What road tyre?

markybhoy67

Hi, looking for some help / advice here

I bought a bike 3 weeks ago that came with conti sport contact 1.6 tyres, I was a bit paranoid about punctures (hadn't been on a bike for 20 years so was wanting as little hassle as possible, so I asked the lbs guy about the best puncture protection tyres that he had and he recommended schwalbe marathon plus 1.9.

So anyway I done about 100 miles on the contis before the lbs got the schwalbes in and the conti tyres where great really smooth on the road with no resistance, anyway since getting the schwalbes there is just so much resistance, granted the tyres are wider and there is more grips than the slick contis but it just seems to much hard work.

Are the schwalbes directional tyres as both treads face forward?

The back tyre always seems slight flat (my 16 stone frame might be something to do with that though :oops: )

I am seriously considering going back to slicks but which ones?

The schwalbe supremes look good but would I want a 1.6 tyre or something wider so that I have a wee bit more tyre contact with the road?

Or can someone suggest an alternative tyre

Ps I commute between East Kilbride and Glasgow so there is always surface rain water on the road

Cheers

Mark

Underscore

Why not go back to Sport Contacts? You've got them; any tyre can puncture, so you should be carrying a spare tube and stuff anyway - if you find that you get too many punctures, replace the with something else. In my experience, the better the puncture resistance, the greater the rolling resistance - it's about finding the right compromise for you.

I shouldn't worry too much about the width - bike tyres work differently to car tyres, the width is (again, in my experience) more about cushioning on bad road surfaces than grip.

Finally, regarding your slightly flat rear tyre, what pressure do you use? I'm about 14 stone and have a pannier that must load my rear wheel similarly to yours and my 28mm rear tyre gets run at 110psi...

HTH,

_

markybhoy67

Hi Underscore, thanks for the reply

The lbs took the conti's back and only charged me the difference for the schwalbes as the schwalbes where supposed to be on the bike when I purchased it.

The schwalbes max psi is 70, so I think it must be something round about that, I only have a hand pump so can't tell what exactly the tyre pressure is, I am going to buy a floor pump at the weekend with a pressure indicator.

My main factors for the tyres are:

Puncture protection
Grip
Rolling resistance (although I would like this to be top factor)

Maybe the schwalbes are the best for me and I will just have to get used to the drag :?

Cheers

2wheelzgood

I run marathon pluses and never had anything else in the thin 700 category.
I hadn't realised that people rate them to slow... Gonna go for some cheaper ones next time. (they last for ever though)..

I looked and the weight of 700g each is way more than others too..

I think wiggle sell some victoria brand ones.. or gatorskins.. I need at least some puncture proofing..

markybhoy67

Aye the marathons are defo slower then the contis but that is to be expected due to them being slicks

I will be doing about 80 miles a week on the schwalbes, in time will I notice any change to the rolling resistance from tyre wear due to mileage.

To the forum, if money was no object what slick tyre offers the best puncture protection?

Thanks

meanwhile

Rolling resistance is a property of the type of material used for a tyre.(This matters more than the width for reasons to do with contact patch size and the energy used to overcome hysteresis: look up tyre rolling resistance on wikipedia if you really care about the details.)

Conti Sports are about the fastest rolling tyre there is because they're made of a rubber formulated to reduce rr first, maximize grip second, and do everything else third. The Pluses are made out of a rubber designed to maximize protection and durability first, grip second, and everything else third. Both companies have honest guides to what their tyres are for on their sites.

Sports are kevlar belted and should resist punctures well. If you need more puncture resistance than narrow Sports, consider using wider ones - the reduced tyre pressure will help there, plus give you more grip and comfort. More grip should mean better safety in the wet, too. Speed should be much better than Pluses of the same size.

Re direction, if it matters I'd hope there would be an arrow on the tyre.

*Definitelly* get a pump with a pressure gauge and keep your tyres topped up, btw!

markybhoy67

meanwhile wrote:

Rolling resistance is a property of the type of material used for a tyre.(This matters more than the width for reasons to do with contact patch size and the energy used to overcome hysteresis: look up tyre rolling resistance on wikipedia if you really care about the details.)

Conti Sports are about the fastest rolling tyre there is because they're made of a rubber formulated to reduce rr first, maximize grip second, and do everything else third. The Pluses are made out of a rubber designed to maximize protection and durability first, grip second, and everything else third. Both companies have honest guides to what their tyres are for on their sites.

Sports are kevlar belted and should resist punctures well. If you need more puncture resistance than narrow Sports, consider using wider ones - the reduced tyre pressure will help there, plus give you more grip and comfort. More grip should mean better safety in the wet, too. Speed should be much better than Pluses of the same size.

Re direction, if it matters I'd hope there would be an arrow on the tyre.

*Definitelly* get a pump with a pressure gauge and keep your tyres topped up, btw!

Thanks very much for the clear explenation MEANWHILE, I am going to give the smp's another week and I will top up the pressure daily.

If this doesn't help then I am just going to go back to lbs and buy a new set of contis, the guys will think that I am mad for changing from conti's sports contact to smp's back to conti's sports contact

Ps I have 26 wheels and the thickest the contis come in are 1.6, I would have liked a wee bit wider tyre but hey ho, I will just have to do with them.

attica

I bought a bike with Conti sports on them and they were rubbish at puncture protection, have since gone over to Conti Gatorskins and haven't had a puncture since January on them, they're lighter than Marathons but seem pretty good at the puncture protection.

Also I run Vittoria Rubbinho Pro on my other bike and have found them to be very reliable.

Sorry if this confuses by contradicting earlier posts.

markybhoy67

Hi Attica, do the gatorskins run as fast as the conti contact sports?

I haven't heard of Vittoria Rubbinho Pro before, are these fast runners?

Thanks

marcba

On my commuter bike, I use Schwalbe Marathon (26x1.75); two months ago, I "destroyed" the back tire on a broken beer bottle. I coundn'd find a standard Marathon for replacement, so I bought a Marathon Plus instead (keeping the standard Marathon for front wheel).
I like very much the standard Marathon: fast, resistant (gum was filled and ripped by glass pieces, but kevlar belt was nearly intact with only a small hole that causes a puncture, when I rode down a pavement), good grip on wet.
Because of its thick antipunture belt, Marathon Plus is heavier, less comfortable, with less grip...When it is not inflated at full pressure, it gives feeling that it has got a puncture. I don't think it is worth the higher price, compared to standard Marathon.

attica

The Gatorskins I got are 25s, the Sports were 28s, meaning that the rolling resistance was far better on the Gators, that could be just down to the smaller size but I'd hazard a guess that they are about the same.

As for the Rubbinho's, they're what I use on my race bike when training, light and with some kevlar in them, they do seem to last very well (3 to 4 thousand miles on my last set puncture free - I retired them before they died because the rubber was starting to rot a bit through lack of use)

HTH

biondino

Since I have run 23mm slicks on my commute I haven't had a single puncture, plus they go quickly

Seriously though - people worry too much about punctures. Catastrophic blowouts are super-rare and slower punctures are little more than an inconvenience. In winter it makes more of a difference I guess.

PJPenrouz

The fastest, lightest and grippiest tyre with excellent puncture protection (no flats after 3000 miles) I've found is Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. The downside is the cost: £36.99 RRP
Cheers

markybhoy67

PJPenrouz wrote:

The fastest, lightest and grippiest tyre with excellent puncture protection (no flats after 3000 miles) I've found is Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. The downside is the cost: £36.99 RRP
Cheers

Hi PJP, as I say money is no object as I would rather have paid once for the best tyres than buy two good pairs that are good but not excellent (if you get my drift LOL)

Has anyone else tried the supremes as I was going to go back to conti contact sports but if they are as good as PJP says then I think I may have found a new winner.

Cheers

markybhoy67

***update***

Today I bought a floor pump with a pressure guage.

My tyre pressures where:

front 58 psi

rear 52 psi

The psi pressures may be out slightly due to the tyre pressure going down slightly as I attach the pump.

Now the max on these are 70 psi and I have only had them on the bike for about 8 days, I would have imagined that the lbs would have pumped them up to 70 psi or very close to the max. Is it right that they would deflate so much so quickly?

I pumped them both up to 70 psi and then took the bike out for a ride, what a difference it makes to the journey, smooth and fast, not as fast as conti slicks but I expected that.

I am going to run with these for now and just keep topping up the tyres every few days to keep them close to 65 - 70 psi.

If that doesn't work then it will be supremes for me.

meanwhile

PJPenrouz wrote:

The fastest, lightest and grippiest tyre with excellent puncture protection (no flats after 3000 miles) I've found is Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. The downside is the cost: £36.99 RRP
Cheers

That and that they come in a minimum size of 38mm for 700c, which means that they won't fit on virtually any racer, most sportives, and even quite a few performance hybrids where the designer messed up and made the fork and chainstays pointlessly narrow. (Hey! The idiot who designed my Sirrus! I'm talking to you!)

Supremes are supposed to at least partly make up for their cost by being extremely hard wearing. How yours looking? Has 3000 miles thrashed them, or do they still look like there are 1000's more to go?