what tyre

mchammer

hi all
On my new specialized allez sport commuting to work and i have had my first puncture.
This happened as well on my hybred but looking at getting a puncture resistant tyre .
what do you recomend i should get also it took a while to take the tyre of and put back on is this normal

redddraggon

27mins ago...

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

mchammer

:shock: dont know what happened there

jackthehat

Hi,

I also commute to work on my racing bike. In my first 30 miles I also had my first puncture. At 5am in the dark I cannot afford to keep getting punctures so I read loads of reviews and ended up buying a pair of Continental Ultra Gatorskin 700x23s. They are the best things I have ever bought for a bike. They are light, quick and totally indestructible. Since then I have covered 700 miles without a single hitch. I took the tyres off yesterday to transfer them onto my new bike and had a good look at them. To my amazement there was cuts all over them, some of them were huge great big cuts. Many of the cuts still had pieces of glass wedged in them. Probably around 20 cuts per tyre!!! The cycle paths I use for work are absolutely covered in broken glass. In the daylight you can avoid most of it but in the dark and rain you just can't see it so you go right over it.

These tyres must have saved me hours and hours of hardship and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Even though they have loads of cuts in them they still have 1000's of miles of life left in them and I will keep this same pair until I wear right through them. All those cuts and no punctures! Amazing!

nille

michelin kyrilon carbon 25 mm if you can get your hand on them:)

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;p ... 93a7815a1f

I ordered some 25mm Marathon Pluses, 25mm Stelvio Pluses and valve extenders from them on Wednesday night, hoping to get them just after the weekend.

daver1

I'm using Stelvio Plus and have done 2,000kms without a puncture which is a big improvement from anything that I've used before.

Rich Hcp

I have Vittoria Rubino Pros

No probs with them!


(Probably jinxed it now!)

alfablue

jackthehat wrote:

Hi,

I also commute to work on my racing bike. In my first 30 miles I also had my first puncture. At 5am in the dark I cannot afford to keep getting punctures so I read loads of reviews and ended up buying a pair of Continental Ultra Gatorskin 700x23s. They are the best things I have ever bought for a bike. They are light, quick and totally indestructible. Since then I have covered 700 miles without a single hitch. I took the tyres off yesterday to transfer them onto my new bike and had a good look at them. To my amazement there was cuts all over them, some of them were huge great big cuts. Many of the cuts still had pieces of glass wedged in them. Probably around 20 cuts per tyre!!! The cycle paths I use for work are absolutely covered in broken glass. In the daylight you can avoid most of it but in the dark and rain you just can't see it so you go right over it.

These tyres must have saved me hours and hours of hardship and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Even though they have loads of cuts in them they still have 1000's of miles of life left in them and I will keep this same pair until I wear right through them. All those cuts and no punctures! Amazing!

Sorry to pour cold water on your Gatorskins, but what you have found is why they will start to let you down at some stage, the rubber is soft, wears fast and they are flimsy, those holes, cuts and pieces of glass that they pick up like glue will eventually make their presence felt. There are much better puncture resistant tyres out there. (I use Specialized All Conditions Pro's, no punctures in 6000 miles, no cuts or lurking shards of glass).

ride_whenever

I have to agree with the spec all condition pros, I cycled the A40 from gloucester to ross a few weekends ago to go to a wedding. The A40 is currently a building site! and not one p******e

jackthehat

[/quote]Sorry to pour cold water on your Gatorskins, but what you have found is why they will start to let you down at some stage, the rubber is soft, wears fast and they are flimsy, those holes, cuts and pieces of glass that they pick up like glue will eventually make their presence felt. There are much better puncture resistant tyres out there. (I use Specialized All Conditions Pro's, no punctures in 6000 miles, no cuts or lurking shards of glass).[/quote]

Oh well, as an inexperienced biker I thought I was helping out. I read countless reviews on tyres and opted for the Gatorskins. I suppose a lot of it depends on the type of surface you normally ride on. Incidentally, I just received my new bike two days ago (Specialized Roubaix Elite 2008) and it came with Specialized Pro tyres on it (not sure exactly what tyres they are but they do have puncture protection). I actually took them off and put the old Gatorskins on. Perhaps I'll take another look at those new tyres and see what they really are.

on the road

How well do you pump your tyres up? They need to be rock hard, then you'll get less punctures.

alfablue

alfablue wrote:

Sorry to pour cold water on your Gatorskins, but what you have found is why they will start to let you down at some stage, the rubber is soft, wears fast and they are flimsy, those holes, cuts and pieces of glass that they pick up like glue will eventually make their presence felt. There are much better puncture resistant tyres out there. (I use Specialized All Conditions Pro's, no punctures in 6000 miles, no cuts or lurking shards of glass).

jackthehat wrote:

Oh well, as an inexperienced biker I thought I was helping out. I read countless reviews on tyres and opted for the Gatorskins. I suppose a lot of it depends on the type of surface you normally ride on. Incidentally, I just received my new bike two days ago (Specialized Roubaix Elite 2008) and it came with Specialized Pro tyres on it (not sure exactly what tyres they are but they do have puncture protection). I actually took them off and put the old Gatorskins on. Perhaps I'll take another look at those new tyres and see what they really are.

I don't know if the Spesh tyres that are not either All Conditions Pro or Armadillo have the same durability - look for one or other of those labels. If your Gatorskins work fine for you that's good, but I have found them to cut up and puncture badly - it seems the same tyres in different hands/rides often seem to perform differently.

Scrumple

Folks should start posting their inflation levels when complaining of p@*cture#

I have cheap Schwalbe Luganos at 110psi and no issues at all.

There is no perfect tyre: soft ones grip but wear out and pick up grit. Hard ones last but don't grip. Heavy ones wont puncture but roll slower....

la la la.

Posting psi level may be very informative in tyre debates and it may be that rather than the tyre which is the variable to change!

jackthehat

Gatorskins - 120psi

alfablue

Scrumple wrote:

Folks should start posting their inflation levels when complaining of p@*cture#

I have cheap Schwalbe Luganos at 110psi and no issues at all.

There is no perfect tyre: soft ones grip but wear out and pick up grit. Hard ones last but don't grip. Heavy ones wont puncture but roll slower....

la la la.

Posting psi level may be very informative in tyre debates and it may be that rather than the tyre which is the variable to change!

I guess we also need to know bike and rider weights too

jackthehat

"I guess we also need to know bike and rider weights too"

Gatorskins 120psi, rider 100kg, Specialized Roubaix Elite 08
Road surface: smoothish tarmac with a hell of a lot of broken glass.
Weather: usually miserable
Time of day: 5-6am
Length of ride: 40 minutes
Average speed: 14mph
Max speed: 30mph
Lights: Fenix L2D Q5 (front) Blackburn Mars 3.0 (rear)
Rider experience: 2 yrs
Wind direction: normally from SW, 10mpg average
Risk factors: Rabbits, barn owl, bats, numerous slugs and snails (with sharp shells), cats, dogs, pedestrians, cars (numerous models), huge lorries (cargo varies)

on the road

Do I detect a bit of sarcasm?

jackthehat

on the road wrote:

Do I detect a bit of sarcasm?

Just a bit...

By the way, I just had a look at those tyres I ripped off my new bike. They are Specialized Pro All Condition Dual Compound 700x23.

Any good?

TheStone

Been riding the Schwalbe Stelvio Plus for over a year and not a single puncture.
(I used to get plenty).

ademort

I have the Schwalbe stelvio on my carbon racing bike .In three months still going strong, no punctures. Have just purchased the Michelin Krylion 25c as there have been so many good reviews by forum members but i will not be fitting them until my stelvios are showing signs of wear.

Jez mon

Can I throw my bit of experiance in here!

Michelin Krylon Carbons have been unadulterated RUBBISH for me :oops: They don't roll well, don't feel supple, and they have suffered more punctures than my GP4000s.

ademort

Jez mon wrote:

Can I throw my bit of experiance in here!

Michelin Krylon Carbons have been unadulterated RUBBISH for me :oops: They don't roll w
ell, don't feel supple
, and they have suffered more punctures than my GP4000s.

I am very surprised about your comments Jez mon. Most forum members regard these tyres as being the dogs bo****cks of bike tyres. It will be a while before i try them and hope that they live upto expectations. Greetings Ademort

Jez mon

ademort wrote:

Jez mon wrote:

Can I throw my bit of experiance in here!

Michelin Krylon Carbons have been unadulterated RUBBISH for me :oops: They don't roll w
ell, don't feel supple
, and they have suffered more punctures than my GP4000s.

I am very surprised about your comments Jez mon. Most forum members regard these tyres as being the dogs bo****cks of bike tyres. It will be a while before i try them and hope that they live upto expectations. Greetings Ademort

I'm very surprised at my own experience tbh! I got them after my brother started raving about them, I then read all the good experiences on here, but try as I might I just can't get on with them.

giant_man

Jez mon wrote:

Can I throw my bit of experiance in here!

Michelin Krylon Carbons have been unadulterated RUBBISH for me :oops: They don't roll well, don't feel supple, and they have suffered more punctures than my GP4000s.

Not exactly encouraging words there. Just because you haven't got on with them doesn't mean to say they're rubbish, as you put it.

They're great tyres as a lot on here can testify, puncture proof and good quality rollers, and second only to ProRace 2/3, which a lot of people I know ride all year round.

singlespeedexplosif

Sorry to pour cold water on your Gatorskins, but what you have found is why they will start to let you down at some stage, the rubber is soft, wears fast and they are flimsy, those holes, cuts and pieces of glass that they pick up like glue will eventually make their presence felt. There are much better puncture resistant tyres out there. (I use Specialized All Conditions Pro's, no punctures in 6000 miles, no cuts or lurking shards of glass).

Wierd how much people's experiences of tyres can vary so much. Gatorskins are the best thing I've tried...so resilient, grippy, puncture-proof...and yet I have a friend whose findings are as yours!

STEFANOS4784

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Sorry to pour cold water on your Gatorskins, but what you have found is why they will start to let you down at some stage, the rubber is soft, wears fast and they are flimsy, those holes, cuts and pieces of glass that they pick up like glue will eventually make their presence felt. There are much better puncture resistant tyres out there. (I use Specialized All Conditions Pro's, no punctures in 6000 miles, no cuts or lurking shards of glass).

Wierd how much people's experiences of tyres can vary so much. Gatorskins are the best thing I've tried...so resilient, grippy, puncture-proof...and yet I have a friend whose findings are as yours!

Probably the same with any-thing, different manufacturing times may vary the quality :?: :idea:

I had some crappy tyres on my old Cannnondale and wore them down to the cloth, no punctures :shock: but i am only 65 kg dunno if that makes a difference, i'll let you know how i get on with the conti 4000gps and the Bontrager race lights, so far, so good despite the fact that apparently the Bontragers are slippery when wet :!: 8)

N0bodyOfTheGoat

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Sorry to pour cold water on your Gatorskins, but what you have found is why they will start to let you down at some stage, the rubber is soft, wears fast and they are flimsy, those holes, cuts and pieces of glass that they pick up like glue will eventually make their presence felt. There are much better puncture resistant tyres out there. (I use Specialized All Conditions Pro's, no punctures in 6000 miles, no cuts or lurking shards of glass).

Wierd how much people's experiences of tyres can vary so much. Gatorskins are the best thing I've tried...so resilient, grippy, puncture-proof...and yet I have a friend whose findings are as yours!

Probably the same with any-thing, different manufacturing times may vary the quality :?: :idea:

I had some crappy tyres on my old Cannnondale and wore them down to the cloth, no punctures :shock: but i am only 65 kg dunno if that makes a difference, i'll let you know how i get on with the conti 4000gps and the Bontrager race lights, so far, so good despite the fact that apparently the Bontragers are slippery when wet :!: 8)

Lets hope you are not living on a prayer... boom, boom!!!

STEFANOS4784

:?

alfablue

jackthehat wrote:

on the road wrote:

Do I detect a bit of sarcasm?

Just a bit...

By the way, I just had a look at those tyres I ripped off my new bike. They are Specialized Pro All Condition Dual Compound 700x23.

Any good?

I swear by them, 6000 miles with no punctures.