training tyres...winter months

pilch

Hi, mountain biker looking to get some road miles in over the winter, I want something with reasonable grip and good puncture protection as I will be riding in rural areas on quiet country lanes... I'm looking at:

Specialized Armadillo

Conti Gatorskin

Conti GP 4 seasons

Any particular reasons to favour any of the above... or are they all much the same.... or are there others you would recommend over them?

Cheers

Chris James

I alwasy understood the Armadillos to be quite hefty. The Contis each have their advocates, the Gatorskins are supposed to be slightly more puncture resistant.

Personally I use Vrederstein Fortezza Tricomp Quattros which run nicely, seem pretty robust (I'v eonly ever had snakebit punctures) and are cheapish from Ribble.

maddog 2

GP4Seasons, in 25mm

better than gatorskins. Also look at Mich Endurance.

giant_man

Michelin Kylion carbons 23 or 25s - you can still get them, just about
Vittoria Evo pave CG 24s
Conti gatorskins 25s

MarksMintness

I moved to Vittoria Rubino Pro's following good comments on here about them recently and I love them. Not expensive (sub £20) and do the job for me, lots of colours as well.
Would agree about going to 25mm if you can, something I wish I had done particularly for winter roads.
Cheers

pilch

Cheers guys, thanks for the quick responses, some good options there.

smidsy

Gatorskins are nice, roll well, good protection but can be a little 'nervy' in wet weather.

orangepip

Can I throw a new one into the mix? Schwalbe Durano.

I've had mine for a year or so now and only just starting to look a bit worn having covered approx 5000 miles. No punctures as yet though (touch wood) over the worst of the newcastle roads.

OfficerDigby

My Krylion Carbon 700x23C tyres were slashed to bits in 6 months commuting and chiltern rides.

Held out for 3 months just picking the odd flint pieces out. Thinking each one would have been a puncture in other tyres. But just recently been sliced right through - sharp flinty grit on country and city roads.

Can't be more than 2500 miles. Thought they'd last longer

Am switching to the Schwalbe Durano Plus hopefully do a longer job over winter.

yeachan153

orangepip wrote:

Can I throw a new one into the mix? Schwalbe Durano.

I've had mine for a year or so now and only just starting to look a bit worn having covered approx 5000 miles. No punctures as yet though (touch wood) over the worst of the newcastle roads.

+1. Covered over 1000 miles on these without a puncture. The sidewall got slashed, but the tyre seemed to resist this too.

Impressed with grip as well.

giant_man

OfficerDigby wrote:

My Krylion Carbon 700x23C tyres were slashed to bits in 6 months commuting and chiltern rides.

Held out for 3 months just picking the odd flint pieces out. Thinking each one would have been a puncture in other tyres. But just recently been sliced right through - sharp flinty grit on country and city roads.

Can't be more than 2500 miles. Thought they'd last longer

Am switching to the Schwalbe Durano Plus hopefully do a longer job over winter.

that's surprising ..

Todd Sweeney

I urecently fitted a pair of Vittoria Open Pave Evo for the winter. I got them on sale from Wiggle a few months ago. I like them A LOT so far. They are really, really comfortable, with great grip and, and touch wood, seem durable. I can also daydream that I am riding Flanders or Roubaix thanks to the cool green strip on them!