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So, because I do ultra-light touring I bought new puncture resistant tires for my road bike (Continental Grand Prix 4-Season, 28c), I installed them and after two minutes I had a puncture. First I thought I had punctured the tube when mounting the tires, but then I looked and not one, but TWO pieces of glass had gone through the tire. Is this just extremely unlucky or are these tires worthless?

andy256
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Matías Guzmán Naranjo
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    Did you ride through glass to test your new tyres? Or was the glass already in the tyre when you installed it ? – Criggie Jun 28 '16 at 20:12
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    Why/How exactly would you get new tires with glass in them already? – Batman Jun 28 '16 at 22:21
  • Also make sure you're inflating your new tires to the pressure recommended on the tires' sidewall; it may be different from the recommended pressure on your old ones – Nick Weinberg Jun 28 '16 at 23:22
  • Puncture resistant tires are like IronMan. The suit is pretty beefy, but eventually things get through and it's a mess. Tubeless tires and sealant are like the Hulk, it doesn't really matter what happens because they will likely recover on their own. – Deleted User Jun 29 '16 at 00:27
  • Se also Broken glass on the bicycle path, what to do? – andy256 Jun 29 '16 at 00:42
  • Look at the diagram of the tire. The belt on that brand covers only the center portion. If you get glass or whatever along the sides there is no belt. And note that if the tires are underinflated then the "width" of the tire increases, increasing the unprotected portion. (There are better quality puncture-resistant tires.) – Daniel R Hicks Jun 29 '16 at 11:59
  • I did not see the glass (there were no bottles or anything like that), it must have been some small pieces on the pavement. I would not intentionally ride through glass. – Matías Guzmán Naranjo Jun 29 '16 at 16:08

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While we don't do product reviews, note that puncture resistant doesn't mean puncture proof -- with any air based system, you're going to run the risk of cutting the tire and tube and getting a flat. Some tires are better than others in terms of puncture protection, using things like kevlar belts. The tires you bought trade off for some more the weight and handling performance versus durability to road hazards (by fitting a kevlar belt rather than whatever lighter thing they put in there) so that you have less protection from road hazards than say, a Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

Don't ride through glass and in general avoid road hazards is the best thing to do.

Batman
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