Tyres...Am I going mad

CallumC_90

Hi all,

First post on here and not sure it's in the right forum so sorry if not!

I bought a Boardman Comp Road bike at the beginning of the year and I love it, for the money I really can't fault the thing, I must have done 2000+ km on it this year between sportives, time trials and training and it just keeps putting a huge smile on my face!

It came fitted with Vitoria Zaffiro Pro tyres that seemed to be good to begin, didn't get the best reviews online but were by no means the worst so I just kept them on until I had worn them out! Overall I was happy with their performance but I decided to do a bit of research into my next set of tyres as I wanted something that would be an improvement and help lower my PB's and generally get the bike rolling a bit faster. After much deliberation I put money in a pair of Michelin Pro Race 3's which seemed to get as good all round reviews as any at the price, seemingly offered low rolling resistance with good amounts of grip and were on a good deal on ebay.

However I've had them on a couple of weeks now and I'm somewhat disappointed. Yes, they seem to offer good grip and really look the part, but on my pre-work 20mile training ride I seem to have lost about 5minutes over the Zaffiro's. I've done the route twice this week and first time I wasn't pushing too hard but I was gutted when I saw I'd dropped almost 10minutes off my previous best, I didn't think I'd backed off that much! I put it down to the fact I'd been on holiday the week before and ate and drank a bit too much. However after a couple of days on my proper diet and back on my proper training schedule, I went back and did the same route this morning and gave it my all. I was still 5 minutes off my best and even more gutted. My cadence and heart rate were comparable to the faster rides I've done on that route as were the conditions so I thought I'd be on for at least within a minute of my best.

My theory is that the Pro-Race 3 is rolling slower than the Zaffiro as it is a full slick and possibly a softer compound therefore creating more grip. I can't fault the handling and I would say it is cornering a bit better than the Zaffiro, it just doesn't seem to roll as well. I'm wondering if anyone else would agree with me on this and have other people noticed a similar thing when switching from a more basic tyre to a 'higher quality' one. Or do I just need to man and spin the pedals a bit harder...???

I appreciate any feedback anyone can give!

Thanks

Callum

amaferanga

It's not the tyres. Those tyres are pretty similar so no way would they make 5min difference over 20 miles.

Are you running them at the same pressure?

CallumC_90

Yeh, same pressure! Only difference is the tyres themselves.

I just need to man up then!!

Thanks!

sungod

is the pressure correct? - it can be different for different tyres, and should take your weight into account

also, are they the same width? fatter tyres typically have slightly better rr

but tbh such big time differences seem unlikely, with varying wind/weather, and the post-hols effects, it's possible there's no real change

CallumC_90

Thanks, I'll check what the pressure should be!

Yeh they are both 23mm.

cycleclinic

That kind of time difference is not down to tyres.