Maxxis  Re-Fuse SC MS Tire

Has already paid for itself

After using the more expensive Gatorskins for years, I decided to switch back to a wire bead tire because sometimes older technology is just simpler and better. If you have ever lost a tire to a tube blowout then this is the better choice in my opinion. A few years back a pinched tube exploded and blew out the side wall of the Gatorskin which had barely 50 miles on it. Gatorskins use some sort of woven (aramid?) fiber as a strength member instead of a wire rim, so with strands completely exposed I had to trash a new $65 tire. After installing this Maxxis tire and riding 15 miles I had a similar inner tube burst after inflating the tube to near max 120psi. The blowout simply pushed the wire beads over the outside of the rim but the tire is was entirely intact. Installed a new tube and it's been fine now for a few hundred miles. My previous gatorskin, which this replaced, actually had two internal side-wall patches on it. I suppose it was just bad luck but I had two side-wall punctures, both quite small, which happened at about 200 miles and then similarly around 2,000 miles. (I typically get about one year life or 3,000 miles out of my tires. Majority of this is commuting to work 4 days a week). With both sidewall punctures, the tubes would start to extrude through the small hole in the sidewall at about 90 psi. While repairing a sidewall is not recommended by any legit mfr or repair shop, an honest person at my local shop told me to cut out a piece of side wall and glue it over the hole. Can't say I had ever done this in my cycling lifetime, but I wasn't about to give up on yet another $65 tire. The first patch worked like a charm. The second one I didn't make it quite as large which seemed to be damaging the tube, but the tire did continue to be operable, even with a slight bulge showing in two locations. I am of the belief now that the side walls of the more expensive gatorskins are just too thin with some sections under .030. The patches that I made using an older wire rim tire from a couple years back measure about .040. While .010 difference doesn't like like much it is after all 33% thicker. Look at the weight of the gatorskins and you can tell they have done all that they can to reduce the weight - this saves on the manufacturers material costs and increases my costs due to premature failure. I am sticking with the older technology for the time being to save money and use tried and true technology that has worked for decades. (5 stars may be a bit premature as I don't know the life span of this tire just yet, but so far the rubber is holding up well)