Tonight on my evening ride I had a flat. The tire was mounted on a Shimano rim. Before I left on the ride I almost did two things: change to my Mavic rims with Forte tires and pickup the Pedro tire tool. Not doing this was a mistake. Where I live road trash is a real threat, particularly on bridges where the flat took place.

This is an expensive tire but I have noticed that after the new wears off the likelihood of a flat increases dramatically. The tread area is prone to slicing from road objects. While I was fixing the flat I notice a couple of small slices in the tread. Add in the extreme difficulty removing the tire from this Shimano rim and my frustration level soars. I thought there was a problem with the Shimano rims because the number of flats is three times what I experience with the lighter Mavic rims. I changed the rim strip from the thin plastic type to a cotton one. I was thinking the tubes were being pressed down into the spoke cavity and then puncturing. Obviously in this instance the problem was outside of the tire.

Fixing a flat where traffic is whizzing by with all of the noise is difficult. You can hear the air escaping from the tube to locate where you need to put the patch.

When I got home the Pedro tire tool was added to the seat bag. Next time I think I will switch to the Mavic rims.

What has been your experience with these tires?