Winter tyres?

Gouldy-89

Hi,
After some winter tyres to swap onto for the next few months so not ruin my "summer" ones, Shwalbe Lugano 700x23 that came with the bike a couple of months ago. Any suggestions?

Thanks

mrb123

Gouldy-89 wrote:

Hi,
After some winter tyres to swap onto for the next few months so not ruin my "summer" ones, Shwalbe Lugano 700x23 that came with the bike a couple of months ago. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Budget?

imposter2.0

Luganos will be fine as winter tyres, keep them on and replace with something better in the spring.

meanredspider

Imposter wrote:

Luganos will be fine as winter tyres, keep them on and replace with something better in the spring.

Luganos I've had have punctured pretty easily - I'd be tempted by buy something a little more robust. But give them a go - just be ready to fix them.

keef66

Two schools of thought:

1) the Luganos are a budget tyre so leave them on and wear them out over winter, then buy some better summer tyres next year.

2) the Luganos have poor puncture protection and possibly less grip in the cold and wet. Fixing punctures and falling off are no fun in the winter, so buy some decent winter tyres now.

Or like me 2) then 1)

I went through the same thing with some wire bead Rubinos I'd bought to get a bike on the road as cheaply as possible. As soon as the roads started getting wet they began to puncture, and one had a shard of flint slice through the tread and shred the tube.

So 25mm Conti GP 4 Seasons went on for winter use; excellent grip and puncture protection. Expensive though, and they wear relatively quickly.

And on the summer bike I wanted something livelier and with more grip so I went with Michelin Pro 4 SC. (although I've just lost 2 of those to sidewall cuts so I'm trying the Endurance version now)

The Rubinos hang forlornly on the garage wall as emergency spares, but in my heart of hearts I know I'll never use them.

imposter2.0

Funny how people's experiences of tyres differ. I used Rubinos as my default winter tyres over many seasons of training and never punctured once.

ayjaycee

I use 25mm Conti GP 4 Seasons all year round and they do for me. Comfortable, good road holding (including in the wet) and relatively puncture resistant. Can't say they are puncture free but I don't tend to get that many (but now I have said that publicly, I can probably expect loads over the coming winter!).

Some think them expensive but, as I have said here before, work out the cost per mile and they are a bargain.

bobones

Michelin Pro 4 Endurance are great and not at all expensive.

DeVlaeminck

Another vote for using the Luganos til they wear out - most tyres with really good puncture protection will have some compromises in terms of grip and rolling resistance. Buy a puncture repair kit and patch your tubes if you get a couple of punctures over winter fixing them will probably take less time than it'll take you to buy new tyres and swop them on anyway and luganos aren't good enough to worry about saving for Summer.

keef66

Imposter wrote:

Funny how people's experiences of tyres differ. I used Rubinos as my default winter tyres over many seasons of training and never punctured once.

I get the impression that the Rubino Pro is a better tyre than the vanilla Rubino. Many people on here report good experience with the Pros.

Punctures aside, I didn't feel as confident cornering in the wet on the Rubinos as I do on the 4 Seasons

kim10

bobones wrote:

Michelin Pro 4 Endurance are great and not at all expensive.

+1 for the Michelin Pro 4 Endurance. Make sure you buy the new version (V2). I find them having good puncture resistance, grip well in the wet and they can be had at a reasonable price. Currently on Chain Reaction for £23.95

Gouldy-89

I know my current ones are budget, my only concern is lack of grip. I'm based in S. Wales where I likely won't see a dry day till June and Lugano don't appear to have much grip....

philbar72

4 seasons. grippy, roll well puncture proof to a decent level. only issue I have is in very hot summer months.

ayjaycee

philbar72 wrote:

...................... only issue I have is in very hot summer months.

Tell us more please.

keef66

philbar72 wrote:

4 seasons. grippy, roll well puncture proof to a decent level. only issue I have is in very hot summer months.

Which won't be a problem for the OP....

JesseD

I bought these a couple of months ago and have been suitably impressed, I wasn't expecting much given the price but in all honesty they are good tyres! They wont set the world (or your ride) on fire, but they roll well enough, seem ok in the damp/wet when at the correct pressure, they are wearing well and to date I have not flatted on them (touch wood).

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-prime- ... road-tyre/

£14 a tyre that is similar to the higher priced Conti's etc you can't go wrong

mugensi

I used to have Lugano's (k-guard) and found the puncture resistance excellent, over 2 years on two sets of them with zero punctures in that time. The only problems I found with them was 1) the wore very quickly, they squared off within 1500kms and 2) wet grip was poor but I couldn't have faulted them on puncture resistance. They have a Kevlar belt as puncture protection and in my experience it works well.

I would continue to use them on the bike and then buy new tyres when theyre done.