GK Slicks and Compass/RH slicks do get pinhole punctures, but tire pressure
and tire age are both factors. All the Compass/RH tires I've ever ridden
have been acquired used (I have a NIP Babyshoe Pass that I have yet to
try), so the tread had cured at least a little bit before I got them. I
have a set of Stampede Pass standards on my gofast wheelset that's rotated
between four road bikes; I've put at least 2000 miles on them on city
streets over the last 10 or so years, with two total flats. I'm typically
running them at around 70 PSI, give or take.
Inspired by the longevity of these tires, I bought a new set of 700x35 GK
Slicks (the weight is officially lighter than the BJP standards and heavier
than the BJP extralights) for my Trek 720 pack mule, on the grounds that
they were structurally identical to the corresponding RHes at half the
price. I had ridden that tire set for about 500 miles (65-70 PSI) with one
flat (rode over a carpet tack standing straight up on a poorly-lit street;
an act of Road God), when I had a dramatic failure in a Christmas Eve night
debacle, with three flats from glass slivers in a single block. Once I'd
gotten the bike home, I stripped the GKs off for bad hoodoo, and replaced
them with a set of used BJPs I'd had in my parts box as a replacement for
the SPs on the gofast wheelset. The reliability difference was dramatic.
Running at the same 65-70 PSI, I rode those used RH tires for 18 months and
nearly 3000 miles before the next flat.
Over the last few months, I've flatted three or four times on the RHes;
clearly, the tread has worn thin. I was discussing the issue with a
repairman at one of the local bike kitchens. He mentioned that GK Slicks
hold up fine, but it takes a while for the rubber to cure - several months,
or several hundred miles. Although that's in keeping with bike tire
traditions ("inflate your new tubulars on a rim and age them over the
winter" et al), it had never occurred to me that my shiny-new tires might
take a period of aging to be fully ready for road use. I've reinstalled the
GKs and put about 250 miles on them without incident. Maybe the intervening
20 months has aged the rubber enough to stand up to small road hazards?
Fingers crossed...
Peter "once bit" Adler
Berkeley, CA
On Monday, October 2, 2023 at 6:40:51 PM UTC-7 ted.l...@gmail.com wrote:
Regarding the Gravel Kings I had the 32mm SS tires on my road bike for a
time and they did feel nice. My only complaint about them is the same as
with the smooth RH tires; they get little pinhole punctures.
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