Road tyres - need to go faster!

El Selb

So, I've just done the 115 mile Dunwich Dynamo overnight bike ride this weekend. My first big trip and absolutely loved it. Except I think I really suffered using the puncture-proof tyres that look almost akin to mountain bike tyres (compared to the real smooth ones) that came with my 2nd hand '09 Trek 1.2 that I bought 4 months ago.

So, I want to go some real smooth things on.

But hopefully ones that won't go bang (or psshhhhh) every 5 mins. Thats a few dodgy holes and lumps on my 3 mile commute to work (that I do my best to avoid).

A fellow dynamoer in the early hours of Sunday mentioned armadiloes? or aligators?

Slow Downcp

Gatorskins aren't too bad - Armadillo's aren't very grippy in the wet.

crumbschief

Schwalbe Durano have been great in all weathers for me,love em.Those diloes and gators must have been on the menu at the feed station.

sloppyschleckonds

crumbschief wrote:

Schwalbe Durano have been great in all weathers for me,love em.Those diloes and gators must have been on the menu at the feed station.

+1 for Durano s

El Selb

crumbschief wrote:

Schwalbe Durano have been great in all weathers for me,love em.Those diloes and gators must have been on the menu at the feed station.

i did start to get a bit delusional in fairness, for the last 30 miles or so I could of sworn my mate was riding along in a jean jacket! Odd would a lack of sleep/food/H20 can do to you.

blackhands

Vittoria Pave - the best there is.

Skippy2309

I got on really well with Rubino Pro's used from november to september, no punctures no problems and even gripped well in the snow. they are on my rather distinctive commuter (went with a black and orange theme that went through to the tyres)

fludey

Skippy2309 wrote:

I got on really well with Rubino Pro's used from november to september, no punctures no problems and even gripped well in the snow. they are on my rather distinctive commuter (went with a black and orange theme that went through to the tyres)

+2 got these on both bikes and have been great and fairly puncture resilient

HamishD

Armadillos not tres bien in the wet, as slow downcp said. My vote goes for Vredestein Fortezza Quattros (no punctures in 7000 miles and now need replacing . . .) which are ridiculously cheap at the moment at Ribble.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... Googlebase

Evil Laugh

blackhands wrote:

Vittoria Pave - the best there is.

Totally in agreement here. Love them. Fast, smooth, grippy and very strong. I'm towards the end of my second set now with no "incidents" to speak of. Thats pretty good. I regularly pick bits of glass etc out of the tyre but have yet to have the belt putured by anything.


My gf used Rubino 3s recently and had a spate of punctures on both wheels, wouldn't recommend them. I put her on gp4000s and they are much better but they aren't in the same league as the Vittoria paves in terms of comfort.

I'm doing France north to south right now and am really appreciating the paves in the crap weather and the comfort of the tyres is going a fair way to keeping me feeling fresh over the long miles I'm doing each day. I wouldn't want to do it on any other tyre I've used.

El Selb

ok guys, cheers for your advice so far. I've narrowed it down to schwalbe duranos or gp4000s.

The question now is 23s or 25s?! Just reading a bit on the net, 23s are a bit faster and bumpier, 25s are slower and more comfortable, right?

Just checked and I'll be taking off schwalbe marathon pluses - will I notice much performance difference?

Thebigbee

El Selb wrote:

ok guys, cheers for your advice so far. I've narrowed it down to schwalbe duranos or gp4000s.

The question now is 23s or 25s?! Just reading a bit on the net, 23s are a bit faster and bumpier, 25s are slower and more comfortable, right?

Just checked and I'll be taking off schwalbe marathon pluses - will I notice much performance difference?

23s all the way. Yes you will definitely notice a difference over the Schwalbes - but they do offer very good puncture resitance IMO.

Conti Gatorskins get very good reviews and are a good price - I will probably get them next.

The other advantage of them is that Continental offer a 12 month guarantee so if you get a cut or puncture in the tyre then they replace the tyre and tube!!

Not a lot of people know that - I only just found out and am taking advantage. Oh yeah - if you bought them from a shop then they will fit them for you too - bonus!!

sharky1029

Schwalbe ultremo dd are very quick, light, sticky and have good puncture protection.

Thebigbee

I am not too sure why people would pay twice as much for a tyre when you can get one with reviews like this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gat ... road-tyre/

for under half the price. Christ - even on here they give it 4.5.

No brainer really

El Selb

Thebigbee wrote:

I am not too sure why people would pay twice as much for a tyre when you can get one with reviews like this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gat ... road-tyre/

for under half the price. Christ - even on here they give it 4.5.

No brainer really

Damn - wish I'd seen this before buying the gt4000s!

Barteos

El Selb wrote:

The question now is 23s or 25s?! Just reading a bit on the net, 23s are a bit faster and bumpier, 25s are slower, right?

25mm or 28mm will be faster and more comfortable than 23mm (same tyre model).
There's no research available that would prove that 23mm is faster, other than at high TT speeds, thanks to marginal aero advantages.
The reason for 23mm width popularity, is the influence of the pro scene (completely different world) marketing and mental laziness of majority of consumers.

keef66

"25mm or 28mm will be faster and more comfortable than 23mm (same tyre model)"

Agree. I have 25's on at the moment and am considering 28's next. I wouldn't consider a frame with tiny clearances that restricted me to 23mm tyres.

thegreatdivide

Another +1 for Vittoria Pave

There's a reason why the vast majority of the Pro teams use them on the wet or dry cobbles - they are bomb proof.

El Selb

Right then, I have a pair of GT4000s on their way to me for about £65 in 23s. I spent so long thinking about brand/type I didnt even think about size....but I've since started thinking that 25s are the way to go as 1) a touch more comfortable, 2) a touch more puncture resistant & 3) potentially even a touch faster, perversely. So I've also got some gatorskins in 25s on route, £20 cheaper at £45.

Since I'm clearly a bit indecisive, and a bit of a novice - what would everyone put on if they had a trek 1.2 2009...

gatorskin 25s

or

gp4000 23s

?

racingcondor

I'd use the GP4000S as my training tyre.

I had Gatorskins on when I bought my first road bike and never liked them in the wet, the GP4000S are excellent in the wet though and seem to last well even on London's glass strewn roads.

Pave's while many people rave about them are the only tyre I've ever crashed on so while I realise a sample of one coupled with painful memories make me a very bias reviewer I'll stick with the less plush Conti's.

meanredspider

Well I can help with that exact discussion. I've just moved from 25c Gators to 23c GP4000Ss and I've smashed my BEST 30-mile RT commute times (2-3% faster). As per your other thread, I'm going to stick on a set of 23c Gators to see how much is the width and how much the make-up of the tyre.

El Selb

The GP4000 23 won the day in the end, loving them so far! Just seem to glide along compared to my marathon pluses, looking forward to going on a long ride now and really testing them out.

P_Tucker

meanredspider wrote:

Well I can help with that exact discussion. I've just moved from 25c Gators to 23c GP4000Ss and I've smashed my BEST 30-mile RT commute times (2-3% faster). As per your other thread, I'm going to stick on a set of 23c Gators to see how much is the width and how much the make-up of the tyre.

Why do your own half-baked primary school science experiments when some actual scientists have done all the work for you and published the results on the internet? FFS