V20 front tire suddenly lost pressure and I crashed.

[Flakkjacket]

This morning riding to work at between 15 and 20 mph I suddenly lost control and was on the asphalt. Luckily I was on a bike path and not in traffic. My front tire was totally flat after the fall. No warning, or control issues before I went down. I wasn’t seriously hurt. Scraped up elbow and a bruised hip. My shirt and pants are history. The bike is fine as well besides a scraped up quick release lever. I’m running fairly new Schwalbe Durano tires. I visually check my tires before every ride and squeeze them to make sure they’re up to pressure.
My question is what tire and inner tube would you recommend? I never want that to happen again! Is there some tire/inner tube combination that would be more bullet proof that would fit on the front of the V20? This seems like a real safety concern for Cruzbikes especially because of the MBB. I didn’t have any chance of controlling the bike to a safe stop. It was over in a fraction of a second. I’m not so concerned about speed as I am about safety and comfort, so even if a tire is not as fast if it will keep me from experiencing whatever happened today I’m interested.
Thanks for you help!
Cam

 

[Robert Volk]

I have gone tubeless… I’ll never go back to tubed

 

[Andrew Wilson]

Almost happened to me once. I suggest you add a sealant to your tube if you don’t go tubeless. Having a sealant in the tube has saved me more than once.

 

[Frito Bandito]

It depends on what wheels you have. Like Robert Volk I have gone to tubeless also and recommend it. Not only because the sealant helps to plug the holes, but just as important is not having the tire come completely off in the case of a blowout. I've had a front blowout happen at about 50kph on my road bike while on a small descent in traffic, and got so lucky that it happened on the straight because the tire stayed on the rim. Since the tire stayed on I had partial control and that saved me, and allowed me to come to a stop without crashing. If it had come off it would have been way worse.

As far as I know, TLE (Tubeless Easy), TLR (Tubeless Ready) and TL (Tubeless) fit every so slightly tighter on rims compared with tubed tires, and therefore less likely to come off, especially in a turn where the friction might be enough to pull the tire off, and losing 100% of the control.

 

[vosadrian]

I have only really had one crash on my V20. I was riding fast in the dark with an OK light, but things come up quickly at speed, and I did not see a large obstacle that must have come off the the back of a truck or something. I fit it and fractured my front carbon rim and instantly deflated my tubeless tyre. I stayed up for a bit but was starting to lean to one side and tried to correct and the tyre had no grip and I just fell onto that side. Similar injury to OP crash, and some scratches on my brake lever and derailer (plus rim damage). I was able to fit a tube and limp home to patch myself up.

Since that time I am not going fast in low visibility conditions where onstacles could be hiding. I wonder if the tyre liners may have helped though? I suspect I could have avoided falling with them. It felt like the tyre did nothing, but with some foam in there it may have done enough to keep it upright.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I have to chime in and also recommend tubeless. I rarely have a flat these days, and they're easy to fix with a quick bacon strip plug. I have had many front flats with tubed tires and never went down. Guess it depends on how big the hole is. Most of my flats were caused by those tiny steel wires that come from shredded steel belted radial tires. So they usually leak out slowly and you can tell somethings wrong. With tubeless, these are not a problem.

I have crashed on my V20 going 30 mph down a hill and turning a corner. The road got rough and the wheels bounce out from under me. I slid down the road with the bike on it's side. I was holding onto the handlebars and lifted my hip and arm up away from the asphalt. My pants got shredded at my hip but no other damage. My bike was scrapped at the quick release, the edge of the seat and the end of the handle bars, but otherwise, no damage. If that was a regular bike crash, I would have had road rash all up my leg, arm and shoulder. I actually feel safer on the V20 after that crash.

 

[chicorider]

Ditto for going tubeless. It won't lower the possibility of a front tire blowout to zero, but it should lower the chances significantly as the sealant either completely plugs small holes right away, or slows down bigger punctures, giving you time to come to a stop.

I too have had one crash on the V at speed, overcooking a corner on chattery pavement. Total pilot error; shredded my left elbow and butt cheek nicely. But the feet-first slide is a comparatively safer way to crash than over the bars head first. I still like to ride fast, but I now give corners a little more respect.

 

[Henri]

For a performance cyclist tubeless with sealant is rhe first thought for flat protection. A small hole will be automatically sealed and you might not even notice a drop in preassure, just need to pump back a bit more when correcting pressure the next time. A big cut that lets out all the air in an instant, should do the same with a tubeless tire, though, right? Unless there was no cut or punkture at all and the tube just burst. That doesn't happen without a tube, of course.
It has been mentioned on the side, that tubeless tires on tubeless rims sit more securely and should allow for a bit of control, when deflated. I guess that should work the same, when used with a tube. And there are so called tubeless liners, that sit inside the tubeless tire, get compressed when there is pressure in the tire and in case of an knstant deflation, they spring back into shape and improve the integrity of the tire to allow more control and prevent the tire from slipping off the rim. They make tire changes harder, though and of course add weight.

You can also add sealant to an innertube. Some have it from the factory. Adds weight and some resistance, I guess, and also probably only stopp leaks, no immediate depressurization.

I don't know how road bike tires compare to each other, but the Schwalbe Marathon Plus is available in 28-622 (28", 28mm / 700 x 28C) (Other similar tires might be as well.) A tire like that is very hard to puncture and probably even much harder to cut. But it's also much slower, heavier and less comfortable.

And then there are puncture protection lines that go in between tube and tire. For example Tannus makes ones, that get you in a range similar to Marathon Plus and Mr. Tuffy was the recommendation of the comparing test at bicyclerollingresistance.com

 

[LarryOz]

You can also add sealant to an innertube. Some have it from the factory. Adds weight and some resistance, I guess, and also probably only stopp leaks, no immediate depressurization.

I would not recommend relying on this - Most manufacturers put some kind of powder inside tubes - I think this combines with the sealant and renders it almost useless.

Tubeless is truly better than running tubes. 95% of flats are from pinch-flats - which you don't have with tubeless. Also just pinching the tire is not a great way to detect pressure. Use a pressure guage - or just put a pump on it and pump it up to what you want. Almost all tires leak down over time.

I also also confirm that with tubeless tires, even with a total loss of pressure the tire is usually somewhat glued to the rim with the sealant and does not separate - therefore you are not likely to go down hard on a turn because your rim hits the pavement

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I would not recommend relying on this - Most manufacturers put some kind of powder inside tubes - I think this combines with the sealant and renders it almost useless.

Really? My experience with adding powders to glues is it acts as an accelerant making it bond faster and stronger. Maybe tire sealant does not act the same way.

I am not a fan of adding sealant to an inner tube since the times that I have, I still had blowouts that sent sealant everywhere and there's no chance of patching the tube. You basically throw it away. On the other hand, I have a friend who toured all over the US and claimed that he was constantly having flats until he started using sealant in his tubes.

I suppose if the OP can't afford to purchase new wheels or rims that are tubeless ready, he's stuck with tubed tires. If he can swing it, tubeless is really the best option.

 

[IyhelM]

+1 for tubeless.
Zero risk does not exist but safety wise, a recumbent with tubeless tires drastically reduces the severity of flats and falls. I once had a quick flat at the start of a downhill (I was not yet at full speed, maybe 20 mph) and was lucky to be able to stabilise the bike (V1.0) and stop smoothly but in the wcs I’d have ended with a benign rash; with an upright, I’m sure that in the best case I’d have gone over the handlebar.

Wishing you a quick recovery!

 

[Mathew Fy]

It happened to me last fall:

I don't remember checking the tire pressure before the ride, but immediately after falling, the pressure was near zero. I don't think I hit anything, the video doesn't show anything that may have caused it, and the fall began before crossing the line. The ride felt normal prior to the fall.
Anyway, I put in a new tube for the ride back home.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

It happened to me last fall:

I had no idea you could embed video on this forum.

 

[Beano]

To answer your question a bullet proof tyre and innertube combination would be marathon plus tyre with innertube. Although a marathon plus tyre is pretty unforgiven, heavy and does not roll well. It's more of a tyre that you would fit if you were going on a world tour.

 

[DavidCH]

Ditto the Larry suggestion. Some sealant is better than others. Always replace your sealant every six months. I have found the standard orange sealant is best. If you get a continental tubeless tyre it will probably be a pig to put on but its also a pig to come off.

I have a tubeless front and a tubular back. A hybrid solution that works quite well as I don't have to pump up the one at the back so much.

Tubeless saves your bacon but you need to check the pressure before you start your ride.

 

[Henri]

Tubeless saves your bacon but you need to check the pressure before you start your ride.

With changing weather (temperature, surrounding air pressure), you should readjust the pressure in the tires all the time, anyways...

 

[cruzKurt]

Interesting for sure, is it possible the fall caused the flat? I ran tubed tires for a while and only have two flats over thousands of miles. I check my tire pressures every day before I ride. Even when I was riding tubed tires I always ran my pressures at the low end of the acceptable range. More comfortable and seems a more resilient setup.

With that said, I think you got the tubeless message already. I now run Schwalbe Pro One tubeless and generally run about 55 psi and check it every day before I ride. I have had no flats in over 3000 miles since I went tubeless.

 

[vmi1056]

Curious from those who have made the transition how difficult, messy, piece of cake, it was to set their tubeless set up. Seems like once you get over the initial hump, they are fairly easy to maintain. Tubeless ready wheelset, valve stems, sealant, tubeless tires? That about sum it up? Floor pump strong enough to set the bead?

 

[cruzKurt]

Curious from those who have made the transition how difficult, messy, piece of cake, it was to set their tubeless set up. Seems like once you get over the initial hump, they are fairly easy to maintain. Tubeless ready wheelset, valve stems, sealant, tubeless tires? That about sum it up? Floor pump strong enough to set the bead?

I have an air compressor. But honestly wasn't messy at all for me. I did feel like the tires were very difficult to get on the rim.

I bought new rim tape (MucOff), huge bottle of sealant (MucOff), a syringe which is designed to inject the sealant, and that was about it. I do have to check and air my tires every day before I ride, so get ready for that.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I use a co2 cartridge to set the bead. My Q45 has Schwalbe Mondale tires (2 inch), Since they are not tubeless tires, I have to put an inner tube in, set the bead, open one side and remove the tube, put the stem in, use a co2 cartridge to reset the bead, let the air out, add sealant through the stem, pump it back up. The good news is I don't have to go through this except went changing to new tires. On my V20, I have Schwalbe Pro One, 30C and I don't need to do the inner tube trick, just a co2 cartridge as they are tubeless ready. I've never had succes using a pump to set the bead. I even bought a special pump that pumps up a chamber to high pressure that you can release all at once. It never worked. I threw it away.