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Submitted by
Jakevc
a Weekend Warrior
from Oceanside, CA, U.S.
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$50.00 | | Purchased At: | Centerport Cycles | | Strengths: | They do exactly what they are supposed to...keep your tubes puncture free. | | Weaknesses: | Mucho Expensivo... | | Similar Products Used: | Mr. Tuffy's Tire Liners | | Bike Setup: | Schwinn Home Grown, Giant Trance X2 | | Bottom Line: | I am on my second set of these things. My first set lasted four years and did exactly what they were supposed to do...no flats! They did end up disintegrated on my third set of tires and had to be replaced. No flats for four years, not bad for fifty bucks. They work just as well as Mr. Tuffy's but are 1/3rd the weight. They are kind of expensive, but are well worth it if you consider how much riding time is wasted changing flat tires. If you are having issues with these things coming apart try putting a little talc power in with them to cut down on friction. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Thomas
a Weekend Warrior
from Reno, NV
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$70.00 | | Purchased At: | local shop | | Strengths: | lightweight, doesn't affect flexibility of tire tread. | | Weaknesses: | Dont last long and START TO CAUSE FLATS !!!! They get brittle and the threads start poking holes into the tube. Really small holes which are damn near impossible to see when fixing the tube on the side of the road. Even when you bring a spare tube and it gets poked with holes too. Oh yeah, they are really expensive too. | | Similar Products Used: | Mr. tuffy. They are heavier but soo far really good. | | Bike Setup: | Old Bianchi racer. | | Bottom Line: | Dont buy them. If you are a racer maybe save them for your races and replace them every season. $$$$$$$$$ | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$23.00 | | Purchased At: | Price Point (2001) | | Strengths: | For the 2 year/3,200kms in 2001 it was recommended for it worked. | | Weaknesses: | After 2 years the kevlar crumbled and caused 2 flats. | | Similar Products Used: | None to date. | | Bike Setup: | 2001 Trek Fuel 90 Disk, 1996 GT Ricochet. | | Bottom Line: | They cost me $30/CAN for a pair. They were fast and easy to install, center and get them to wrok properly. For the first two years, I only looked at my tires 1x/month to see if anything stuck in them or cut the tread. A little after two years and 3,200kms they fell apart fast, along the latitude and caused two flats within one week. The first flat I found in the afternoon after a night ride. The second one was while I was cycling. I was 1/2 way home and rode my bike at a painfully slow 5km/hr for 6kms. I then wrote the company a profanity filled email.
Bottom Line: The company claims there current version will last 5,000kms, needless to say I'll NOT give them a try. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Loretta
a Racer
from New Mexico
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$22.00 | | Purchased At: | local bike store | | Strengths: | Have stopped everything that came in contact with the area covered. I have pulled out huge goatheads and even glass from the tires with no leaks. | | Weaknesses: | Need to be wider to cover more area for side punctures. They are a little tricky to get exactly centered but I take my time. | | Similar Products Used: | Some sort of thicker plastic liners that don't don't stop anything. | | Bike Setup: | Marin road racing bike. | | Bottom Line: | I think they are very good other than the width could be a little wider to offer a larger area of coverage. I have used the same pair for over 5,000 miles and they now just look like they need replacing. They have saved me tons of flats and I highly recommend them. I may try to use the
mountain bike skins the next time since they are wider and hope all goes well. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Pan
a Weekend Warrior
from Boston, MA
Date Reviewed: August 10, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | all of them | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Strengths: | Light | | Weaknesses: | There are very few really bad bike products out there today and this is one of them. I got it as a present. Intsalled with great care, but: They are hard to install, disintegrate after a few weeks in the tires, oh and they don't prevent flats...wither go slime or proper mechinal barriers, don't buy this even if the mars vehicle was landed with the aid of a ballon made of this material | | Bottom Line: | 2 thumbs down, don't waste your money time and nerves | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
TR
a Weekend Warrior
from Overland Park, KS
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Mountain Goat | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$22.00 | | Purchased At: | PricePoint | | Strengths: | None. | | Weaknesses: | Wears holes in tubes. | | Similar Products Used: | Yes, some furry yellow liners by Panaracer from Performance. | | Bike Setup: | 1) Giant NRS
2) Supergo/Weyless SP | | Bottom Line: | I read the overwhelmingly negative reviews, and the one positive review from Eisme Kisme (nome de plume?). I should have gone with the majority opinion.
Friday I carefully installed a liner in the SP back wheel. Rode Saturday, no problem. Rode Sunday, flat back tire on trail. Installed spare tube *without* liner. Finished ride.
Tonight checked cause of flat. Found two slices in tube. No doubt caused by liner.
*Maybe* this liner would work if it could be installed *perfectly* centered in tire.
Bottom line -- junk. Worse than no liner! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eisme Kisme
a Racer
from Clarkston, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Any (long) single track | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$17.00 | | Purchased At: | Price Point (last), LBS other times | | Strengths: | They stop thorns, cactus, nails, glass...when installed and used as recommended. | | Weaknesses: | People that don't read instruction and install them as the manufacturer recommends. Don't work well with wide-spaced knob tires or lower tire pressure. | | Similar Products Used: | Slime (heavy) | | Bike Setup: | K2 Razorback - Custom build, Old Proflex 975, Older Trek 990, plus a few more. | | Bottom Line: | I've been using Spinskin for 5-years now. After 6 thorn flats in the same day I was ready to pay the price ($40 for my first pair). I installed the liners exactly as the manufacturer recommended then tested them by purposefully riding several times through the thickest thorn patch (goat-heads) I could find (my wife thought I was nuts doing that). There were hundreds of them in the tires but no flat. That intitial pair went through three sets of tires before I retired them with no flats from punctures. I now run them in all my bikes since I live in goat-head hell. My tires wear out or spit from rock abuse and glass cuts before I get a flat. The only problem I have found is that widely spaced knob tires will indent the tire at every knob causing a crease in the Spinskin. The result is the Spinskin come out in pieces that equal the knob spacing. The other downfall is that the Spinskin will deteriorate faster if you use lower tire pressures. The manufacurer has a recommended pressure minimum which I usually run at or above. For me there no other choice since I like the incredible flat protection I get and the light weight compared to other products. I think they are worth every penny. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael
a Weekend Warrior
from Colorado Springs, CO USA
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | T-Gap | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Purchased At: | Pricepoint | | Strengths: | None, well maybe it was a good idea. | | Weaknesses: | They don't work! | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Fuji cross,and old 80's 21 speed. | | Bottom Line: | I bought these to prevent flats from goathead thorns. These skins have a number of problems. First the thorns go right through the kevlar band. ( I've been told that the only reason bullet-proof vests work is because of the velocity of a bullet.thorns go in slowly and easily.} The kevlar band is only the width of the tread...when a tire is in contact with the ground it becomes wider than the tread so even if the kevlar band didn't let thorns through the thorns would penetrate the tube between the tread and the sidewall. The darn things just fall apart, first the backing falls apart then the kevlar band breaks up into many pieces. DON'T TRUST SPIN SKINS THEY DON"T WORK! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Palo Alto, CA
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | Pedlar | | Strengths: | Flat protection, not so heavy | | Weaknesses: | None so far, though I am waiting for lightning to strike me given the reviews below | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Serotta Legend w/Dura Ace, Open Pro's | | Bottom Line: | Either my Panaracer Stradius tires are flat proof, I have had amazing luck, or these things somehow do their job. Bottom line: over 1000 miles and no flats, that's nothing to sneeze at! Given the negative reviews I have considered pulling them out when I switch tires, but I am also wary of tinkering with success. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Scott D
a Weekend Warrior
from Brooklyn, NY
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$35.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay auction | | Strengths: | provided with a package of talc | | Weaknesses: | design, price, durability, the list goes on... | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale Road | | Bottom Line: | I agree with every statement made by other riders below and feel it is my duty to warn every cyclist about this sad product.
The real problem is the cloth backing... the material might even be a fine cotton fiber. This is the layer that should provide protection between the kevlar liner and the tube. Once it deteriorates, the edge of the kevlar starts rubbing into the tube and *CAUSES FLATS*! By 300-400 miles, the cloth was severely frayed. By 600 miles it was completely disintegrating, leaving a distinct wear mark on the entire circumference of the tube.
This has to be one of the worst cycling products ever produced. Having no spinskin is better protection against flats. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Del Dickson
a
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: April 13, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$37.00 | | Purchased At: | Nashbar | | Strengths: | None | | Weaknesses: | Worthless yet expensive. | | Similar Products Used: | Mr. Tuffy | | Bike Setup: | Serotta. Tires and tubes: Vredestein | | Bottom Line: | Spin skins just might be the biggest scam in cycling. In my sad experience with them they did not save me from any flats and they fall apart in less than two months. All that for only forty bucks; what a deal.
I went back to Mr. Tuffy-- heavy but effective at preventing flats.
Spin skins disprove the saying that you get what you pay for. In this case you pay a lot and get nothing. Easily the worst cycling product I have ever tried. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chuck Anderson
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara
Date Reviewed: March 8, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$20.00 | | Purchased At: | Local bike shop | | Strengths: | Light weight | | Weaknesses: | Disintegrate within three months. Then they CAUSE flats. | | Similar Products Used: | Mr. Tuffy | | Bike Setup: | Jake the Snake used mostly for commuting | | Bottom Line: | Bought these after a rash of flats. I wanted protection without lots of weight. That was three months ago. A week ago I changed a flat rear tire. The fabric backing on the kelvar band had disintegrated leaving the kelar to rub directly on the tube. It was well on it's way to slicing the entire tube open when the first section failed. Had to trash the tube and the spin skin. Today I had a flat front, same story. These things are worse than nothing. Maybe, just maybe, use them for one race with a history of flats from thorns etc. But them get them out of your wheels ASAP after. These things need negative Chilis!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael Roper
a Racer
from Baton Rouge,LA.
Date Reviewed: January 23, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$36.00 | | Strengths: | None | | Weaknesses: | Fall apart after only weeks of use,doesn't stop a damn thing from flatting you!!!!! | | Similar Products Used: | True Goo | | Bike Setup: | Mountain and road racing | | Bottom Line: | Thought these things were working great for the first few weeks untill my first flat. Upon dismounting the tire I found out the reason I had gotten flat was because the liner had fallen apart inside the tire. I decided to give Spinskins the benefit of the doubt and try them on my road bike. This was my second mistake! Upon dismounting my road tire to change another flat I encountered the same damn thing, another liner broken up into a dozen pieces. These things are pure CRAP!!!!!!!I should have saved my eighty buks for tubes. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross-Country Rider
from Gilroy, CA
Date Reviewed: December 19, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Soquel Demonstration Forest | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
light weight | | Weaknesses: |
Doesn't work worth a damn. Too skinny for coverage | | Similar Products Used: |
Mr Tuffys | | Bike Setup: |
Road and Mountain Bike | | Bottom Line: | Simply doesn't work as advertised. Yes it's lighter than Mr Tuffy, but it has to work first. Never had problems with flats with Mr Tuffy, but didn't like the extra weight rolling in my wheels. Spin Skins are only half the weight, but I got flats the same as I did without them. Then when I took out my tube to repair them for the first time after installing the skins, they were already desinigrating and falling apart. I'd give it 0 chilis if I could. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim
a Cross-Country Rider
from Smithfield, RI
Date Reviewed: December 14, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
lightweight and easy to install | | Weaknesses: |
disintegrate after 2 weeks | | Similar Products Used: |
Mr. Tuffy, trying now. Better elasticity. | | Bike Setup: |
1.95 tires on commuter, 50 psi. | | Bottom Line: | Avoid them like the plague. They are useless in my opinion. | | Overall Rating: |
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