Summer Commuting Tyres for Road Bikes

ShandyH

I've got relatively bomb proof *touch wood* Continental Gatorskin Hardshells on my road bike and have done for a good 12 months or so but am aware they impact speed as the grip's nowhere near that of more race based tyres. Also their weight makes a big difference. They are superb for avoiding the PF to the extent that I've ridden over metal fragments and they've shot the fragments off to the side. I'm just interested if people on here use tyres that are better designed for speed during the summer and, if so, how they've faired. I'm wondering whether it's worth the gamble to get a bit more out the road bike during the last throes of summer.

Any insight very welcome!

UndercoverElephant

Buy Rubino Pros, use them all-year-round. Be happy.

ShandyH

Are they relatively light, grippy and durable? No problems with PF?

pangolin

2 weeks into using mine and like them so far. Were only £16 each on Ribble as well which was nice.

ShandyH

Cheers for that. I think it's time I swapped. Also do you go for more race like inners? I've been using some Specialized Presta inners which seem to be the standard inner tubes sold by Cycle Surgery. Again, I think it's time I did a bit of experimentation before winter kicks in.

UndercoverElephant

ShandyH wrote:

Are they relatively light, grippy and durable? No problems with PF?

All of the above. Just great tyres. Perhaps not quite as light grippy or full-on fast as true race tyres, and not quite as durable and PF resistant as the heavier touring tyres, but a superb balance between the two in my opinion.

dhope

Think I'll try those next time. Currently have GP4000s on road and commuter which are great but closer to £25 a tyre than £16, and some spare Durano Plus' which are also great (but not as fast) that might go on when the weather gets shitty and I swap out the bling wheels for normal ones.

ShandyH

Thanks UE. Very helpful. I think it's time for change as I think the Hardshells lean too far to being PF resistant to the detriment of the performance.

UndercoverElephant

Keep them well inflated, though, as racier tyres suffer more from snakebites otherwise.

gabriel959

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Keep them well inflated, though, as racier tyres suffer more from snakebites otherwise.

+1 to everything you said

ShandyH

Okay thanks. I tend to check the pressure every two or three days anyway.

Out of interest what inners do you use with them?

I've got the GP4000s on my non-commuting bike and going around RP this morning really hammered home the difference in grip.

gbsahne001

ShandyH wrote:

... as I think the Hardshells lean too far to being PF resistant to the detriment of the performance.

You think, 2 weeks into a new set of hardshells rear wh has a visit and then the front shortly after. They also cut up really badly on the flint laden roads around here.

ShandyH

Where is here? Maybe flint is their Kryptonite. Doesn't sound good though.

Ian.B

UndercoverElephant wrote:

ShandyH wrote:

Are they relatively light, grippy and durable? No problems with PF?

All of the above. Just great tyres. Perhaps not quite as light grippy or full-on fast as true race tyres, and not quite as durable and PF resistant as the heavier touring tyres, but a superb balance between the two in my opinion.

+1. I've mainly been using them since I read a comprehensive tyre review in a French bike magazine a few years ago where they came top for a general purpose tyre

daniel_b

What width of Rubino pro do you guys use for commuting??

pangolin

I use 23's

rolf_f

Durano S - all year round. 23s but only because Cruds don't fit over the 25s on my bike.

daniel_b

Cool, currently on Continental Ultra Sport or some such name, and have covred about 500 miles so far with no issues, not even cutting up much yet, and I ride on quite 'flinty' roads - if flinty is a word.

Running them at 100psi.

roger_merriman

Been trying Mavic Aksion's in 25mm form. so far so good. did get one puncture from shards of glass but haven't cut up much if at all since.

And I do like a company that tells you what the tyre is rather than attempting to blind with sudo science.

ie terms of durometer's and such.

gbsahne001

ShandyH wrote:

Where is here? Maybe flint is their Kryptonite. Doesn't sound good though.

Berkshire : commute is Rural into town then a further stretch of Rural, I'll see if I can remember to provide photographic evidence when I get home tonight.

Torvid

Another rubino pro (23mm) user have had them on for about a year now with no problems. Had conti's and shwable ult's before would buy the rubino's again for commuting but going to check out some serfas' SECA road tyres people on the Saturday morning ride seem to like them.

cookeeemonster

These threads are of no use unless someone throws a completely different suggestion in at random:

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp - http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/tyres-road-tri-track-folding-vredestein-fortezza-tricomp-folding-tyre/vredtyrf250 - £19.72

Bought them based on this review: http://cyclingfitness.hubpages.com/hub/The-Best-Road-Cycling-Tyres-For-This-Winter

Road.cc also review them here: http://road.cc/content/review/38488-vredestein-fortezza-tricomp-700x23c-tyre

Done 500 miles so far and all's good

the_fuggler

gbsahne wrote:

ShandyH wrote:

Where is here? Maybe flint is their Kryptonite. Doesn't sound good though.

Berkshire : commute is Rural into town then a further stretch of Rural, I'll see if I can remember to provide photographic evidence when I get home tonight.

The roads around Berkshire and Oxfordshire are awash with rubbish this year and generally in a very poor state. Tried a few different tyres. My personal favourite for a mix of grip and resilience are Conti 4 Seasons. No experience of the Rubinos though...

meanredspider

+1 Rubino Pros - why didn't someone mention these earlier in my commuting life?: cheap, fast (150tpi) and robust - I absolutely love them. I've been using Gatorskins before the Volagi arrived with 25c Rubinos on - thought I might as well give them a try and now there's no going back. Even the GP4000Ss I tried felt no quicker (no measureable difference either) and were far more puncture-prone.

bobinski

+1 on the Rubino's.
A real plus is the nicer softer ride for me than Gatorskins and no discernable loss of speed either and thats running at 120 on the front and 110 on the rear. In fact so pleased with them that i took them to the Alps with me this summer rather than Schwalbe Ultremo zd's and didn't at anytime regret it. Kind of reassuring when descending at 40-45mph on not too great surfaces.

UndercoverElephant

Torvid wrote:

Another rubino pro (23mm) user have had them on for about a year now with no problems. Had conti's and shwable ult's before would buy the rubino's again for commuting but going to check out some serfas' SECA road tyres people on the Saturday morning ride seem to like them.

Have tried Seras Serfas, very grippy in the wet or dry, but ultimately felt like I was mired in molasses - lasted less than a week on them before switching back to Rubino Pro. Ended up giving them to a mate.

peat

Due to an unplanned hangover, i ended up doing my 13 mile commute this morning on Maxxis Medusa's (Mud tyres).

Sloooooooooow.

cjcp

Durano Pluses year round.

vermin

Another +1 for Rubino Pros. They just work. Fast rolling, grippy wet or dry and fairy repellent.

Hoopdriver

Conti 4 Season GP or Panaracer Pasela

MrSweary

Commuting on a horrible cheap hybrid (for now) I've just fitted some Conti 4 seasons (28s). Very good so far but being as I've gone from nobbly stock hybrid tires to these recently and still can't believe what a difference they make I'm probably not the best person to ask!