Back story:
I rode 18km for an appointment, rained hard and hid under a tree. Can't do that all day, the rain slowed down. I was into the valley park and 1 or 2km away from being under the bridge when the hail came and it came hard. Hoody sweater + semi-light poly saved everything but the face. The chunks of hail hurt, and they hurt bad. Had to ride with my hand in front of my face. 100m from the bridge a fat. Hurt and annoyed and pissed off because of the hail, I was wet and a flat. I took my time replacing the tube dealing with the mud, while me another bicyclist and 2 cars waited under the bridge.
Got the 2nd tube in, and bam the echo was loud atleast it happened within a minute. Even more pissed off I knew. Found the break in the tire just over the bead. Took off the front tire, put onto back, new tube on back. Took my time now, inspect spoke threads, rim edges, inside tire. The slime was everywhere, some came out of valve and into pump. Still worked though. Inflated to the point where my finger can depress a bit but not too much psi.
Installed dud tire that was on the rear, now on the front, figured sacrifice the old tube, lasted for 1km at low psi. Thickness of knobs saved the rim, if I didnt turn too much. Made it to CT bought 26x1.95, 1x normal tube, 2x slime shit. Installed new tire + new tube onto front, good to go. Still got old Schwalbe on the back.
Here is the list of good tires from my search today on ES thats on a sheet of paper in front of me....
A+
Marathon Plus
Marathon Supreme
Panaracer RiBMo and T-Serv
WTB Thick Slick Flat Guard 26x2.0 or WTB Cruz Flat Guard for knobs
Continental Touring Plus
Panaracer Tourguard Plus
Kenda Kraze
3G Hoggy-G
Michelin Pilot City
CST Salvo
Pedis-Continental Country Plus on a 48H rim
Rims
Alex DM24 the best rim
Good rims DHL65 rim or DHL 101 rim
Spokes 14G or 14/15G dont use 12G
B+ rough ride quality
CST Crucible
Freedom Thick Slick
Specialized Armadillo
Trek Bontrager Hardcase
Seats
Cloud9 Metroline Airflow
Suspension Post
SR Suntour NCX, not a lot of travel but hd spring
Sources
JensonUSA
Niagara Cycle
Ebikestop
Aebike
Bens Cycle
Bikepartsdirect
Bikepartsusa
danscomp
and of course Amazon and ebay
for us Canadians, I'd stay with Amazon.ca for better s/h prices.