Puncture Proof MTB Tyres

On Tuesday, I wrote a post about bad luck with punctures.. As I said in the post, I was rather proud to have only 1 puncture in the past two years since using Armadillo tyres. Of course, after writing such a post and singing the praises of Armadillo’s, you have to expect the inevitable puncture, which happened that very same day – late on Tuesday night. I could ride the first 1.5 mile on a flattish tyre (20 psi) but, by half way home the air had all vanished so it was a long walk home.

Over two years, the puncture rate is still pretty good so I’m still happy with Armadillos. But, I will be more wary about writing about luck and punctures…

A few readers have left helpful comments on the post – bad luck with punctures. e.g. check rim and spoke for causing repeat puncutres.

One reader asked about a recommended puncture resistant Mountain bike tyre. My experience is that cheap mountain bike tyres seem to attract more punctures. Partly this may be the wider size giving more chance of picking up a thorn and the nature of MTB riding. But, there should be no reason why MTB tyres are more liable to punctures. Basically, if you buy a cheap MTB, they will keep price low by fitting with cheap, thin tyres. One of the best upgrades to any MTB is to get something like these

• Marathon Plus Smartguard MTB Tyres

Whatever tyre you chose, these Green slime self healing MTB inner tubes looked promising as an inner tube. My own experience was not encouraging, but, you can’t base an overall review on such a short experience.

As an alternative, you could try this liner, which goes between tyre and inner tube – Zefal inner liner at Wiggle.

For the average cycle user, the costs of punctures are much greater than the very small decline in performance from slightly heavier / greater rolling resistance of better puncture resistance.

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• Best Puncture proof tyres