V20 front tire suddenly lost pressure and I crashed.

[Black Hawk Down]

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.

Schwalbe Mondales, which are in the Marathon family, are also a very popular world touring tire. They have the advantage of working pretty well off road and on. I used them on my last 11k mile tour and plan to use them on my next 15K mile world tour next year.

 

[chicorider]

There is a small learning curve with going tubeless. It was pretty messy for me at first, but as my technique improved, the mess diminished. Now I can install a new tire or refresh sealant, which I do about every six months, with no mess at all. (I write down when I put new sealant in for each of my bikes so that I can keep track of how long it has been).

I can get tires to seat with a floor pump 30-40% of the time, pumping like fury for about 15 seconds, by which time the tire will either have begun to seat and I keep going, or nothing is happening and I'm setting up the air compressor, which works 99% of the time. Either way--pump or compressor--removing the valve core first creates better air flow into the tire. You'll lose that air when you remove the chuck, but the bead will be seated, and you'll be letting that air out anyway to add sealant. You know the bead is seated when you hear two or three pops. Such a satisfying sound.

I use a syringe that screws onto the valve stem, but I don't use the plunger (sealant can actually seal the syringe tube as it flows into the tire. I once pushed the plunger hard enough to try to overcome that blockage that the syringe tube popped off of the syringe, spraying sealant everywhere). If the sealant stops flowing, I push lightly on the tire, which sends air bubbling back up the syringe, unblocking the tube and allowing sealant to keep flowing. I might do that two or three times, and then the syringe is empty. Refreshing sealant in a set of wheels is now about a five minute job.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I use the Fillmore Valves. Real expensive but really easy to use. No core to take out. No plugging due to sealant. Just slip the sealant plunger tube over the valve (no screwing needed), pour the sealant into the plunger and it will drain into the tire without plunging. Pull the tube off the valve and fill with air. No mess, no fuss. They last forever so it's only a one time cost.

 

[Andrew Wilson]

I think I'll stick with tubes....if they are good enough for my Harley, they are good enough for my bikes

 

[IyhelM]

Had a flat puncture tonight coming back home, heard the sealant leaking under my head, stopped to check, it was sealed within 10 sec, no significant pressure loss, I could ride the remaining 10 miles without worrying.
Luckily I had the mudguards on (it prevents the banana bags from rubbing on the rear when too heavily loaded) so I won’t even have to clean up!

 

[colin.mccomish]

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

If tubeless isn’t an option. Specialized makes an airlock tube the seals up quite nicely. I’ve used these for quite some time on a DF with good success. They are heavy though.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

They are heavy though.

I've always found that to be the problem with the alternatives.

 

[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. The sealant was low. 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 tube for the ride back home.

I think what happened here is that the tire "burped" when I made a sudden turn, causing the instant flat. No leaks were found in the tire. The Zipp 303 Firecrest has hookless rims with a 25mm internal width. Zipp has a compatibility chart that excludes 28mm tires (except Schwalbe Pro One). I was riding Vittoria Corsa N.EXT 30 mm which is reported to be "within ISO recommended standards", but I think a wider tire would be safer and more comfortable.
Now, why tf have I been riding Continental Grand Prix 5000 AS TR at 28mm all this year? I will be changing that out for 32s ASAP.

Addendum:
Thanks @JerseyJim for showing my original post. I had reported then that I was riding with an inner tube and it was fully inflated prior to riding.

 

[Tuloose]

It's not entirely true that with tubeless you will never pinch flat.
I switched over to tubeless on my V a few years ago when it was becoming all the rage to do so.
Coming home from a long ride I turned onto a bike path and hit an inch high concrete lip at low speed. Twin streams of sealant shot out of my tire. I had 28's pumped to 85psi.
I'm now using tpu tubes and so far so good. Tubeless just seems like too much mess and fuss and bother but I may go back to it at some point.
On all my other Cruzbikes I run tubes.
In any case, tubeless wouldn't have helped the OP.

 

[JerseyJim]

For those running tubeless, I recall there was a discussion on the forum regarding using the Vittoria Air-Liner inserts on the front tire. If you're unfamiliar with the product, it's a foam extrusion that fits inside the tire. When the tire is inflated, the pressure causes the foam to compress, and therefore it does not contribute to rolling resistance. When the tire looses pressure, the foam expands and stabilizes the tire, keeping it on the rim and maintains enough tire support to such that it's possible to keep control.

Flat

Hope you are okay Mathew

forum.cruzbike.com

 

[VendettaRich]

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

Sorry to hear this. Same thing happened to me, I installed front and rear tannus armor so this does not happpen again.

 

[vosadrian]

For those running tubeless, I recall there was a discussion on the forum regarding using the Vittoria Air-Liner inserts on the front tire. If you're unfamiliar with the product, it's a foam extrusion that fits inside the tire. When the tire is inflated, the pressure causes the foam to compress, and therefore it does not contribute to rolling resistance. When the tire looses pressure, the foam expands and stabilizes the tire, keeping it on the rim and maintains enough tire support to such that it's possible to keep control.

Flat

Hope you are okay Mathew

forum.cruzbike.com

I think this would have saved me when I had a sudden loss of pressure at high speed and came down. The issue is that the rim hits the ground instead of the tyre. The rim has close to zero grip so you can't steer to safely come to a stop. The foam tyre insert should keep the rims from hitting the ground and the tyre will feel different of course but should have enough grip to stop safely.

The issue I think with the insert is the hassle of fitting (tyres are difficult to mount with it in there), and maintaining sealant etc would be more work. Also, I assume when you have a flat would be more difficult to remove the liner to fit a tube. Tubeless tyres are difficult enough to fit without some foam in there stopping the beads going to the bottom of the rim channel.

 

[Rolling Along]

After reading this thread (thank you for the thread), I investigated the Vittoria Air-Liner inserts.

You can use a different (multi-way) valve that allows the sealant to get to the rim channel. Vittoria recommends replacing the insert after a year. Also if you get a big enough gash then you will need to replace the insert. Vittoria claims you can ride 30 miles as a run-flat. So one option is to ride slow until you get home or to where you can service the bike. One reviewer that tried it elected to quit carrying tubes and go with the run-flat. Here is an interesting article on the subject:

Vittoria Air-Liner Road Review: Do Road Bikes Need Tubeless Tire Inserts? Maybe...

Tire inserts make a lot of sense for gnarly mountain bike trails and rough gravel roads. But what about smooth pavement? Inserts like Vittoria Air-Liner Road haven't experienced wide-spread adoption in road cycling. So do roadies even need them?

www.theproscloset.com

I noticed Vittoria also sells a tool to compress the tire. Watching a video, It seems to me that you have to get the liner away from the rim to properly seal. So it does look like it takes extra effort to install and not something to deal with on the road.

I have had my V20c for about a year and have been running tubes as I do on all my bikes. After thousands of miles I have had very few front flats, but enough of my share of rear flats. After recently getting two flats in a week on the rear tire of the V20c, I replaced the rear tire with a GP5000. Despite the rarity of a front flat, I have the concern of loss of control with a front flat. My conclusion from this thread is that I should go tubeless and the Vittoria Air-Liners are an additional option. I am considering just going tubeless on the front, so a hybrid setup. I am still undecided on the Vittoria liners.

 

[vosadrian]

I run full tubeless and before that with tubes on the roads I ride I was getting weekly punctures, and went to virtually none with tubeless, so I highly rate tubeless.

I have had several front flats and been able to stop safely. The only time I was unable to was when I hit a large object (did not see in the dark with a modest light) and it caused instant deflation and rim damage. I have never had instant deflation with tubeless except that one time. I have had rapid deflation with a large cut once, but still had some to stop come to a stop before the air was completely gone. I did crash as a result of the big hit above. As the wheel rim was also damaged, I think that was a factor in my crash (I am rim brakes and tried to slow with them and the rim had a crack that may have caught the pad and caused lockup). With disk brakes I may have not crashed, but don't know for sure.

For me I am happy with tubeless and I am considering the tyre liners... The risk is low with tubeless compared to tubes for me (much less instances of trying to come to a stop with a flat tyre), and liners would improve that, but it seems with an increased incovenience for fitting tyres and dealing with a flat on road etc. If I could get them in there with little hassle, and easily remove everything to fit a tube if required I would definately try them.

Having said all that.... If I was not getting many punctures on tubes, I would probably not bother with tubeless. They add some work (replenishing sealant etc.) if they are not saving you punctures.

 

[efwYVR]

I switched to tubeless a couple years ago. In two seasons, I haven't had a flat, though once I did find myself airless before a ride. I switched not because I was being hounded by flats -- I've had relatively few in my lifetime of cycling -- but because I would read posts like this and have nightmares. I ride Continental GP5000s with Stans Race Sealant. I put new ones on each spring. There's no doubt installation is more of a pain than tubed, but you get used to it. But here's the thing... the ride is INCREDIBLE. There's a smoothness and predictability with tubeless I never found in any tubed set-up, and they're so much faster, and quieter. There's nothing quite so satisfying as sailing along a pristine piece of asphalt on a V20. It's even better when you feel safe on your chosen steed.