…. the armor layer under the tread starts peeking through:
Actually, it started peeking through early this year, but why rush things?
I swapped in a Michelin Pilot City 700x32C tire with their Protek Max armor and reflective sidewalls; we’ll see how well all that works.
No tire liner inside, so I’m depending on the armor and the fact that it’s a rather chunky tire.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Since you are “that kind of guy” approx how many miles did that tire go? and in how much time???
I’m ashamed to admit I don’t have any solid numbers, but guesstimating from the repairs I’ve mentioned here it’s maybe 4 years and 10 k miles old.
Running the back tires at 80 psi, rather than 100, dramatically reduced the number of flats, even without tire liners… I’ll call it a win.