Inner tubes are what keep your tyres inflated so that you can ride your bicycle. Unfortunately Western Australia is littered with triple headed thorns.
Triple Head Thorns, the bane of cyclists in Western Australia.
These thorns easily go through most tyres and puncture the tube. This usually happens at the most inopportune moment. You can fit thicker tyres, or tyre liners, but I have found the least problematic solution is to fit thorn resistant tubes.
A comparison of a thorn resistant tube (Top) and a standard tube.
The above picture shows the difference in size between a standard tube (bottom) and a thorn resistant tube (top). Both tubes are 700×35C tubes, but you will notice that the top tube is a lot thicker.
This protects against thorns as well as punctures from the billions of small fragments of glass and other debris that litters our cycle paths. A well placed nail will still penetrate and puncture the tube.
If you do puncture one of the thorn resistant tubes, repairing them is exactly the same as repairing a normal inner tube.
Due to the thicker walls of the thorn resistant tube, they do weigh a bit more than a standard tube and take up a bit of extra room when carrying a spare in your panniers or tool bag. There are some thorn resistant tubes that are thicker on the outer side, with a standard wall thickness on the inside edge that faces the rim. These are a trade off in weight.
Thorn resistant tubes are sometimes referred to as “Thorn Proof” tubes. They are not thorn proof, but are often called this, as it’s easier to say than thorn resistant.
Since fitting thorn resistant tubes I have not experienced any punctures from thorns. I even picked up three big thorns that embedded themselves into the tyre. Upon pulling them out I expected a flat, but the tyre stayed up.
Fitting touring tyres or good quality MTB tyres, which have thicker walls, may reduce your puncture count.
