Puncture Proof Tires: Do they work?

Richard Handelsman is so keen to find out about puncture proof tires that he has written in three times, so we thought we had better answer his question before he goes out and spends his money on those tires

Question: Your opinion/rating of so-called “flatless” or “airless” or “punctureproof” bike tires is requested.
Riding on city streets, I get get punctured by road debris.

Question: Because I ride on city streets, I get many flats from road detritus. I have heard about “flatless” or “puncture proof” bicycle tires – AirFree, Armadillo, etc. – either thick walled or solid material. What is your opinion on their ride? on various brands?

Specialized

Question: Because I do lots of riding on city streets, I get many
flats from road detritus. Any suggestions/comments/evaluations of
so-called “no-flat” tires – like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus,
Specialized Armadillos, Kevlar strips, Ultra Gatorskins, etc. Safety
and security far more important than is speed.
thanks.
Richard Handelsman.

Hi Richard,
Sorry it’s taken us so long to answer, but we have had so many questions lately, but here we are now.

Continental

OK, so let’s start with the solid tires, they are getting better all the time, at first they were heavy, sluggish things that felt like riding through mud all the time. These days they are more responsive and ride nearly as well as a normal tire with air in it. There are two well know airless tires manufacturers, Green Tyre and Amerityre, they claim to be very rideable and as they have no air they don’t puncture. Also checkout Stan’s No Tube System, it looks good.

You can also fit strips of puncture resistant material on the inside of your tire of choice, these work well but don’t stop sidewall punctures and they can move abound in the tire if the pressure doesn’t hold them in place. They deaden the ride also and can make the tire lose its shape which affects the handling and the cornering; still worth looking at if you want to stay with a tire you like but want to improve the puncture proofness.

Specialized

Tires that come with a puncture band are the best of all worlds, if you want performance and less punctures. There are quite a few different manufacturers, the main one, I would recommend is Continental, there Contact Security is very tough and should bear up to most objects that would normally shred or pop other tires, they also have silica tread for hard wearing, these are good tires. The Specialized Armadillo are also very hard wearing and near indestructible, the al weather is great in the wet and for winter riding and for city streets the Crossroads Armadillo would be great for what you want,

Our Conclusion

We think that you should maybe try the “No Air” tires to avoid punctures, but if you want performance and less punctures then choose between the Specialized or the Continental’s, both companies know how to make tires and they are both very good. Try the one you can afford or is the easiest to buy locally. I hope the wait was worth it?