Winter tyres?

b16 b3n

Just a quick one. I currently ride a race bike on a daily basis but now winter is coming up I would like to go from a 23mm tyre to a 25mm. Any good suggestions? Also can any one recommend any websites for saving the pennies?

Cheers

Sloth

Scrumple

Look no further than Conti GP4 seasons, or Michelin Krylion Carbon if you want to save the performance a little.

There are loads of heavy, bombproof but slower tyres as well like the gatorskins.

You don't get them cheap, they are too popular to discount much this time of year (try buying in summer!).

wishitwasallflat

Check out Dec C+ for a review - no shocks on who comes out tops though as its the usual suspects I think.

John.T

Not used them in 25mm but +1 to both Conti 4 Season and Mich Krylion Carbon. The 4 Seasons are a little wooden but grip well and roll fairly well. They are the only tyre I have managed to wear out in winter. Gators just cut up and went all shapes. Currently using Krylions. They have been on since last winter, done about 2.5K miles and are still unmarked. Quite fast and grip well. Had my first puncture last week but it was not the tyres fault. A small snake bite caused by catching a stone. Even then it went down slowly.

keef66

Been on 25mm Conti 4 seasons for 3 years now and still life left in them.

kim10

Hi - I have just ordered a set of Michelin Krylion Carbon 25c. Never tried them before so cannot comment on performance but they did come out as test winners in Cycling Plus last month.

Chainreaction is currently selling them for £24.99 and have a 10% voucher (code UK10%). I think thats about as cheap as they come. I think the code is only valid until tomorrow (tuesday the 6th.)

marcusjb

Conti 4 Seasons here - on two of my bikes, the commuting fixie and the audax bike - both with 28mm versions (fatter = comfier = better!).

Amazing tyre in all conditions - plenty of grip, last starship mileage, keep the *&^%ture fairy away (I don't keep records on mileages with the fixed, but 1 visit this year, commuting 2-3 days a week in London usually a 12-14 mile round-trip, audax bike has a set that have now done just under 3000km - two visits, but one was an off-road excursion down a motorway embankment in France when we realised we were about to join said motorway on the way down to Paris!)

They roll well enough, I am sure they are lighter, livelier tyres out there - but all-in-all a great tyre - well worth the money.

bobgfish

And another one for the 4 seasons. Use the 25mm. Have worn one out through to the canvas but that was locking up to avoid someone.

albothegreat

It might be worth mentioning that if you are used to 23's you will notice a hell of a difference with rolling resistance when moving to a tyre like the 25 4 seasons. It feels like I'm dragging a bag of spanners when i changed from vredestein tricomps! :shock:

John.T

albothegreat wrote:

It might be worth mentioning that if you are used to 23's you will notice a hell of a difference with rolling resistance when moving to a tyre like the 25 4 seasons. It feels like I'm dragging a bag of spanners when i changed from vredestein tricomps! :shock:

Rubbish. If you use similar quality tyres There is very little difference even when running the 25mm at slightly lower pressure. My Conti GP4000 25mm roll just as well as my 23mm versions. Better on poor surfaces. This has been discussed on here many times and the main advantages from 23s is slightly less weight and better aero performance. Both are minimal.

marcusjb

John.T wrote:

albothegreat wrote:

It might be worth mentioning that if you are used to 23's you will notice a hell of a difference with rolling resistance when moving to a tyre like the 25 4 seasons. It feels like I'm dragging a bag of spanners when i changed from vredestein tricomps! :shock:

Rubbish. If you use similar quality tyres There is very little difference even when running the 25mm at slightly lower pressure. My Conti GP4000 25mm roll just as well as my 23mm versions. Better on poor surfaces. This has been discussed on here many times and the main advantages from 23s is slightly less weight and better aero performance. Both are minimal.

I would second this - there's more talk about rolling resistance etc. than pretty much any other topic.

For the same tyre (i.e. 23mm 4 Seasons vs. 25mm 4 Seasons), the wider tyre will actually roll a little more efficiently and grip a little better. They are 10 grammes each heavier than the 23mm (with 28mm being 30 grammes heavier each than 23mm) - so the effect on acceleration will be hard to detect, and the aero effect (whilst present) will be even harder to detect.

One area where wider will make it's effect very easy to detect and that is comfort - the ability to even drop pressures by 10psi and having a larger volume of air in the tyre will make a huge difference to your comfort.

That's pretty much why I would never go back to skinny tyres these days - the minimal benefits don't really have anything to offer me (I am not racing on smooth tarmac) compared to the benefits of having an increase in vibration damping on a larger tyre for a 60 gramme weight penalty.

b16 b3n

so 25 mm tyre with less pressure? Wouldnt this then be very puncture prone?

marcusjb

No, shouldn't make a difference if the tyres are like-for-like 23mm vs 25mm and a lower (but correct) pressure in the 25mm. On the 4-Seasons, Conti recommend 110psi for the 23 and 95 for the 25 and 28mm versions.

Sheldon as ever has some good stuff on how tyres work and support their load etc.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tyres.html

John.T

b16 b3n wrote:

so 25 mm tyre with less pressure? Wouldnt this then be very puncture prone?

No. Greater volume will give as much pinch flat protection at lower pressure (no more than 10psi lower between 23 and 25). Punctures from thorns, etc, are not greatly affected by tyre pressure. Wet conditions have more affect.

b16 b3n

So I guess it is a suck and see approach? I may try Krylions or turtles in a hardshell the conti's. Any cheap sites at the moment?

Torvid

No mention of vittoria open pave evo.

I'm bit of a vittoria fan but I found these great when they where on a borrowed bike, however i'm still runing 23mm Rubino's and Rubino pro3's at the min.