DAMN GINA! Is that normal or you did you just have some horrible tube karma?

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..::JAMES::..

P.O.S. Forte tire started coming apart after 60 miles. I was pissed. I tried booting the tire with cardboard, but no luck. Luckily, some really nice people helped me out with tubes and air after I had used mine all up. Lesson learned, don't buy cheap rubber. Without the flats I would have finished under 6.5 hours, which would have been a good time for my first century. All in all, it was a really fun day.

After flatting twice in the Scripps Old Pros 50 mile ride years ago, I started running Specialized Armadillo Elites -- they're heavy, but the ride quality is good and I haven't flatted in several years/thousands of miles.

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A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

Yeah, Armadillo's are the shiznit when it comes to stopping flats.

I started running one of those on the read of my commuter a few years ago after a suggestion from the Adams Ave guys (want no flats? Run this...). A couple of thousand miles later I sold the bike, no flats, in fact I stopped even worrying about glass etc.
(Why the F do people drive through Mission Valley breaking small liquor bottles in the bike lane... I will never know)

I didn't have elite's just regular armadillos. I found them to be stiff and unforgiving on the ride but great for preventing flats.

I put two of them on the new commuter, no problems with flats for months but got tired of what I found was a stiff ride along with the fact that they are a bit slow, so I took them off.

Well, after a year and a few flats, just yesterday I put an Armadillo back on the rear of the commuter. Seems the rear tends to flat more due to weight so I am only running one again.


Not the fastest or the lightest tire but surely one of the most puncture resistant. There was a study done by some college kids that you can find here, my results were similar to theirs:
http://biomech.me.unr.edu/wang/abstracts/puncture.htm

The first set of Armadillos I ran were the standard model -- upgraded to the elites primarily for the weight savings but also noticed (or at least thought I did) improved ride quality. Tires were first on a bike with a steel frame, and now carbon frame, so the frame has always been pretty forgiving. Might be harsh on a straight alu frame.

_________________
A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

I used to run em on a Cannondale Bay Boy like this...

That AL frame.... stiff didn't describe it. Seriously, that bike didn't give at all and transferred every vibration. Holy guacamole, those stiff Armadillos at 110PSI on that frame... chhhhh chhhh chhhhh my teeth were chattering!

I'm still waiting for the guy to call that I sold that bike to. He promised to sell it back when he left san diego... dang I miss that bike.