Everyone hates the puncture fairy, and it's even worse when you're leading a group ride. Around 10 years ago we had a gite trip to France, bike loaded with 2 panniers, and cycling to meet the group. I had 2 separate punctures; it didn't stop when we were in France with another 5 punctures—not bad tyres, but the rim tape had moved, allowing the tube to expand into the spoke head hole and puncture. We only discovered this after many frustrating punctures. Lucky someone had a roll of gaffer tape; we tore a strip off and we covered the whole rim tape with it. Success!
There are types like the Marathon Plus that are a bit more puncture resistant, but they are heavy at 995 grams for a 700x28, where as the Continental Gatorskins are 280 grams for a 700/28, a trade-off.
Some Wayfarers have tried solid tyres which weigh around 600 grams for a 700x28, but reports are it's a hard ride.
I recently came across an in-between; the Tanus Armour is a bit like a tyre that goes in your tyre, but still with room for a tube. This gives a comfy ride and adds around 12mm of extra puncture protection. I decided to go ahead and purchase one at the sum of just over £30 each for a 700x28/34 insert weighung in at 200grams. The drawback is they are a real pain to fit, it took me around 45 minutes and 7 cable ties to keep it on the rim before getting the final bit of tyre on, out on the road, it would be a nightmare, but it does have run-flat capability, so you could limp home or to the nearest bike shop. My preference would be to, if punctured, take the insert out and fit a normal tube untill I got home. Tanus do offer a fitting service for both the front and back, but it is very expensive.
Tanus do a range of verious size tyre inserts and I would imagine wider types would be less of a problem to fit.
I have done 1 36 mile ride with it fitted, and it is comfy; if I do get a puncture, you will probably hear me swearing from afar.
Tony..
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