Lighter wheels provides one primary advantage, faster acceleration. For most, it's a placebo effect. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance on how the physics pans out.

Had issues like that too, new tires solved most of that but I took it a step further and put 2oz of Stans in the tube before I mounted the tire. With a few exceptions, like really big pieces of debris that NOTHING could protect from, it reduced my from 3-5 flats.month to <1 (knock wood, hope I'm not jinxing myself here!)

Other thing would be to inspect the tire very carefully,. I had a run of three days where I flatted every day, after a very close inspection I found a small shard of glass that only touched the tube when inflated and was causing the flats. Pulled that out and was fine.

I went to Gatorskins 700/25 and that stopped my flats from glass and sheet metal on the roads. I had to put a get/slime in the tire though for things like staples and nails. I didn't notice any difference in speed with one exception. I don't spend near as much time changing tubes so I cover more ground in less time.

Spatialized - You know you just pissed off the tire gods by saying that. I foresee several flats in the near future. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: So what is Stans? Is that like slime?

Gatorskins on my road bike and Stan's/tubeless on my mtn bike have all but eliminated puncture flats for me.

punctures are always caused by glass as parts of cycle track is covered in broken glass

Why are you riding on a track that constantly has glass debris on it? Am I missing something?

Since I started using Specialized Armadillos I've not had any puncture flats in 7+ thousand miles. I'm living dangerously now with a race tire that i bought on closeout this winter. When I wear them out I'll be going back to 'dillos.

I run mine at near max pressure. Lower pressure will create a lager contact patch with the ground and as such has a higher likely hood to pick up sharps. Tire pressure should be based on a riders weight and the best for speed or conditions. I've not had any more more cuts at full pressure than less pressure.

Never ever seen or heard of those before reading your post, Yin

The only things I remember that rubbed against my tire constantly was one of those "bottle" generators and the mechanical speedometer wheel I had on my setup as a kid.

Anyone remember those old "flintcatchers" things we used to run back in the day of skinny steel frames and lightweight tubulars...

Every time I read a thread like this, I cant help but think that there must be a market for something like this again...



think something in Stainless Steel / Titanium Wire, maybe with a Carbon Springing arrangement to keep the weight-weenies happy... Okay, it'd be a bit awkward with the whole "recessed brake bolts" of modern stuff maybe - but still, makes me think.

Nice, bring back old memories when I first got into cycling. Used to get drop at the slightest incline by a old-timer who was into touring and had those. I used my gloves after running through a rough patch but that was the days of nylon bar tapes. Haven't wear gloves since I started using cork (and it's derivatives).

Spatialized - You know you just pissed off the tire gods by saying that. I foresee several flats in the near future. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: So what is Stans? Is that like slime?

I've paid many a sacrifice to the road gods...now I pay attention better! Stans is the sealant many use in tubeless tires to seal them. It basically turns the tube into a self-sealing tube. It's a lot like slime, just not green. :happy:

Correction to the GatorSkin suggestion--use Hardshell! There is notable difference in the sidewall (and not much more weight). I put over 8k miles on my previous set. I run these on my road and gravel bike. IMO you won't find a better tire per price.