Commuting tyres for Carrera Subway

STEFANOS4784

My workmate has just asked me for a recommendation for some new tyres for his MTB. However i only have road bikes so couldn't help but said i'd ask the lovely folk on here what they think

Anyhoo i asked which was the most important out of puncture protection and speed but he said both :roll: He also said he wanted them to be easily fitted/removed :roll: :roll:

So what are you recommendations? He has a budget of 50 quid for the pair. Many thanks in advance

P.s i did a search but i can't work that thing :oops:

AndyOgy

I've got Conti Gatorskins on the road bike and I've heard good things about the 26" version.

I've also got a fully rigid classic MTB which I've hacked into a road biased commuter and I'm running 1.6" Continental Sport Contact tyres with slime tubes. I've been delighted with how they feel, their speed and they seem to be pretty tough. However, according to somebody on here (I think it was afablue), I've been lucky so far. His tyre of choice would be the Specialized All Condition Pro.

I must admit, even if my Sport Contacts never p*n*tu*e, I'll still be tempted to try the All Condition Pros, just because that other forum user (who is possibly afablue) recommends them so highly. There are normally offers on the usual online retailers for the All Condition tyres and the Conti Sport Contacts can be found quite cheaply on eBay.

Another thing that I like about The Sport Contacts is the size. The roads round here are pretty bad and the 1.6" tyres are quick enough but still provide good shock absorption from potholes etc. I use that bike for carefree short journeys and use the road bike for longer journeys on better roads where the 25mm tyre width is fantastic.

STEFANOS4784

Thanks for rthe reply mate, great stuff and trully appreciated

I have been trawling through the threads and have noticed that Schwalbe city jets seem to get recommended quite a lot but are cheap as chips! Are these recommended because of their apparent good value or are the genuinely as good as tyres double the price?
Thanks again

Matt_westmids

Oh no I've had my bike a week and I've got Continental Sport Contact, 26" x 1.6" looks like I will be replacing them soon then.

STEFANOS4784

How do you find them? Any comparison to any other tyre?

Matt_westmids

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

How do you find them? Any comparison to any other tyre?

Not really mate this is my first non BSO. So don't really have anything to compare them to.

STEFANOS4784

Ok, fair enough, cheers for replying though

P.s enjoy the bike 8)

lardboy

Both me and my flatmate have been rocking Specialized Armadillos (about £50 from the LBS, so cheaper online, I'd guess) for the last year and no P* visits at all despite doing daily grinds around South London. They're easy to install, if memory serves, with no tyre levers broken and minimal swearing during the process.

They can be a touch poor gripwise when it's wet or icy, but when dry I've had no problems.

STEFANOS4784

lardboy wrote:

Both me and my flatmate have been rocking Specialized Armadillos (about £50 from the LBS, so cheaper online, I'd guess) for the last year and no P* visits at all despite doing daily grinds around South London. They're easy to install, if memory serves, with no tyre levers broken and minimal swearing during the process.

They can be a touch poor gripwise when it's wet or icy, but when dry I've had no problems.

Perfect , these sound like the chappies then, many thanks guys

AndyOgy

Matt_westmids wrote:

Oh no I've had my bike a week and I've got Continental Sport Contact, 26" x 1.6" looks like I will be replacing them soon then.

Well, like I say, I've been really impressed with them. They've only been on the bike since January but they've gotten me through the toughest part of the year. Still loads of grip and no visits yet. Most forum users seem to have a completey neutral opinion of them, it was just this one guy who said that they would explode on me at some point.

I've had no reason yet to form any kind of bad opinion about them based on anything that's happened to me. But I'm gonna stop writing that now because I'm probably tempting fate.

STEFANOS4784

O, been looking around for the cheapest armadillos and spotted these;

http://www.noahsark.co.uk/specialized-n ... -1939.html


Are these the chaps or am i wrong, they say 'nimbus' which is waht confused me but they also say armadillo :?

Stuey01

never had a p*uncture with my spesh nimbus armadillos. reasonably quick in 1.5", never going to be road bike quick but they are ok.

AndyOgy

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

O, been looking around for the cheapest armadillos and spotted these;

http://www.noahsark.co.uk/specialized-n ... -1939.html


Are these the chaps or am i wrong, they say 'nimbus' which is waht confused me but they also say armadillo :?

They're not the same as the All Condition tyres but not a bad choice.

I got my Conti Sport Contacts here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Continental-Sport ... 1|294%3A50

And these are the All Condition Pro's (although, I'm sure I've seen them cheaper).:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/spe ... e-ec001843

alfablue

I tried the Conti Sports Contact between 2 sets of All Conditions Pro's. No benefits in speed, grip or comfort that I could detect, but they wore fast (rear squared off in 4 months) and punctured often once worn. They also had loads of cuts in them. Went back to the spesh, which I have probably done 8k miles on 2 sets, zero punctures. I think several conti models (Gatorskins) have soft rubber (presumably for better grip) and flimsy construction (presumably to save weight) but this makes them a poor choice IMHO. The puncture guarantee (they will replace tyre and tube if you puncture) is worthless because I can't be bothered with taking tyre and tube to the bike shop when they puncture- I need to fix it and ride, and not keep a spare tyre to facilitate a guarantee claim. Prior to the first Spesh's I was using Hutchinson gold (or sommat), better than conti, worse than spesh.

I do check tyre pressures weekly, may have contributed to my zero puncture score. Didn't help with the conti's though.

AndyOgy

Ah, Alfablue. Sorry I spelled your name wrong earlier. Was it you who recommended All Condition Pro's to me a while back? If so, I seem to remember you posted a link to some online retailer that had a special offer on 2 AC Pros. Been trying to find it but I guess the offer may have finished.

STEFANOS4784

Hmmmm, confused again :?

With road bikes the 2 tyres which cropp up time and time again as the best are conti GP4000S and Michellin Pro race 3, what are the equivelant 26" ones in terms of constant and shining reviews :?:

AndyOgy

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Hmmmm, confused again :?

With road bikes the 2 tyres which cropp up time and time again as the best are conti GP4000S and Michellin Pro race 3, what are the equivelant 26" ones in terms of constant and shining reviews :?:

That's a tricky comparison. Both of those tyres are very good race tyres. They have very high levels of grip but don't last too long. Nothing that good would be made in a 26" flavour because nobody would race a 26" wheeled bike against dedicated road machines.

I'd probably say that the Continental Gatorskins come closest. But as alfablue says, the softer rubber means that they're not as hard wearing. They're also not as thin as the All Condition Pro's, although that may not be a bad thing.

I may have imagined it but I'm sure that I saw Continental GP 4 Seasons in 26" once. Just had a quick look around and I can't see any though. Shame, since these tyres also get good reviews.

alfablue

AndyOgy wrote:

Ah, Alfablue. Sorry I spelled your name wrong earlier. Was it you who recommended All Condition Pro's to me a while back? If so, I seem to remember you posted a link to some online retailer that had a special offer on 2 AC Pros. Been trying to find it but I guess the offer may have finished.

I think it was Websters (or mailordercycles is their web shop identity), I think it was £35/pr.

Ah - it's here

I have them on my mtb commuter and both road bikes.

STEFANOS4784

Sorry, should have been more clear :oops:

Obviously these threads probably come up quite often, so what is the usual conclusion
(ie. in the road section of the forum it always ends up gp4000s OR PR3(for clinchers, obviously, or if someone needs puncture protection it'll usually be Kryllion carbons IME)

AndyOgy

After all that's been said, I'd say go with the All Condition Pros. It sounds like Alfablue gets more miles in than I do and 8k from 2 sets of tyres is extreme durability. And at the price shown in that link, fantastic value for money. Thanks for that Alfablue. I lost my job just after fitting the Sport Contacts, so it's not like I ride them all day in all conditions. Although, that bike does seem to be the one i ride the most. And, it's more of a comfort bike than a speed machine, hence the wider tyres.

In terms of performance, no 26" tyre will compare to something like a GP4000s because if the extra difference is that important, then your mate should really consider a different bike. The 26" tyres are always going to be marketed more at commuters rather than racers.

STEFANOS4784

O.k, beautiful! Many thanks all, greatly appreciated

P.s no-one suggest anything else otherwise this will go on for ever


Thanks again all and happy pedalling


O.k and finally, are the 26x1 sized tyres going to go onto his rims?(currnt tyres 26x1.5)

Cheers all it's a beautiful thing (this forum )

STEFANOS4784

O.k and finally, are the 26x1 sized tyres going to go onto his rims?(currnt tyres 26x1.5)

Cheers all it's a beautiful thing (this forum )

alfablue

What rims are they? I fitted them on my Mavic XC717's, no problem. I did break the rim, and the shop said it was due to slick tyres, but I remembered (after the warranty claim) that I gave my son a lift to the staion on the pannier rack! That's what did the damage (I honestly forgot about this when I made the claim!). The replacement has been fine, no more pannier rack "backies". :oops:

My son would not accept another lift anyway - severe bruising to nether regions!

AndyOgy

I'd have thought so.

Just checked the Sheldon Brown website and it says:

A general guideline is that the tire width should be between 1.45/2.0 x the inner rim width.

STEFANOS4784

It looks like they'll be fine, they're called 'db1'? They currently have 26x1.5 and the bike is a subway2, pretty sure they're fine. Thanks alot for your input guys, now he can't complain and call me a loser when i'm engrossed in the cycle forum

Thanks again all

STEFANOS4784

alfablue wrote:

I gave my son a lift to the staion on the pannier rack! :oops:

My son would not accept another lift anyway - severe bruising to nether regions!

I wish you were my dad

AndyOgy

I'm going to resist stating that anybdy who rides a halfords bike isn't really in a position to call anybody a loser.

STEFANOS4784

I just pointed that out to him

He's now looking at getting a Specialized Sirrus

STEFANOS4784

And on that point are these any good (i pointed out he was stupid and needs a 'proper' bike but he has a bad back and is scared of roadies :roll: 8)

AndyOgy

As hybrids go, I do like the Sirrus. My uncle has got one and he is one of these types who cycles everywhere, avoiding using cars whenever possible. I believe that the wheels are 700c, so GP4000s tyres could suddenly be an option...................or maybe the Michelins.

STEFANOS4784

Uh-oh, anyway Shimano or Campag :?:


Thanks again all