Tyres for the Tour of Flanders

vanleapo

I'm planning to do the Tour of Flanders sportive next year and just wondering if anybody has any recommendations for tyres?

I will be using handbuilt Record on Open Pro wheels to deal with the Pave.

I'm thinking I'll need 25mm tyres, but I'm open to using 23mm if people think it's a good idea.

Various options I have considered which are all available in 25mm, include - Vittoria Open Corsa EvoCX, Conti GP4000, Michelin Pro Race 3, Schwalbe Ultremo R1

The only other thing to decide, is whether to go for the full distance or the 150km option.
I'll wait to see how my training over the winter goes before I decide that.

Anonymous

[nobrainer] Vittoria Open Pave [/nobrainer]

moonshine

Vittoria open paves in 24mm or if you can manage 27mm ( but many frames & forks won't cope)

greasedscotsman

I wouldn't bother changing tyres for Flanders. I've done the Sportive on 23mm Mich Pro 3's. The cobbles aren't that rough and as most of the sectors are up hill and you won't be going that fast, it's not really a problem. Just run a little less pressure in them.

Paris Roubaix cobbles are a different thing altogether. I switched to 28mm Contis when I rode bit of that this year!

And yes, do the full 250(ish) km, if you are mad!

moonshine

Vittoria open paves in 24mm or if you can manage 27mm ( but many frames & forks won't cope)

mrushton

Vittoria Open paves or Conti 4 Seasons (25mm) are often the tyre of choice altho' FMB or Dugast hand-made tubulars (often rebadged as Conti/Vittoria/Schwalbe etc) are the real tyres of choice.

flanners1

Yep. I did the full monty this year 262km and used the Pave clinchers. Wow they were great as it turned into a MTB ride on the climbs, mud, wet and fallen heroes. Cleared every climb on them, really grippy, some of my mates struggled with traction.

Best day's cycling ever, makes my hairs stand on end even now. 100 miles into a headwind to soften you up and then some short sharp cobbled climbs and descents to test what you have left. Riding cobbles is an experience, I thought surely my poor bike cant take this punishment.....it did.

Sat in bar in back streets of Bruge the next day after watching Cav, Armstrong et al leave and got tipsy watching the Pros ride the course, amazing experience.

We are back in April and fancy Paris Roubaix as well this year!

Monty Dog

Reminds me of the German guy I lent my pump too in Flanders a few years ago - he'd had 6 punctures running 20mm tyres!

vanleapo

Sounds like the Open Paves are the tyre of choice. Now to find them at the lowest price.

I was contemplating Paris Roubaix after hearing the ASO are supposed to be organising a sportive, but I think I'll try out the Flanders Pave first.

I'm planning to get the ferry from Kinross to Zeebrugge and stay in Gent / Brugge for a few days to do the sportive and watch the race.

Chip \'oyler

I did ToF last year and used 25mm Schwalbe's on my 32 spoke Mavic Open Pro's and had no problems.

I would recommend you use old fashioned metal bottle cages. You can then bend them to make sure your bottle is nice and tight because the year we did it the first section of pave is flat and bits of bike were flying everywhere, especially bottles!

Best thing I've ever done on a bike. I'm now planning to do PR in 2012

Eddy S

vanleapo wrote:

Sounds like the Open Paves are the tyre of choice. Now to find them at the lowest price.

At the moment you'll be lucky to find any one with stock. I ordered some 5 weeks ago - still waiting.

trtimothy

i reckon alot of it is down to luck. I did the Flanders sportif a few years ago on my 24spoke Bontrager Race X lite wheels with Bontrager Race X lite tires and got through absolutely fine (i do however only weigh 59Kg). My friend was using his old sturdy wheels with open paves and punctured 3 times.

mrushton

Chip \'oyler wrote:

I did ToF last year and used 25mm Schwalbe's on my 32 spoke Mavic Open Pro's and had no problems.

I would recommend you use old fashioned metal bottle cages. You can then bend them to make sure your bottle is nice and tight because the year we did it the first section of pave is flat and bits of bike were flying everywhere, especially bottles!
Best thing I've ever done on a bike. I'm now planning to do PR in 2012

That was the description I had from people I know who have done both. Bottles/riders/wheels/bikes lying by the road in various states of ruin from the moment you hit the pave.

AndyF16

vanleapo wrote:

I'm planning to get the ferry from Kinross to Zeebrugge and stay in Gent / Brugge for a few days to do the sportive and watch the race.

i'm pretty sure that the rosyth-zeebrugge service will be freight only from end of this year, best check that out with norfolkline mate

best of luck with the trip, i'd recommend gent rather than bruges, much less twee and touristy!

goco

Eddy S wrote:

vanleapo wrote:

Sounds like the Open Paves are the tyre of choice. Now to find them at the lowest price.

At the moment you'll be lucky to find any one with stock. I ordered some 5 weeks ago - still waiting.

I got some from Shiny Bikes, for £33 each, but i see they are now out of stock. Delivered in 2 days though. Might be worth ringing through and asking when they'll be back in.

TheStone

NapoleonD wrote:

[nobrainer] Vittoria Open Pave [/nobrainer]

+1

I used these last year for my first Flanders. They worked great on the pave.
Didn't enjoy the the pave, but never felt unsafe,

Also roll well on tarmac.

moonshine

[/quote]
I got some from Shiny Bikes, for £33 each, but i see they are now out of stock. Delivered in 2 days though. Might be worth ringing through and asking when they'll be back in.[/quote]

+1 I got my tubs from there...start looking now and pick them up over the winter whenever you get a chance.... they become as rare as rocking horse sh!t come spring as demand rises in time for the spring classic period... so don't leave it till the last minute

mclarent

First time I did it I ran GP4000 23s but at low pressure, I punctured and got some more air at a feed stop; the guy just took it up to full pressure (110 IIRC). When I asked about it, he just looked at me like I was crazy. But then he was Belgian.

I ran the same tyres at full pressure last time, only puncture I got was on a main road(!)

The cobbles are well maintained, just run normal tyres, you'll be fine (aka MTFU) it's really not like some people make out, done it twice, doing it next year, best cycling experience I've had.

Oh, I did break a cheap bottle cage, but you get what you pay for.

I would definately not say the same about Paris-Roubaix - I'm never doing that again, worst experience of my life. If you do, I'd recommend making sure it isn't raining, running fat gators and taking plenty of gas cylinders.

greasedscotsman

A bit of topic, but I would suggest changing your gearing to something a bit lower. Alot of the climbs you'll end up riding with other people around you, so something you might be strong enough to ride up alone, you may have problems with slower riders getting in the way. In fact, last time I rode the sportive I wasn't able to ride up the Kapelmuur as someone fell off in front of me! Just a thought anyway...

gavintc

I did it a couple of years ago. My forgot to order the 25 mm tyres and just ran it on 23mm ones. No problem at all. I got no punctures, some of my friends got one or two. We went round as a group of 7 riders and I think we had 3 puncture stops. We all had 23mm tyres.

mclarent

greasedscotsman wrote:

In fact, last time I rode the sportive I wasn't able to ride up the Kapelmuur as someone fell off in front of me! Just a thought anyway...

The exact same thing happened to me, two years in a row. Last year was wet, so anyone climbing out of the saddle was just wheel spinning on the cobbles - practice seated climbs is my advice(!)

greasedscotsman

mclarent wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

In fact, last time I rode the sportive I wasn't able to ride up the Kapelmuur as someone fell off in front of me! Just a thought anyway...

The exact same thing happened to me, two years in a row. Last year was wet, so anyone climbing out of the saddle was just wheel spinning on the cobbles - practice seated climbs is my advice(!)

Happened the first year I rode as well. Guy fell off in front of me, but I was able to get around him which also involved a bit of leaning on a girl to my right

She wasn't very happy with me!