winter tyres: vittoria v michelin v maxxis

hoojammyflip

Interested to hear experiences of Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech, Michelin Pro 4 Endurance and Maxxis Detonators. Will be used for club runs, so I want something which is capable of rolling fast. I am not looking for ultimate bomb proofing for commuting through sharp stuff scattered by the nail fairies. However, I don't want to repeat last year's embarrassing 2 punctures on a single Sunday ride with the club which happened on some Pro 3's. Cheers, James.

cycleclinic

All tyres can puncture. The venerable 4 seasons I put on my bike suffered one pucture front and another rear with half a mile. sometimes you get unluckly. no tyre can prevent that. Some tyres like the 4 seasons suffer less bad luck than others. I tend to find vittoria tyres are not so great in the wet but other wise are decent tyres. Pro4 cut up all michelis do tha, never tried Maxxis and I have no need too as the 4 season do the job so well unless bad luck strikes.

racingcondor

Winter tyres like the GP4 Seasons will help a lot (and roll OK too) but the best way to avoid punctures is to avoid riding over sharp things. I agree though that Pro3's are a little light for regular winter use but Pro4's though seem to work reasonably well from my experience, as do GP4000S.

I rarely puncture due to sharp things these days (3 punctures so far that I can remember and 2 were pinch flats caused by no-one in front calling massive potholes). Run GP4000S on the training wheels, Pro4's on the spare bike (until I run my stock out) and Vittoria Evo CS tubs on the good/race wheels. I would be cautious about taking the tubs out in very wet weather though (Kent, flint, race tyres, bad).

nawty

Have a look at the Vredestein Tricomp Quattro - basically a GP 4 Seasons but as they are less well known than Conti they sell for much less (£20ish on Ribble).

I love mine on my commuter.

trek_dan

I just use Rubino 2's purely because their £6.99, I use my winter bike for commuting and training and if I wreck one its no biggie. The roads are so crap and get so much nasty stuff washed over them during the bad weather and heavy rain where I live I can't see the point writing off expensive tyres. All tyres will puncture or cut up if the roads are bad enough. Can also just put them straight on the turbo without worrying about it. They don't grip the best in the wet, but if the weathers bad I'm not going to be going all out on descents anyway.

hoojammyflip

I like the cheap to replace philosophy...I've just ordered some Michelin Lithion 2's from Ribble. Half the price of the other tyres: if they get cut up I can just buy another.

nobrakes71

+ 1 for Vittoria Rubino

rickeverett

- 1 for Vittoria Rubino

Have had Rubino Pro twice now - the first was Black and White with wire bead, -they began to crack up all along the white rubber after just 500 miles. So I went with the folding lighter Pro and they too have not only started to crack up but they are full of cuts.

Best tyres I have had have always come from Schwable - the Italian Vittorias just crack and cut and aren't as grippy.

hoojammyflip

Just spoke to the bike shop directly about this and was advised the Lithions are probably a bit too soft (as in durometer, not southern) for winter and will cut up as badly as Pro 3's. Probably going for some Vittoria Rubino Pro Techs unless I hear differently from anyone here, and will return the Lithions.

gryfon23

HAve had good success with Maxxis ReFuse tyres. I find it always helps to use latex tubes.