doing a 70 mile sportive.....which tyres???

wyadvd

hey.....doing a seventy mile chari-dee sportive on the ninth and i now have a choice of tyres.....conti gatorskins or marathon plusses. Over that sort of distance, which tyres will serve me best. Any other advice of any sort ....its my first!

Aguila

Defo gatorskins out of those 2, the MP's will make it seem like 100 miles. Alternatives would include Vitoria rubino pro's (many on here like them) or I've just got a pair of conti gp 4000s. Very impresseed so far, super grippy in the dry (they are on the best bike, which doesn't do rain), roll nice and fast and seem less prone to cutting than gatorskins.

wyadvd

thanks, for that!

My apologies for the double posting ,..dont know quite how i managed that....thought i was editting!!

amnezia

I wouldn't use either but out of the two definitely the Gator skins.

cjcp

amnezia wrote:

I wouldn't use either but out of the two definitely the Gator skins.

Sort of +1. I've used Gatorskins during last year's HOTA, but wouldn't use them again.

The Running Man

Need to be quiet in case the PF is listening but still favouring the Michelin Pro Race3 : roll well, puncture resistant, easy to get on and off .....

wyadvd

just for the benefit of any commuters for whom shaving 20 seconds off a 25 mile tt is not important, i put my MPs on (actually LBS did it for a fiver). Did my 25 mile commute from canterbury to ashford this morning and beat my personal best by 5 minutes into a 5 mph headwind. So ive hopefully achieved puncture free heaven and no significant performance(a la mc spandex) loss.

Aguila

wyadvd wrote:

just for the benefit of any commuters for whom shaving 20 seconds off a 25 mile tt is not important, i put my MPs on (actually LBS did it for a fiver). Did my 25 mile commute from canterbury to ashford this morning and beat my personal best by 5 minutes into a 5 mph headwind. So ive hopefully achieved puncture free heaven and no significant performance(a la mc spandex) loss.

That will not have been due to the tyres. MP's are one of the slowest around.

wyadvd

what im trying to say is it all depends on how you define slow. If you are a competitive cyclist, then one minute over 25 miles takes you off the podium and into obscurity. If, like me you ride a panniered brick with two packets of cous cous and a tin of tomatoes in the back, and you want to get to work on time , every day , the advantage of a faster tyre is nothing. And you are lucky to get 1500 miles out of a set of gatorskins, mine were cut to b&&gery. the lbs offered to bin them!

wyadvd

anyone whose interested: this was my first sportive and i completed it (75 miles actually) in 5: 38. not a brilliant time i know but im happy. No punctures on my mps by the way. Passed a couple of serious looking roadies on gators who appeared to have a recurring puncture all day. One of them hadnt the faintest idea how to change a puncture ...when he took the tyre off the rim he was trying to feed the new tube into the wrong side of the rim! Never mind!

Remain to be convinced that the slick tyres/ rolling resistance thing makes a signiificant difference for a non competitive cyclist. Prove it!

Aapje

Slick tires are much better for grip on (semi-)decent roads, allowing for fairly agressive cornering in the dry, which is a lot of fun. Personally I use Durano Plus's on my racer, which are extremely puncture resistant, but still allow for a decent pace.

I wouldn't want to ride a sportive on Marathon Plus's, unless there are stretches of unpaved road. Fine tires for commuting, though.

amnezia

wyadvd wrote:

anyone whose interested: this was my first sportive and i completed it (75 miles actually) in 5: 38. not a brilliant time i know but im happy. No punctures on my mps by the way. Passed a couple of serious looking roadies on gators who appeared to have a recurring puncture all day. One of them hadnt the faintest idea how to change a puncture ...when he took the tyre off the rim he was trying to feed the new tube into the wrong side of the rim! Never mind!

Remain to be convinced that the slick tyres/ rolling resistance thing makes a signiificant difference for a non competitive cyclist. Prove it!

Until you've actually ridden some fast tires you'll never know (gatorskins are not fast). Try something like Vittoria Evo CX or Conti GP4000S, you'll be able to tell the difference instantly.

I'd rather puncture 5 times in 70 miles than ride around on tires that weight more than my wheels.

iPete

wyadvd wrote:

Remain to be convinced that the slick tyres/ rolling resistance thing makes a signiificant difference for a non competitive cyclist. Prove it!

Impossible to prove! at the end of the day its down to the rider. Although, when I moved to Gators my commuting partner found is harder to keep up!

Think mine have got 2000 London miles on them, one or two punctures that weren't from me smashing into potholes. Managed my first sportive (58 miles) with an average of 19.9mph, which doesn't prove much but they did the job for me. There is a reason they are so popular & if you are worried about fairies there is now a hard shell option.

vorsprung

wyadvd wrote:

Remain to be convinced that the slick tyres/ rolling resistance thing makes a signiificant difference for a non competitive cyclist. Prove it!

At slower speeds the rolling resistance of the tyres is more important
So the more non competitive you are the more that fast tyres will help

I suggest switching from Marathon Plus to Michelin Pro Race 3

Your bike will ride like it has had a motor fitted

Marathon Plus are great for commuting on. But for a short event like a 70 mile sportive it is surely more enjoyable if you can go faster for less effort.

As for the fear of punctures, ensure that your special lightweight tyres have less than 2000 miles on them. Newer tyres puncture less

Aidy

Lighter tyres are definitely more fun to ride, regardless of whether they make you quicker or not.

wyadvd

think i need a commuter bike and a sportive bike.

But thanks guys.

biondino

I have ridden about 6000 miles on Ultremos, and had 2 punctures. Those odds work fine when considering a 70 mile sportive.

Wallace1492

wyadvd wrote:

think i need a commuter bike and a sportive bike.

But thanks guys.

You need the transformer of the bike word - the Tricross.
Monday to Friday it has guards and rack, has 28mm Marathon Plus, great all weather commuter.
Keep this set up for a weekend, stick on the panniers and it is a superb tourer.

Take off the guards and rack, stick on 25mm Gatorskins and it is a superb sportive bike, eating up the Scottish countryside with ease.

Might not be the best in all classes, but as a compromise it will take some beating.