Friction Drive causing flats?

[SunkyWorks]

A 27" tire isn't very meaty when it come to friction drive.

This is the biggest tire I have found:
Kenda K40 Street Tire, 27 x 1-3/8 Wire Gum Wall
Good reviews on Amazon.
$7.50 at Niagara Cycle.

 

[rawly old]

Mtn. Man said it, and I agree. You don't need to press the roller very far into the
tire to get grip. But... the narrower your tire, the less surface there is to contact.
This means you'll likely be needing more pressure to get the same grip you'd have
with a wider tire. A road tire/tube simply isn't designed for that much stress.
Even running 1.95"s, I over stressed my tire recently when I went to a more powerful
engine and compressed the roller a bit too far. The new engine had so much torque
it popped the axle right out of the dropouts delaminating the tread in the process.
Lesson learned: Don't use too much down force & don't gun a friction drive if you're
runnin' a badass 2stroke.

 

[Mountainman]

The rim itself only has a thin plastic/rubber type guard around the spoke heads. Could the spoke heads be my problem? Could I fix that with electrical tape?

Or could I be using too much pressure with the drive system? Pushing it into the tire too far? Or are the tires improper? Would it be better to have this system on a mtb with lower pressure tires?

possibly some or all of the above
I have been riding a Station friction drive for over 6 years now
only had a few flats and changed a couple of tires
I think the key to long tire life is
the adjustment of roller to tire (light as possible but with no slippage)

for the rim strap -- elect tape works fine -- couple of wraps
make sure no spokes are poking through -- if so file

Mountainman

 

[rawly old]

Pedaling off to 7 or 8 mph before opening the throttle will save your tire
and your clutch. Don't open the throttle too quickly.

 

[seanshonda]

I have a 2.1 tire, was using slime super thick tubes sized 1.75-2.1, tubes wouldn't last 30 mi. switched to a panaracer DH super tube size 2.1-2.5, problem solved.
I think by the time the slime tubes were stretched to 2.1, they were thin, most holes were on the mold seems from manufacture.

 

[darwin]

It helps to have a Kevlar tire, thorn resistant tube and tire liner. Makes for a really solid surface and helps with no flats. Running the tire at near max tire pressure helps too. Pedaling like was stated above helps to keep the roller from spinning on a stationary tire, burned up one tire that way by not starting out pedaling. You'll learn real quick that way.

 

[rawly old]

You're probably right, Sean, about the thin tube. I had a similar issue with
one of my pedal bikes. The tire I've really come to appreciate is a kenda
k-841 semislick. I have a concave roller for tires with a curved profile,
but for my flat roller the 841's straight profile works great. It's forgiving
if i accidentally spin the roller and doesn't get chewed up like another
tire might. A thick, thorn resistant tube is always a good idea.

 

[rawly old]

I need to post a correction to the above; k-841 is incorrect. It
should read K-847 semislick. 700 x 40 841s are what I have on my
touring road bike. 841s are economical general use tire if you want
something on a road bike that can also be used on trails.