Tag: bicycle tire liners

INNER TUBES … is there a difference?

Now I ask ya … are all inner tubes created equal? Is it worth it to purchase a certain brand at a higher cost? Here is what I think I know and understand about the matter. In a word … YES! … there is a difference. My answer is based on my personal experience and what I have read about it. I used to use common lower cost inner tubes and I had a lot of flats, many of which were “internal” flats … not caused by a puncture from the outside.

When I first bought my Catrike Trail it came with Presta valves. I had never heard of them prior to that. I quickly learned to hate them so I took action and drilled my rims out larger  to accept Schrader valves. Quite some time passed before I discovered that Schwalbe inner tubes with Schrader valves have a threaded metal valve stem like the Presta valve has. The threaded metal valve stem was the only thing I did like about the Presta valve. I like the idea of having a threaded metal valve stem which with the use of the nut won’t push down into the rim when the inner tube has no or little air in it. So I started buying Schwalbe inner tubes which were considerably more expensive than the inner tubes I had been using.

Some more time passed before I discovered that Specialized also offers the threaded metal Schrader valve stem inner tubes. And although they are more costly than the inner tubes I originally used they are a little bit cheaper than Schwalbe brand. And I can buy them at my local bike shop where they offer “buy three and get the fourth free”. So I have been using these Specialized brand inner tubes for several years now.

Now to get to what I have read about inner tubes. Only a few brands claim that they are made with equal thickness thruout. And yes, they are the more expensive brands such as Schwalbe and Specialized. You might ask “does that matter”? Yes, it does because an inner tube that has thin/thinner areas means that those thin/thinner areas are weaker than the areas which are thick/thicker. A weak/weaker area in an inner tube is more likely to fail in that area.

To be totally fair I have to say that the biggest factor in reducing the number and frequency of flat tires for me was when I started using Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. That in and of itself totally eliminated externally caused flats for me. As far as I am concerned the Marathon Plus is the best tire money can buy. It not only offers great flat protection but the mileage wear out of them is incredible. I have consistently got 12,000 to 15,000 miles out of each of these tires. Previously other tires I used yielded 2,000 to 5,000 miles before I had to replace them. And I buy them for half of what they retail for making them a real bargain. HERE is my source in the U.K. where I buy them.

Lastly I want to touch on internal flats. A few things come to mind here. Before I started using Marathon Plus tires I had started using Mr. Tuffy tire liners in an effort to reduce flats. They did help accomplish this but in the process something else happened. My internal flats increased. Upon dealing with this I observed that the area of the inner tubes which were failing was right where the Mr. Tuffy liner overlapped itself. I read about the use of talcum or baby powder to help eliminate internal flats so I started using it. It helped immensely although I still occasionally got internal flats and still many were caused by the Mr. Tuffy tire liners. When I started using the Marathon Plus tires I continued using the Mr. Tuffy tire liners. That was a mistake which I eventually figured out. I didn’t have any external flats but I had an occasional internal flat. Coming to the realization that I didn’t need the Mr. Tuffy tire lines with the Marathon Plus tires I removed them and just kept on with the baby powder. From then on I extremely rarely ever had an internal flat. I am  sold on Marathon Plus tires and baby powder. BTW, when I apply baby powder I use it very liberally coating the inside of the tire as well as the outside of the inner tube. I rub in in to all surfaces using my hands.

Have you ever noticed when removing an inner tube from a tire that it is stuck to the inside of the tire almost like it is glued to it? That is what happens or at least can happen when there is no lubrication such as I speak of further below. Also have you ever noticed an imprint on an inner tube from something inside of the tire? That is another example of lack of lubrication. Neither of these can happen when baby powder is used. Below is a picture of the imprint of Mr. Tuffy tire liner on the inner tube. It shows the overlap of the tire liner.

You might be wondering what the baby powder does. Well, it more less acts as a lubricant to keep the inner tube from sticking to the tire and to help keep rubbing from occurring. With the lateral forces taking place in cornering the tires move about side to side on the rims and this tends to create rubbing (abrasion) between the tire and the inner tube. And this causes internal flats. So helping to eliminate this abrasive action helps reduce internal flats. One note on the use of baby powder … be sure everything is bone dry as moisture will cause the baby powder to clump together and that causes abrasion and internal flats. I learned this from experience.

And I am fully convinced that the reason on rare occasion I have an internal flat is simply because inner tubes fail. It is that simple. I have done all I know to do to eliminate this and it rarely happens anymore … but … it does still happen. (Fortunately it has been a very long time since the last time it happened.) I have talked to bike mechanics about this … all of this … and they are in full agreement with me. They don’t and won’t recommend the use of tire liners.

Another safeguard one can employ is to use heavy duty thorn resistant inner tubes in place of the standard inner tube. Of course, in order to do this there has to be sufficient room inside of the tire. They work best in a balloon type tire such as Schwalbe’s Big Apple or Big Ben as they offer lots of room inside. That thick wall makes for a lot stronger/tougher inner tube which can’t fail very easily from internally.

As far as I know the threaded metal valve stem is not available with the heavy duty thorn resistant inner tubes.

Like ol’ Forest Gump … that’s all I’ve got to say about that. I don’t know about you but I much prefer to simply …

ENJOY THE RIDE

and

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

rather than being stuck alongside of the trail or road working on a flat tire problem.

A FREE GIFT awaits you!

TIRE LINERS – DO THEY WORK?

Mr. Tuffy & RhinoDillos

Tire liners … do they work? Well …………………………….. yes and no. Once more it all depends. I used to use them and as far as helping prevent externally caused flats, yes they work. However, I and a couple of friends who also used them found that they caused flats internally. Also the service dept. manager of a local bike shop has told me that he agrees that they do indeed cause internal flats and thus won’t use them or recommend them. Now there are things which can be done to help prevent this from happening. Unfortunately we did not do any of it so we got occasional flats as a result. I would think that there should not have to be any thing done extra such as this for the tire liners to work properly and not cause internal flats. Now that I use the best tire money can buy I no longer use tire liners as I don’t need them. That being said when I first switched to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires I installed the tire liners initially as I already had them and had been using them for a few years on all the various tires I had tried previously. I thought it would be a good idea to have the extra measure of protection. Big mistake! I got about three flats over a period of a few years. All were internally caused flats. When I replaced the inner tubes I removed the tire liners. I have not had any flats since.

So my advice is if you are going to use a regular tire prone to getting flats the tire liners are a good thing. If you are going to use them either sand the end of the tire liner where it overlaps itself to remove any sharpness or use duct tape to help protect the inner tube from any sharpness on the end. Personally I would do both … sand the end and use the duct tape.

rounded end

And be sure the end is rounded as this will help with the edge the inner tube comes in contact with.

Lastly with or without tire liners I highly recommend using a generous amount of talcum (corn starch baby) powder inside the entire surface of tire and on the entire surface of the inner tube to reduce rubbing and abrasion which cause ‘internal’ flats. Put the talcum powder inside of the tire after the tire liner is in place.

Definitely there is “abrasion” which occurs when tire liners are used. Take a look at this picture.

inner tube tire liner abrasion

You can plainly see the outline of the tire liner on the inner tube. Notice the sharp line of the end of the tire liner where it overlaps itself. Again, using duct tape on the end will greatly reduce this. As to the use of duct tape some say to put it over the end which overlaps. Some say put it on both ends. I see no reason to put it on both ends as it is only that which is in contact with the inner tube which is a concern. I would only put it on the overlap area. Here is one way to do it … wrap it around the top and bottom of the tire liner and then trim the duct tape to the rounded end shape.

duct tape drawing

I wonder if it would not work better to just place a piece of duct tape over the overlap once the tire liner is in place inside of the tire. That way there would be less thickness at the overlap so that the overlap would not protrude out as far into the inner tube. I see no advantage to having tape on the bottom side of the tire liner since it is not in contact with the inner tube. Also the tape on the overlap would help hold the tire liner in position inside of the tire. The end which overlaps tends to want to drop away from the rest of the tire liner once it is up inside of the tire so I think it would be very helpful to place duct tape over the overlap.

tire liner toughness 2

To the best of my knowledge there isn’t all that much difference in quality and protection offered between the various brands of tire liners. I have read that the Kevlar liners should not be used as they don’t work very well. Stick with the plastic type such as Mr. Tuffy, Rhino Dillos, Stop Flats 2, Zefal, and Slime. As you can see in the picture above they are pretty tough.

I think that with the exception of Rhino Dillos all of the tire liners come packaged all rolled up tightly in a small coil/roll. In doing so the inside end is all curled up and presents  problems when trying to work with it to install it. So because of this I recommend buying the Rhino Dillos as they are packaged so that this doesn’t happen. They are rolled up in a larger diameter. If you buy one of the other brands it is best to take it out of the packaging and hang it up by the small inside curled end (if it is one rolled from the end) so that it can straighten out for a day or two before installing it.

tire liner rolled up

If it is one rolled from the middle like pictured below then, of course, you should hang it from the end (either end).

curled up end of tire liner

Again, my thinking is the worst way of packaging these tire liners is to fold them in half and then roll them up like the red one pictured above. If I were buying any I would steer clear of any packaged like that.

I myself have only used Mr. Tuffy tire liners, which is the originator of tire liners. They are made of made of durable, lightweight polyurethane. They also have what they say is a lighter weight product for those who are weight conscious/concerned. They claim that their liners will not cause tire or tube damage. I take issue with that as I consider causing internal flats as “damage”. Whether the hole is the result of a puncture from the outside or abrasion on the inside it is still damage and has the same consequences … a flat and a destroyed inner tube.

Tire liners come in different widths since tires come in different widths so be sure you get the correct width for the tires you are using. They also come in “XL” for FAT tires.

FAT tire liner

As to installing tire liners you will find different methods and suggestions ‘out there’.

tire liner installed

Some say to remove the tire and inner tube completely off of the rim so you can install the tire liner inside of the tire off of the rim. That is the way I have always done it. Some say to leave the tire and inner tube on the rim and just remove one side of the tire off of the rim so you insert the tire liner between the tire and inner tube. Some say to remove one side of the tire off of the rim and remove the inner tube. Certainly it can be accomplished in any of these ways. It is important, of course, to ensure that there is nothing sharp inside of the tire or rim before installing the tire liner. That is best and easiest accomplished by removing both tire and inner tube off of the rim. It is also important to be sure the tire liner is centered inside of the tire and that the inner tube is installed correctly with no twists or other abnormalities.

Here is what Mr. Tuffy shows as to how to install the tire liners:

installation instructions

I found it interesting that their instructions say to remove any debris found inside of the tire casing before the inner tube is removed. How in the world are you supposed to check inside the tire casing without first removing the inner tube? DUH!

I personally much prefer to take the tires completely off of the rims to install tire liners. Doing them while still on the rim one can not nearly as easily tell where the tire liner is positioned as far as getting it centered in the tire. Of course, no matter how one goes about it there is always the chance that the tire liner will move out of position during final assembly and re-inflating the inner tube.

Another good reason for removing the tire completely off of the rim is one can much more easily and thoroughly examine the casing of the tire and do anything needed to ensure the tire is fit and ready to use.

stop flats 2 round end

The side of the tire liner that has the extra layer of material bonded to it (it is usually darker color like shown above in the picture) goes outward toward the tire.

I watched several videos on installing tire liners and quite frankly I was not very impressed by any of them. I settled for this one to use here.

Well, like ol’ Forest Gump … that’s all I have to say about that. Tire liners? … Use them if you need them. As for me, I am going to just continue to use the best tire money can buy and not concern myself with flats. My Mr. Tuffy tire liners are hanging up on the garage wall. I will probably never use them again. It is a real joy to just be able to …

KEEP ON TRIKIN’

and not be concerned about flats. And it is great to get such phenomenal mileage out of the tires as well.

A FREE GIFT awaits you!