaller tire with the beads cut off as a liner when I lived where thorns were more common than grass, here's a little write up I did. Tire inside tire puncture resistance enhancement - Album on Imgur

[SoobieOut]

I have had good luck with the slime tubes. But found the slime only lasts a year at most. Seems they figured a way to make it breakdown to increase sales.

But it sure beats getting two or three flats on one ride. We have goat heads here that the farmers blow into the roads, which is a guraranteed flat without using slime.

[sendler]

Use a tubeless tire/ wheel with latex sealant. There are zero mountain bike racers using tubes for a decade.
.
https://www.notubes.com/shop/tubeless
.

[personx]

I went tubeless on my ebike about 4 months back and I can't image going back to tubes. As I read all of the things others are doing I think of all those heavy slow wheels and still you can get flats. The tube is the weak link in the system and going tubeless is a game changer. One less thing to worry about on our ride. I have a rad power bike that has the 4 inch fat tires. I went with the system called 'ghetto tubeless' which can be used with any rim and tire combination and they have been great. As an interesting side effect I have not had to add any air to the tires yet. Now I don't live in a thorny area but I'm sure there are those online who will tell of their tubeless experiences rather than me trying to repeat them here.

[ASV]

good old slime brand tire sealant has worked well for me
the kind you have to fill the tube with
have had tens of thorns in my tires and didn't even have to do any thing
but pull them out and ride on

I have also had good luck with a quarter inch layer of closed cell packing foam
a long thing like a nail or a lemon thorn will still get you but goat heads won't bother you

[oldtamiyaphile]

Tannus Airless (solid) tyres:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYN2IL8Ifys

Only a 40g weight gain on a 23mm

[Lemmy]

I use slime tubes. Not without their drawbacks (they're relatively weighty and can make some bikes feel a bit leaden and turgid) but in 7 years or 5 of 6000 miles cycling per annum I've never had a visit from the puncture fairly while using them.

[Daschicken]

Back when my motorized bicycle was still operational, I was using slime tubes and got a puncture from running over a shard of metal. The puncture did seal, but the pressure had dropped low enough that pushing the bike the rest of the way was the only option, didn't have a pump.