Saturday, set off on a long bike ride, got a flat rear. Tiny piece of glass punctured the tire and the tube. Like an idiot, I didn't bring my repair kit and was left stranded 20 miles from home. Sunday, hop on my other bike, riding east on Lawrence when I start having sealant spraying all over my back. Another tiny piece of glass on the rear tire. Luckily this was on a tubeless setup and it held until I got home.
Both bikes are on Gravelking Slick tires, so not the beefiest but not the most dainty tires either. All bike lanes are full of broken glass, how can you avoid it? What's the solution, are y'all riding on super thick tires or something?
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I daily rode Schwalbe Marathons without flats in St. Louis and Chicago for years. Now I’m on a pair of Kendas since 2018–one or two patchable flats.
Second to the marathons... I've been on my marathon pros for almost a year. Love em
I also have ridden shawlbe marathons for 15 years without a single flat,and did a cross country bike tour from Virginia to Oregon on the same tires. About 15,000 miles. It is important to inflate to 100 psi before every ride.
The psi is specific to the tire size and type. Check the psi range shown on the sidewall of the tire you are using.
Good lord, there is no tire that anyone should be inflating to 100psi.
I think skinny road tires (23-25) mm might go to this range
My road tires are 100 to 110 constantly on 28 mm on gran prix 5000s. Wet 90.
Gravel king tubeless on the same bike drops to 50-60
Gravel or bouncy rides you lose energy so you want squish.
Road you want momentum and zero give to the tire. I hear glass shoot out when I have my tires inflated high.
There's slippage from water or pinch flats at high psi, but nothing worse than a flat because of 80 psi om my road bike
Mid school BMX has entered the chat
??? Huh
Ok, if you have 700x23 or 25 on your road bike and want to be pro, sure. If you’re touring on Schwalbe Marathons, or riding around the city on most anything, no.
Aside from the usual tire maintenance, you might want to request street cleaning. And make sure every last white speck is taken out of your tires.
I usually cave and just have the bike shop do it on the second flat, at which point they note the various craters where my tire was apparently struck by asteroids, and I cave and get a new tire.
Does street cleaning even do anything other than spread all the debris and tiny pieces of glass around? Worst are some of the protected bike lanes which never get cleaned and are in a tragic state when it comes to the amount and variety of tire shredding debris they contain. I avoid them and ride in the street.
The worst thing of it is that the bristles from the street sweepers break off and then can give you a puncture too!
Street sweeps doo collect debris, they are like giant vacuums
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Not at all, that’s why I’m trying tubeless setups (which did save me) and looking into tire choices. I just don’t trust the city to do jack shit. I’m in the NW side and every one of the snazzy new protected bike lanes is in a sorry state.
Obviously the post saying request street sweeping was meant w goodwill and genuine….but this is Chicago, a still barely functioning version of Detroit.
Stepping away from best tire ideas, if you want very clean bike lanes, imo, the only real option is get a bike rack and hit the miles n miles of forest preserve and other bike trails. On the south side the Cal-Sag project has had vast extensions in many directions.
At 60, I am done-done w Chicago city streets. Between 80% of the drivers billowing marijuana smoke out the windows, 90% unable to drive not stoned, and the relentless cars/ignorance and the garbage in the bike lanes, just not worth it.
Sometimes it just luck.. I went over 5 yrs without a flat, then one yr got 4 in 3 months. Maybe a knob tire would help.
Others have mentioned Schwalbe marathons, and in addition I'll recommend continental contact tires - both have kevlar inserts. I've gone 1000s of miles on both without flats from glass - the only thing I've seen work its way through the kevlar layer is bits of metal. In the past schwalbe's tread have held up longer than continentals for me, but highly recommend both
Those continentals have been great for me, 1500mi without a flat for me so far. Of course now that I’ve said this I’ll get a flat tomorrow
Gatorskins are the solution
Littering assholes
Tubeless tires
On My city commute bike I had gravel tires on but when shredding a side walk I threw on a pair of Bontrager H2 Hard-Case Ultimate Reflective Hybrid Tires. These things are a bit heavy and by no means a performance tire but they are bomb proof. I have been abusing them on gravel rides in Colorado and all over Chicago city streets. Hold up insanely well and comfortable.
I’ll second the H2’s. Bought them as in-between tires and kept them on the gravel bike since 2021. All kinds of urban biking with no flats!
Might just be bad luck, I’ve had good luck with the + version of GKS. Ran over broken glass in my alley at night this week without issue. I run Gravelking SS + up front, Gatorskin Rear, no flats this year yet, crossing my fingers!
I learned my lesson with slicks in Chicago. They're good until you break them in.
I just got these but haven't used them yet. I'm using pathfinder atm.
https://tannusamerica.com/products/armour-inserts
I used the older inserts before in the past always when I wanna run gator skins or any other slicks
The second flat (on the tubeless setup) were brand new tires, maybe 100 miles on them. This isn’t purely a ride around the city bike so I don’t want to make too much of a compromise with the tire situation. I usually get on the North Shore Channel Trail and then head north towards Highland Park and those parts are usually fine. I have to ride on Chicago streets to get to the trail though 😔 Anyway, thanks for the tire recs 👍
I've got those things too and don't worry about flats at all. You should still avoid big chunks of stuff but can roll right over the little pieces left after someone uses the bike lane as a tailgate zone.
I’m convinced that Gravelking SS+ are the goldilocks tires.
Halsted street is usually covered in glass, along w all the alleys. Never seen anything like it before
Seriously, get some Mr Tuffy tire liners. I've been riding with them on 120 psi, 23mm wide tires since 2011 in Chicago. It'll block almost all glass bits. I ride most days and very rarely get flats (at this point it's been more than a year). I've been using the same pair of tire liners for the last 3 sets of tires. The only thing that really gets through them is metal debris and the pointiest large glass shards that hit at just the right spot.
+1 to Marathon Racer. I do not recommend Marathon Plus which is the mega-heavy version. Not required. The "racer" is a sticky variant which I find grips much better in cold temps and still lasts for years.
glass doesn't seem to give me that many issues (car window glass in particular should not be sharp - the bottle glass is the stuff that can get you). But my tires are magnets for the metal staples or whatever those damn things are that come from construction sites.
Research Gatorskin Hardshells.
Online calculators can help you figure out what psi to use based on your tire’s psi range + your weight, including cargo + bike + the kind of surface you’re riding on.
A lot of people will recommend schwalbe marathons, but be warned they are woefully slow tires, there are other tires that offer significantly better puncture resistance than the Gravelkings (rated at 32 by BRR) you have and would roll the nearly as fast. Maybe look at the Continental Contact Urban. https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews?orderby=pr
Schwalbe marathons or similar by Schwalbe. Had them for like 7 years and never got a flat
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This is a bike subreddit
Yeah, just a thought. I do both. I usually bike when it rains/is wet and skate when it's dry. Travel time is the same.