Tyre life?

[mitchy_]

30,000km in 6 years in a car is extremely low use, so not exactly comparable.
i'm not sure where you came up with the 3-6 month idea either, given your twice a week routine of 32km each way, that's roughly 6600km which would likely be one set of tyres.

[Stefan_A]

you'll get longer life out of tires if you use a wider one (friction spread over larger surface), cut your bodyfat, are smaller and lighter, don't carry a lot of heavy stuff, don't skid when braking or cornering, don't cut them up on glass and debris. I get as little as 2500k out of rear tires and up to 5000 from fronts. I seem to retire tires more so due to cuts these days than wear.

[mick243]

A tyre only bulges because it's casing has been damaged , this could be due to cuts, riding it flat, or chronic over inflation.

Use quality tyres, use appropriate pressure, keep an eye out for damage (large punctures, cuts etc) and you will be ok. Change tyres before the threads are showing, but only just...

[tekapo]

So your commute is >30km each way?

Yep, 32km which is why I only do it twice a week. It is also behind my question - if I have a tyre bulge (had it happen a few times way back in my teens) its a long walk home so I would consider changing the tyre if it had clocked up a lot of km even if it showed no major signs of wear.

I could probably walk to a station in an hour from anywhere on my route but rather not. Whether I ride or get the train I leave home about 6.30 and get home about 6pm so my only chance to buy a spare is at the weekend. And if it is a weekend I am away diving etc it could take me weeks to get back on the bike.

I don't think any one can give you a definitive answer. There are just so many variables.

Or put it this way, there are people with Marathon Pluses that never gets a puncture, but then there are people who gets one a few hundred ks in. Using better tires and replacing it often will reduce the probability of you getting a flat, but it will never be a guarantee. If you are concerned, I would suggest carrying a pump, tube or patch, and tire levers with you.

[Duck!]

The Zaffiro isn't a particularly soft tyre. 5000km would be easily achievable on a rear, double on the front.

[Aushiker]

The Zaffiro isn't a particularly soft tyre. 5000km would be easily achievable on a rear, double on the front.

I last used a Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 700c x 23 back in 2008/2009. On the front of my commuter at the time I got 4,257 km out of it, which was pretty good in hindsight.

Andrew

[Lurkin]

I have previously used the Zaffiro, and got about ~2,000 - 3,000 kms out of a rear tyre and about 4,000 kms for the front.

I have recently switched to the Schwalbe Lugano as:-

- it has lower rolling resistance to the zaffiro
- I got them for a similar price (aud 13, instead of 11 for the zaffiro)
- they are much easier to get on and off the rim
- it has a lower rolling resistance with less pressure, which means when I get a flat, less work with the hand pump

they are not really comparable to some of the other tyres in this thread because:-

- a touring tyre, like a marathon plus, is typically much more expensive per tyre
- they also have considerably higher rolling resistance

[rheicel]

Had this one on my new 300km Old Lugano. This happened after 500 m descend.

[Lurkin]

checked the garage - still got 2x zaffiros sitting there.



Probably will keep riding on the luganos until I get through them. Frankly, I think they are fine for commuting on, but perhaps they are no good for more extreme riding?

[il padrone]

- a touring tyre, like a marathon plus, is typically much more expensive per tyre
- they also have considerably higher rolling resistance

Marathon Plus is not a touring tyre. It is super-tough and very heavy - much better suited as a heavy urban commuter tyre. They are very popular for e-bikes.

For a quality touring tyre you would be much better off with the lighter Marathon Supreme (not so puncture protected) or the world-travelling Marathon Mondial (succesor to the tried and tested Marathon XR). Duremes are also very highly regarded. I also use the Vittoria Randonneur Cross and Randonneur Pro all of which have excellent puncture resistance, and the Continental Travel Contacts are also well-regarded.

All of these tyres are much lighter and better rolling than the Marathon Plus.

[mick243]

Had this one on my new 300km Old Lugano. This happened after 500 m descend.

So, the bead has separated from the rim.... Was the pressure too high, was the tyre the right size for the rim (including width), were you kinda fast and riding your brakes thus overheating the rim and making the bead more stretchy?

None of the above are the tyres fault.

[rheicel]

Pressure is 100 PSI, tyre specs says 90 PSI minimum.
Wheelset is Shimano 7801 with standard 700C Rim. Tyre is 700x23.
I am riding on that same road at the same speed for many many times now using the same rim.

Possibly rim tyre combination problem.

[ironhanglider]

Pressure is 100 PSI, tyre specs says 90 PSI minimum.
Wheelset is Shimano 7801 with standard 700C Rim. Tyre is 700x23.
I am riding on that same road at the same speed for many many times now using the same rim.

Possibly rim tyre combination problem.

And not possible to have an installation error?

Cheers,

Cameron

[stanzarallyman]

I use the Vittoria Randouneur Pro Tyres. New one goes on the front, then the old one goes on the back. I just dont get punctures on these tyres. I do around 12,000km a year and cant remember the last time I had a puncture.

I know that under the rubber is an orange band of puncture protection goodness. I dont throw the tyre out until the orange bank goes all around the tyre.

[InTheWoods]

Marathon Plus is not a touring tyre. It is super-tough and very heavy - much better suited as a heavy urban commuter tyre. They are very popular for e-bikes.

They're not that bad in 25mm format!! Never had a flat with them with over 10000km of commuting on them. Last forever. I'll take that over a 0.2 (or whatever) kmh penalty on a commuter.

[warthog1]

I am interested in trying a radonneur. Where the hell can I buy one in 25c though? ebay america where the postage costs rule them out, is all I can find.

[tekapo]

http://www.this link is broken/Vittoria-Ra ... kking-Tyre" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[warthog1]

http://www.this link is broken/Vittoria-Ra ... kking-Tyre

Thanks mate

[Lurkin]

think I might have got them slightly cheaper here:-

http://commutercycles.com.au/accessories/tyres/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Fletcher]

The Zaffiro isn't a particularly soft tyre. 5000km would be easily achievable on a rear, double on the front.

I retired a Zaffiro from the rear of my bike recently after about 7,000km. It was down to the canvas. Surprisingly, only two flats in that distance.

Edit. To be precise, it was a 23mm Zaffiro Slick model.

[jacks1071]

The Zaffiro isn't a particularly soft tyre. 5000km would be easily achievable on a rear, double on the front.

I retired a Zaffiro from the rear of my bike recently after about 7,000km. It was down to the canvas. Surprisingly, only two flats in that distance.

Edit. To be precise, it was a 23mm Zaffiro Slick model.

They are very durable, only warning is they are sketchy in the wet but other than that - awesome value for money.

[worzel]

Whoever was closest to 1700km wins. I thought I had been shot at when it popped on the way home tonight! To be fair, I don't know whether the tube exploded and took the tyre with it or whether the tube went because the tyre failed.

[ironhanglider]

Whoever was closest to 1700km wins. I thought I had been shot at when it popped on the way home tonight! To be fair, I don't know whether the tube exploded and took the tyre with it or whether the tube went because the tyre failed.

Has the tyre failed? Or was it a blow-off like in rheicel's picture.

Most (not all) blow offs are the result of an installation error. They do not always happen at the time of initial inflation.

Cheers,

Cameron

[mick243]

Whoever was closest to 1700km wins. I thought I had been shot at when it popped on the way home tonight! To be fair, I don't know whether the tube exploded and took the tyre with it or whether the tube went because the tyre failed.

The tube is only there as a seal, it's the tyre that does the job of holding the pressure... So you can be 99% certain that the tube went because the tyre failed - the big question is why...

Got pictures of tyre, tube and rim? You hadn't worn the rubber off and through the cloth layer had you? Damaged the bead with tyre levers? Worn the bead out changing multiple punctures? Had big punctures or tyre cuts that damaged the tyre casing?

What tyre, what rim, what pressure (cold) what temperature of day?

Does sound to me like possible installation error, or a possible "dud" you're, they shouldn't bulge and blow out for no good reason - I haven't had that happen in over 30 years of cycling... I have had tyres fail because of excess wear, maintenance failure (brake adjustment out, rubbed sidewall) incorrect seating on the rim, bought the cheapest tyre I could find, over pressurised then rode on a hot day.....

[worzel]

I don't have a photo (it was dark by the time I got home) but there is basically a piece of the tyre about 4cm long and about 6mm wide in the centre where there is no rubber, just the carcase. The sort of thing a locked-brake slide might cause, though I haven't done anything like that for a while. The carcase was not visible before. To the best of my knowledge the tyre has never been off the rim, though the bike was in for a service on Friday - over-inflated possibly? I had ridden about 10km in about 30C heat before it blew, though I had just had a minute's wait at a junction for it to cool. I can't see how it is relevant, but the chain came off on the inside of the front sprocket about 5 minutes earlier so not a good day.