Tour De Black Country - Cobbles/Pave/Non Tarmac - What tyres?

vrsmatt

Hi

I'm toying with the idea of doing the 100mile Tour De Black Country next year. I live locally to some of the route so will practise over the winter riding on non tarmac sections.

I have a Giant Defy Advanced 2015 Model and was wondering what tyre choice you guys may go for?

I was hoping 28mm will fit my frame and was wondering if there is anything lightly treaded in that size that would be suitable for a mixed surface ride 80/20 Tarmac/Non-Tarmac?

Thanks in advance for your help

ugo.santalucia

I've done it a few years ago... there are no cobbles... except for Walton hill, which has a few. It's mostly gravel, stones or grass

vrsmatt

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I've done it a few years ago... there are no cobbles... except for Walton hill, which has a few. It's mostly gravel, stones or grass

Without wishing to be argumentative as you've done it and I haven't, the photos here http://cycleclassics.co.uk/tour-of-the- ... -sportive/ show cobbles?

Either way, opinions on tyres gratefully received.

Cheers

bendertherobot

Tread won't do much, if anything, at 28c. Just get robust tyres and get 28c if you can.

ugo.santalucia

VRSMatt wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I've done it a few years ago... there are no cobbles... except for Walton hill, which has a few. It's mostly gravel, stones or grass

Without wishing to be argumentative as you've done it and I haven't, the photos here http://cycleclassics.co.uk/tour-of-the- ... -sportive/ show cobbles?

Either way, opinions on tyres gratefully received.

Cheers

Yes, they are many shots of Walton hill (Waltonberg), the only cobbled part of the course

vrsmatt

ugo.santalucia wrote:

VRSMatt wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I've done it a few years ago... there are no cobbles... except for Walton hill, which has a few. It's mostly gravel, stones or grass

Without wishing to be argumentative as you've done it and I haven't, the photos here http://cycleclassics.co.uk/tour-of-the- ... -sportive/ show cobbles?

Either way, opinions on tyres gratefully received.

Cheers

Yes, they are many shots of Walton hill (Waltonberg), the only cobbled part of the course

Excellent, now we've cleared that up are you going to post about tyres as per the OP?

Cheers

fenix

I did something similar last year - Cheshire Cobbled Classic. I did it on my winter CX bike with some fat marathon plus tyres on. Had no dramas. They roll through anything - probably overkill for the amount of cobbles but they're tough.

ugo.santalucia

VRSMatt wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

VRSMatt wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I've done it a few years ago... there are no cobbles... except for Walton hill, which has a few. It's mostly gravel, stones or grass

Without wishing to be argumentative as you've done it and I haven't, the photos here http://cycleclassics.co.uk/tour-of-the- ... -sportive/ show cobbles?

Either way, opinions on tyres gratefully received.

Cheers

Yes, they are many shots of Walton hill (Waltonberg), the only cobbled part of the course

Excellent, now we've cleared that up are you going to post about tyres as per the OP?

Cheers

You don't want 23, you don't want touring/gravel tyres becasue they'll slow you down, I think a robust 28-30 mm tyre is probably the best compromise... GP 4 season or Gatorskin 28 or Challenge Strada Bianca. If you can fit bigger, then a Vittoria XN 32 at 60 PSI will not slow you down too much

fuel2000

I've done it 3 times now, everytime on some conti 28mm 4 seasons.

captain_chaos

I rode it on my normal road bike - 23mm Conti GP4000

No problems. No punctures. Wasn't wet which might have made a difference

The gravel tracks felt like riding on ice at times - can't see those bits being any different from a few more mm of rubber...