Tyre / wheel upgrade

bagpiperay

I've just bought a very nearly new 2012 Specialized Allez Sport bike for my first road bike with virtually no miles ridden on it by the previous owner. Nevertheless, in reading this forum and other bike reviews it is suggested the best initial upgrade is likely to be in replacing the tyres then maybe the wheels.

Taking into account I paid just £400 for the bike what tyres would be best to consider for an upgrade e.g. Roubaix pro tyres for £25 per tyre? The same might be asked of an upgrade to the wheels either now or in the future.

Gizmodo

As oxoman said, use what you have through the winter then buy new in the spring when the weather/road conditions are better and you are fitter.

When the tyres do need replacing, I use Continental 4 Seasons for winter and I'm going to try GP4000 next summer because they seem popular on this forum.

bagpiperay

I've just checked. The current tyres are Specialized All Condition all weather. The wheels are Mavic CXP22's if that makes sense.

From Oxoman it seems the Mavic wheels are half decent so I may be should get some wear out of the all weather Specialized tyres the buy some better ones with the same rims.

As an aside I often see second hand rims or rims and tyres on eBay and I wondered whether they might be worth it!

keef66

bagpiperay wrote:

I've just checked. The current tyres are Specialized All Condition all weather. The wheels are Mavic CXP22's if that makes sense.

From Oxoman it seems the Mavic wheels are half decent so I may be should get some wear out of the all weather Specialized tyres the buy some better ones with the same rims.

As an aside I often see second hand rims or rims and tyres on eBay and I wondered whether they might be worth it!

My guess is you have Mavic rims but unbranded / Specialized OEM hubs / spokes.

As above, I'd just keep riding them until the rims wear out. Tyres likewise.

wishitwasallflat

bagpiperay wrote:

I've just checked. The current tyres are Specialized All Condition all weather. The wheels are Mavic CXP22's if that makes sense.

From Oxoman it seems the Mavic wheels are half decent so I may be should get some wear out of the all weather Specialized tyres the buy some better ones with the same rims.

It is prudent to wait until better weather but I had Spesh All Conditions Flak Jacket 25s on my Sectuer when I got it and yes they are super tough (never had a puncture) but they are horrible to ride. When I upgraded to Vittoria Open Paves the difference was night and day. Since then I've had GP4000s and just got a set of Michelin Pro4 Endurance today to try and I would never ever go back to the Spesh tyres. If your on a tight budget then defo run them into the ground but if you can afford it you will enjoy the upgrade on tyres.

keef66 wrote:

bagpiperay wrote:

I've just checked. The current tyres are Specialized All Condition all weather. The wheels are Mavic CXP22's if that makes sense.

My guess is you have Mavic rims but unbranded / Specialized OEM hubs / spokes.

As above, I'd just keep riding them until the rims wear out. Tyres likewise.

Again my Sectuer had unbranded/Spesh hubs and CXP22s OEM and I had loads of problems with broken spokes (I weighed north of 20 stone then though!!) the rims and hubs were fine though so I would second advice to run them into the ground over winter as you wouldn't get much for them selling them 2nd hand I reckon anyway. If they survive the winter upgrade in Spring and keep em for next year and/or turbo duties.

unixnerd

Roubaix pro tyres for £25 per tyre?

Brilliant tyres, light and very puncture proof. I run them on two bikes and can recommend them highly enough.