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I have a Strida with 18" wheels. Unfortunately the places I cycle seem to have lots of glass and I get a new puncture almost every week. I commute in London, so this is really unavoidable. The tires I have are not cheap, but they don’t have thick treads. Its hard to find much else for this wheel size. I do keep a close eye on my air pressure, and anyway, I'm digging shards of glass out the tires each time, so its not a pinch puncture.

Does anyone else have a Strida? Do you get lots of punctures and is there any solution?

EDIT; A couple of things I should have added; This is a strida, enter image description here

Unfortunately you cannot do anything funky with weight distribution on a strida, you cannot even stand on the peddles. The way its balanced only works if you keep your bum on the seat.

The size 18 wheels are only just small enough to fit, so I cannot fit any tire wider than 35-355 etrto size (1.35).

I may try the brush suggestion if I can work out how to fix it on. I will report back on the results.

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    Have you thought of getting more of a touring-style tire with a thicker tread? For example a schwable marathon? schwalbetires.com/… – Ross Dec 7 '17 at 14:18
  • I would look around for a tire with some sort of puncture-resistant belt under the tread. – Daniel R Hicks Dec 7 '17 at 14:19
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    For what it's worth, on the link I provided you can buy them direct from Schwalbe. I was able to add to my cart and proceed to checkout... – Ross Dec 7 '17 at 18:39
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    You can try using the various "snap/send/solve" phone apps to report the problem to the local council. The UK has street sweepers etc, and my local council send them past the "drinking spots" every weekend morning for this reason. – Criggie♦ Dec 7 '17 at 19:45
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    Another favorite of old long-distance cyclist (though one that hardly seen anymore) is some sort of a "brush" on the wheel, especially the front one. This is a brush, or more often a piece of coat-hanger-weight wire, that is fixed to the frame/fork, shaped to the profile of the tire, and which will tend to brush off glass shards, thorns and the like that are picked up by the tire. – Daniel R Hicks Dec 7 '17 at 21:17
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That is an unusual tire size, and it's true you don't have a lot of options.

  • As Ross points out, Schwalbe does make the Marathon tire (which is very robust) in that size.
  • You could keep your current tires and put some tire-liner strips inside them. You'd need to cut them to fit.
  • You could add sealant to your innertubes (you might need to swap tubes). This won't prevent the punctures, it would just mean they're less trouble.

Good luck.

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  • I would love to try Schwalbe Marathon, but they seem to be discontinued in 18"; tesco.com/direct/… and chainreactioncycles.com/… and a bunch of other places no longer stock them. DO you know a place that they can be bought? – Clumsy cat Dec 7 '17 at 15:35
  • @TheoreticalPerson Perhaps keep an eye out on Ebay? – David Richerby Dec 7 '17 at 16:31
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    You won't find them at places selling conventional bike gear. Look for a shop that focuses specifically on recumbents and/or folders. Or find a bike shop that already stocks Schwalbe and ask them to special-order those tires. – Adam Rice Dec 7 '17 at 16:41
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    Ebay works – Chris H Dec 7 '17 at 16:59

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