Durable tyres advice

Mossd88

Hi I've been looking for some new tyres (700x23) as I've had the tyres on my bike since I bought it and it's in need of some new ones(punctures becoming too regular).
I've never bought tyres so I'm new to the scene but from what I've seen continental gatorskins seem to be a favourite but I was looking for something a bit cheaper. Any advice

gethinceri

Michelin Lithion2

kingrollo

mich pro 4 endurance.

fenix

GP400S but go up to 25mm if you can.

fat daddy

DONT GET Vitoria Zaffiros ..... just pulled the 3rd bit of glass out of another punctured tyre.

bbrap

fat daddy wrote:

DONT GET Vitoria Zaffiros ..... just pulled the 3rd bit of glass out of another punctured tyre.

+1, cycling buddy used these for a while, spent more time sitting on wet grass fixing punctures than riding. Seemed ok ish in the dry.

Sutton_Rider

Schwalbe Durano Plus 25mm

daniel_b

Sutton Rider wrote:

Schwalbe Durano Plus 25mm

Bingo!

Alex99

Daniel B wrote:

Sutton Rider wrote:

Schwalbe Durano Plus 25mm

Bingo!

Double Bingo!

Anonymous

Durano plus raceguard from me too

ben-----

> Schwalbe Durano Plus 25mm

That's what I was going to recommend but then didn't because of "… continental gatorskins seem to be a favourite but I was looking for something a bit cheaper" - they're about the same price, at a quick glance.

svetty

Buy cheap...buy twice

Seriously though, when it comes to that tiny contact patch keeping me on the road at up to 50mph (steep descents around here) I'm happy to invest in quality tyres. My personal winter faves are Conti GP4S's........

svetty

fat daddy wrote:

DONT GET Vitoria Zaffiros ..... just pulled the 3rd bit of glass out of another punctured tyre.

If you keep riding through broken glass I don't really think you can blame the tyres......

fat daddy

Svetty wrote:

If you keep riding through broken glass I don't really think you can blame the tyres......

if you can see a 2mm square bit of glass on a dark wet main road whilst doing 20+ mph then you may have a point ..... personally I would expect not to see it .. and if I did hit it, not to be punctured by such a small object

simon_masterson

Lithion 2 is cheap but I've had very few punctures, and they roll reasonably well. Gatorskin has pretty low weight and pretty good rolling in proportion to puncture resistance, but they're rock hard and grip isn't as good as other options. Personally for commuting, I'm happy to put up with that, but when I put my road bike back together in January, I'll be using GP4000s.

sheffsimon

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard, but expect them to be an absolute b****** to fit.

25C is the smallest size, but is a better option than 23C in any case IMHO.

fat daddy

SheffSimon wrote:

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard, .

I was very tempted to buy these this week, 5mm of rubber alone would have stopped 3 of my punctures ..... but then I saw the weight of them

Puncture resistance vs SCR ... grrrrrrrr, hard choice

daniel_b

fat daddy wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard, .

I was very tempted to buy these this week, 5mm of rubber alone would have stopped 3 of my punctures ..... but then I saw the weight of them

Puncture resistance vs SCR ... grrrrrrrr, hard choice

That's where the Durano Pluses excel imho, they have a good layer of protection, but seem to still roll well at reasonable pressures.

I've even managed to fit some of mine without any tyre levers, and I am sh1t at fitting tyres.
I put the typre 90% of the way onto a wheel, and leave it like that for 24\48 hours, and that seems to help - I then put the tyre on with the assistance from some toe straps to try and hold the tyre in place - which works up to a point.

Alex99

Daniel B wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard, .

I was very tempted to buy these this week, 5mm of rubber alone would have stopped 3 of my punctures ..... but then I saw the weight of them

Puncture resistance vs SCR ... grrrrrrrr, hard choice

That's where the Durano Pluses excel imho, they have a good layer of protection, but seem to still roll well at reasonable pressures.

I've even managed to fit some of mine without any tyre levers, and I am sh1t at fitting tyres.
I put the typre 90% of the way onto a wheel, and leave it like that for 24\48 hours, and that seems to help - I then put the tyre on with the assistance from some toe straps to try and hold the tyre in place - which works up to a point.

This. Durano plus are fine to fit and have a similar protection layer to the Marathon, but in a more reasonable road tyre package. They grip well, roll OK for what they are, but you wouldn't race on them. They're not for that. They are very different tyre to the GP4s. Durability and puncture protection is top of the list, rather than being a beefed up racing tyre. That is why the 25 mm version weighs nearly 400 grams. If puncture protection and durabiity is your priority, honestly, look no further.

homers_double

GP four seasons here for the winter, GP 4000's for the summer.

iPete

Michelin Pro4 SC or Endurance.

I've been using the SC on the racer (25c) all year; commuting and racing. Strava says the front tyre is on 9,500 miles, whilst the rear was replaced after 5,500.

sheffsimon

fat daddy wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard, .

I was very tempted to buy these this week, 5mm of rubber alone would have stopped 3 of my punctures ..... but then I saw the weight of them

Puncture resistance vs SCR ... grrrrrrrr, hard choice

200g difference....I can p*** more than that.

fat daddy

SheffSimon wrote:

200g difference....I can p*** more than that.

you must be on the 25's

I run 32c on my commuter due to road surfaces and the weight I can carry sometimes

My current tires are 210g each ... the Marathons are 900g each !!! ..... that's 1.4 kg increase in mass .. rotating outside the rim ... unless you are dawdling around on the flat, that is a noticeable weight increase

infact its fecking massive when it comes to accelerating away from lights and sudden ramps in climbing


imagine the performance increase your bike would obtain if you suddenly went and bought wheels that were 1.4kg lighter ... hell on my road bike the wheels and tyres dont even weight that much

JesseD

Another vote for the Schwable Durano's, however as an alternative I would recommend the LifeLine Prime Armour tyres from Wiggle, they are their own brand and fairly cheap. I bought a pair to test a while back and have been suitably impressed buy how they ride and the fact I have not been visited by the puncture fairy since.

These are them, I bought 25mm so it would be a little more comfortable than 23's:

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

sheffsimon

fat daddy wrote:

SheffSimon wrote:

200g difference....I can p*** more than that.

you must be on the 25's

I run 32c on my commuter due to road surfaces and the weight I can carry sometimes

My current tires are 210g each ... the Marathons are 900g each !!! ..... that's 1.4 kg increase in mass .. rotating outside the rim ... unless you are dawdling around on the flat, that is a noticeable weight increase

infact its ******* massive when it comes to accelerating away from lights and sudden ramps in climbing


imagine the performance increase your bike would obtain if you suddenly went and bought wheels that were 1.4kg lighter ... hell on my road bike the wheels and tyres dont even weight that much

25's yes. The Marathons are 810g, what are you riding thats 32C and 210g?

I don't dawdle, I changed from summer tyres to the Marathons for winter, not noticed them much, not enough to care. But it's winter, the whole rotating mass thing is questionable, and I don't think 1.4kg is such a big increase in percentage terms compared to bike and body weight. My main aim is not to puncture on the commute, and not hold my training mates up in the p****** rain whilst I fix a puncture.

Top and bottom of it is if the difference between beating somebody away from the lights or not is your tyres, then train harder IMHO.

fat daddy

a rigid vittoria zaffiro ... it probably didn't start off that weight, but that's the current weight on my coffee scales .. BUT, I have just pulled a less than 2mm shard of class out the centre of the rubber that punctured through to the inner tube ... there is nothing to them, I don't believe they have any form of protection in them and the rubber is less then 2mm thick

MisterMuncher

I used to switch from regular Durano or Durano S (or going back a bit, Stelvio) to Marathon plus for the winter. One year I didn't bother doing it in November, and kept procrastinating till it was March. Didn't suffer any more punctures as a result.

It was never the weight difference I noticed with Marathons, it was the ride feel. All the comfort of a brick, right down into pinch-vulnerable pressures, which negated all the protection they offered from conventional punctures.

Tubeless is where it's at now for puncture protection.

flanners1

fat daddy wrote:

DONT GET Vitoria Zaffiros ..... just pulled the 3rd bit of glass out of another punctured tyre.

Recently tried some Vittoria's something or others they are quite possibly the worst tyres I have used and are ripped to shreds after about 10 rides...utter crap.

beak58

I have the specialized all condition armadillo on my winter bike. They have done over 3000 miles and I've had one puncture which was a bit of twig. Way slower than the GP4000 I have on summer bike but can still clip along at a decent speed even with my fat backside on board.

cycleclinic

well it is IRC tubeless for me. 4000km and the front does not even look worn. That by the way is a record for me never had a road race tyre last even half that. Rear is doing fine as well.

The only tyre mentioned above that seems to work for the various riders I know is the schwable durano plus. All the others I have found to be useless. GP$'s holed way to often when I used them. Other find them fine but that has more to do with the road they ride on. Flint kills them quickly.

paulbnix

My friend and I have used Schwalbe Durano 25s (not Durano plus) for the last few years doing 6000 miles per year.
The tyres last about 5000 miles, are reasonably priced at around £21 each, seem pretty grippy and don't puncture often.