To have and have not - spare tyres when touring?

[staehpj1]

I've seen someone just give a tyre a kind of figure 8 twist to pack it, but that doesn't look too healthy a way of doing things either.

Why do you say that?  If you buy tires on line or by phone they typically will come that way.  It doesn't hurt them at all if done properly.

[sanuk]

Thanks again.  I'm slow, but I'm getting the picture.  On this particular tyre, which is the same as I already have on the bike, it just feels like there's something in there that might be wire.  However, perhaps I'm exaggerating as whatever it is it isn't very noticable.  I just wish they could write on the tyre whether it's foldable or not.  Probably won't take it anyway, as I don't need the weight, and, as you say, US roads ought to be an improvement over anything in SE Asia.  I'll look for some booting material then just get on the road.

[MrBent]

Great thread!  I didn't know about the fig-8 folding.  Very cool.

Modern tires are so good that a catastrophic wreck is very rare.  But when I ride in really remote places, the thought of being stuck out there because I didn't carry a tire is just too much.  A spare is simple, light peace of mind.  When I'm far from home, I carry basic, replaceable parts: cables (brake and derailleur), spokes (kevlar emergency style), tire.  On my cross country ride in '07, I actually needed a derailleur cable.  It broke in a super remote desert valley on Rt. 66, a place called Amboy, about 70 miles from a town that would have a replacement.  In ten minutes, I was road ready.  There is no law that says something really bad couldn't happen to a tire in a similar place.  BTW, this is the only time in my life when I have broken a cable on a bike.

Roll that tire and hit the road!

Cheerios,

Scott

[tonythomson]

Hey if you don't take the tyre there is always Walmarts - should get you 2 or 3 miles down the road. LOL
My vote is to take it. Even if it gives you piece of mind and depending on how far you are going sooner or later that rear tyre starts to look a bit worn and often my spare is a fairly worn tyre that I changed way back. But will still get me out of trouble - that's how I'm travelling at the moment but will pick a new one up Tuesday in Winter Gardens Fl, then I'll be happy!!

[Westinghouse]

This past winter I cycled from east coastal Florida to San Diego, California on Continental Contacts. They went the entire way. I cycled around here a lot, and then did another trip of about 560 miles on the same tires. I am still using the same tires. They hold up extremely well compared to those $15.00 Kendas and such.

The rear tire which I have used about 2300 miles on the back and 1150 on the front is just beginning to show some signs of wearing through. These were fully loaded tours.

However durable a tire is, something could happen, e.g., a large shard of glass, a sharp piece of metal, and suddenly you need a spare. It happens.

[SweetLou]

I wouldn't carry a spare tire on a trip within the US, unless I was using an odd size. A tire boot should get me to the next shop to buy a new tire.

I am thinking about getting a 650B wheeled bike. Most shops, at least most shops that I know, don't carry 650B road tires. I would carry a spare for this bike, because I don't want to have to sit around for a couple of days for a 650B tire to be sent to me.

[lionstigersandben]

On my first tour I was uber paranoid about it. I brought a spare. When I actually got a bad tear in the tyre my buddy fixed it with a powerbar wrapper and I rode it another five hundred miles before trading it out. There are so many bike shops around here. I Haven't worried about it since.

[whittierider]

So, as I understand it a foldable tyre lacks wire beading on the edges.  Mine definitely has wire beading, thus it is not foldable.  Correct?

Foldable tires do have a bead, but it's so flexible it can be folded (not just bent) back on itself without damage.  The kevlar strands in the bead are much, much finer than human hair.

I took a picture of one I ordered that just came:



You can see the bead along the edge.  It's just as thick as a wire bead, but totally flexible.  This wad of a tire could be put in a big pants pocket.  Somewhere I have a worn-out tire rolled up into about a 3" circle that we used to carry on longer rides as a spare, before I caught on to the booting possibilities.

[johnsondasw]

Ah, a Continental 4000--my kind of tire!  I'm getting 2000-3000 miles out of these, very rarely flat, and like the ride. 

[whittierider]

Ah, a Continental 4000--my kind of tire!  I'm getting 2000-3000 miles out of these, very rarely flat, and like the ride.

You must not be wearing them down to the strings like we in my family do.    (See my fifth picture on the last page.)  We've been getting 4000-5000 miles on the back, which is far, far better than anything else we've tried.  We don't do a lot of heavily loaded touring, but we do do a lot of climbing and performance riding.  The front of course lasts 2-3 times as many miles as the rear.  I seem to average about 2,000 miles between flats.  I'm not loyal to any brand of tire-- I'll use whatever seems best at the time for the application-- but Conti really seems to have a winner this time.  I wonder how long it will take someone-- anyone-- to come up with something better.

[johnsondasw]

OK, Whittierider, I am going to start really wearing them down more.  I have been changing them out too early, I see.  I just like to feel that I'm not going to blow one out on a long ride, but you've convinced me I'm wasting lots of potential miles.  Do you ride them until the two "wear holes" have completely disappeaed?

[whittierider]

Do you ride them until the two "wear holes" have completely disappeaed?

Absolutely.  Remember the strength of the tire is not in the rubber, but in the carcass.  You don't have to worry about hydroplaning on a bike either like you do on a car.

[VernonHuffman]

I run folding tires on my bike and carry a spare tire and tube in a bag with tire levers and a pair of gloves. That way, when I get a flat I can quickly and cleanly replace it. Later in a more comfortable spot, I can patch the tube and pull all the sharp nasties out of my tire.

[litespeed]

I always carry a spare tire and have needed to use it twice - once in the Florida panhandle and once in Georgia. A badly cut tire cannot be repaired to the point that it doesn't leak. You can carry a standard tire doubled once (into a circle about a foot in diameter), taped up and stuffed in a rear pannier. Or you can carry a foldable tire in a box. The peace of mind in itself is worth carring a spare tire.

[whittierider]

A badly cut tire cannot be repaired to the point that it doesn't leak.

Look at my pictures on the last page again.  I have ridden tens of thousands of miles on tires booted like this, with no problems at all.