How robust are RH tires? It depends. I’ve had 10 individual tires, in 5 sets. I ride road, but the road quality is a step above gravel. I didn’t notice that they were unusually susceptible to flats, though I have had a couple of bad days out. Hawthorn thorns will go through them. I usually run ultralight schwable tubes in them, not tubeless, because I’m allergic to latex and I just am not going to deal with that.
On the Single bike, all extra lights, including some commuting to Dublin on the first and second set. 1 set (700x35) was taken off the bike after 2500 miles, because I went from 700c to 650b wheels. There was still life left in them. 1 set (650x42) I wore out in 2500/3000 miles. The rear sidewall threads started breaking on the diagonal where the single stabilization threads are, and this wore diagonal lines in the tube, which failed. This was probably from running super low pressure (well below their tire pressure calculator's low number) for too long. The front was fine for another while, (with some heavy thing on the back) but I took it off to go to to the third set on that bike, 650x48. They’ve got about 2500 miles on them now, the front seems barely worn, and the back has some noticeable wear, but maybe 1/2 life left. I’ve just rotated them, so we’ll see.
On the tandem, went from city jets to extra light naches pass on the front and a standard rat trap pass on the rear. Gained about 1.25 mph in average speed from that. Rear lasted 2500 miles, front was fine and lasted a bit longer till I replaced both (same sizes) with standard casings, The rear failed in about 1000 miles, front is still in great shape after 2000+. The rear failures were both due to the casing failing just above the bead, right where the thicker portion of the bead ends. I think what happened here is that the rim was old and narrow, used cloth rim tape, and the bead never really sat right. So the tire was extra folded there, and it eventually failed. They (RH and the Distributor) said that I must have been running the brakes into it, or my tire pressure was too low, but I’m 100% certain on the second one that the brakes never rubbed the tire, nor could they have even reached the place where the failure was. On their recommendation, I ran the pressure higher on the second one, but it failed faster. I chalk it up to a slightly missized rim, which has now been replaced. I’ll probably buy another set when what’s on there wears out.
For reference, I was going through 700x25 tires in 1500-2000 miles to the point they had noticeable shoulders in the rear and cornering got interesting.
TLDR, they’re not super fragile on road, so long as you’re not running super low pressure and get the bead seated correctly. On the other hand, if you tend to get sidewall cuts, you might want one of the heavier casings.
