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12/07/2006
Green Tyre, Puncture Proof Bike Tyres.
Not my usual sort of post, but considering how hard I found it to find any of this information on the net I thought I'd write it myself.
It concerns puncture proof tyres, AKA air free tyres, AKA green tyres.
I found very conflicting opinions about these from people who would never explain what sort of bike they have, where they tested them and whether or not they had actually had one.
So, without repeating there mistakes, I'll give you some info. I'm in Mertyhr Tydfil, South Wales, where the weekend pass-time is smashing bottles on the roads and pavements. I cycle to work most days which is only about a 5 mile round trip. Not much compared to some cyclists, but for one we're 1300' above sea level, next to the Brecon Beacons where the SAS train. It's not unusual to see cloud on the hills outside my house. I can freewheel for about a mile on the way to work, as the downhill is steep, but coming home is a nightmare. It's really hard work in an area that is cold due to it's altitude.
So, the bike. I've had the Giant OCR 2 a few years now, bought from my local bike shop Taff Vale Cycles which is an excellent bike shop. I have my bike serviced there about 2 times a year and just get them to fix and repair whatever needs doing.
The biggest problem of course is punctures. It drives me nuts that people just smash bottles on the road and pavement. Yes, I do cycle on the pavement/path a bit along the River Taff, not the Taff Trail mind you, because unfortunatley that goes next to a pub, with again, lots of broken glass next to it. I go on the pavement for two reasons. First, I can relax a bit and look at the scenery and the river, seeing herons and buzzards etc I actually got buzzed by a heron one morning, I almost fell off! In flight the thing was blooming huge! The other reason I cycle along the path is because drivers here in Merthyr are atrocious! I used to cycle in Essex, with no problems. The drivers there seemed so much more bike aware, but here in Merthyr I've had so many near misses by stupid drivers doing things like cutting me up on roundabouts or speeding past me and turning left or even just stopping. Busses here are terrible too, sometimes I cycle along and wonder if I'm actually still alive or was I killed back there!
Anyway, back to punctures. Last time I'd just had enough. it's getting so dark here at the moment that I could'nt see the road, so when I heard the hiss it was the usual story...get off and walk. I had chunks of glass sticking out of the tyre, and these babies are Kevlar too! So I started looking up punture proof tyres. I read a lot about Armadillos, which are a normal tyre but the toughest on the market, but also found a couple of sites doing puncture proof tyres.
Now, back in Basildon in the early 90's I did give puncture proof tyres a go on my Saracen Blitz mountain bike. They were pretty bad, a lot like riding through mud. Not very good, and pretty hard. I was hoping though that in 10 years the technology would have improved. A lot of what I read seemed remeniscent of that early 90's experience, or there were comments that some big bike guru thought they were a bad idea so they stayed away. My own bike shop were a bit skeptical and said they were a gimmick. So I carried on cycling and as usual had a couple of good days followed by another round of broken bottles. So I spoke to green tyre which seemed to offer a lot of choices. Here's there blurb about there product:
Green Tyres are produced from one piece of micro-cellular polyurethane.
They come in loads of colours, and with a free fitting kit. So I measured up my bike, and made my first mistake, I did'nt take the tyre off to measure the internal rim (ooops) so managed to order the wrong tyre. Anyway, they then sent two by mistake. So I rang them back and ordered the right one. No problem at all. One thing to note was that both tyres, although supposedly available in a wide range of colours were only in stock in black. Anyway, the right tyre came the next day without costing me any more, and I set about fitting it. The kit gives you a couple of cable ties and a green spatula for edging the tyre on. I followed the instructions, edging the tyre on a little at a time. It went on easy enough, but did'nt go under both rims. This was hard work. I had to get the spatula under the tyre and work my way round the wheel pressing it into and under the second rim, boy was it hard on the thumbs!
Just to note as well, I only bought one tyre for the back as I rarely get punctures in the front. So, there it was fitted on, and it looked very thin compared to the front tyre. The tyre I chose, a "Racer" has a PSI of 100, which is what I usually pump my tyres up to. Another company I rang, Amerityre only had a PSI of 55.
I gave it a quick test in my slippers up and down the street, which seemed OK, I could'nt tell the difference really, but wanted to try a work run for a proper test. This does'nt involve anything tougher than road surfaces and pavements with the occasional slight curb and one hairpin bend to go over.
The next week was just colossal storms, so my wife took me to work in the car, but today I cycled. What was it like?
First I noticed the bike was no slower, though the wind was blowing a right gale, I'm pretty sure it was the wind against me slowing me down, because when it died down I seemed to be travelling at a good speed. What it did feel like though was that feeling you get just as your tyre is going down. It's definatley a harder ride, and is going to take a little getting used to, but as said, this is just for road use to and from work, so there's not much to cause bumps and knocks. I'm not sure if the harder ride is going to damage the spokes, everything was OK when I got off, and Green Tyre promise no damage to the rims, which I believe. I dont think you could squash the tyre down that much. I also noticed, the hairpin bend I go round the bike seemed to slow itself without me applying brakes, again this could be down to the gale blowing, but I can't be certain. A few more rides will let me know if the conditions are favourable. Another comment I heard was that they could become mis-shapen and cause damage, but I can't see how really, still only time will tell.
My conclusion is, it's a slightly more uncomfortable ride, easily liveable with though knowing I wont get another puncture.
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