Fast Wide Tyres - 28c+

prawny

Afternoon,

I've had my commuting Tenet replaced by Saracen with a nice Hack frame, and I want to take advantage of the room for comfier tyres.

I used to run a 25c folding Durano Plus on the back (just whatever I had going on the front) and that was quick enough, and puncture proof enough, but confort was lacking. I can fit anything up to 38-40c on the hack easily I've got some Schwalbe Land Cruisers on at the mo, but they're horrible.

Has anyone got any recommendations for fast, wide, flat resistant and cheap (£30 or less) tyres for horrible conditions?

I'm considering 32c Gatorskins, and 28c 4000sII's at the mo, but concerned about the grip of the Gatorskins, and the flat resistance of the 4000s.

Cheers!

veronese68

Vittoria Voyager Hypers for me at the moment, £20 at Planet X.

maddog 2

Schwalbe G-One Allround in 35mm, but they'll be a smidge more than 30 I think

Alex99

Veronese68 wrote:

Vittoria Voyager Hypers for me at the moment, £20 at Planet X.

Seems like a good option. You can sometimes see Schwalbe Marathon Supremes at less than £30. They're in the same 'light/fast touring' bracket.

You've also got more regular touring tyres if you want tough rather than light. Not to mention lots of smooth tread cyclocross / gravel options at 35 mm ish width.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I'm not in a position to comment on "top end" tyre models, but this last year I've had a good tarmac speed and reliability on...
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYSCMRCFO ... -raceguard (one freak puncture between "shield" sections by a screw)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cont ... prod148141 (both 25mm and 28mm, zero PF visits)

In terms of rolling resistance and bang per buck, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cont ... prod123549 and http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schw ... -prod69133 come out well from reviews at https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/

prawny

Cheers all, went with the Hyper Voyagers as I'd head good things before but forgot about them.

Bought a £50 voucher from PX to pay for them and got a free helmet and another baselayer to make it up to the £50. Happy with that.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Voyagers have very mixed reviews, PF resistance is generally not regarded as one of their strengths, good luck!

daniel_b

NitrousOxide wrote:

Voyagers have very mixed reviews, PF resistance is generally not regarded as one of their strengths, good luck!

Fitted a pair to the Kona, at the same time as switching to hydraulic brakes, and it's now a great, all be it still substantial, steed.

As it's for my gf to commute on mainly, it doesn't have QR wheels, and has a kiddy seat on the back, would make it a real pain fixing a puncture - so I have also fitted the Voyagers with these in each tyre:

prawny

Gyah!

Oh well, if they're crap, I'll get something else for the back and keep the voyagers for the front. I very rarely get flats on the front, even using plain old £11 Schwalbe Luganos so they won't go to waste.

Some people get on with Conti Ultra Sports, but I don't think I've ever had a ride on them without a puncture. (3 rides 3 punctures, 2 different bikes scrapped them after that)

voodooman

These

Done all my commuting miles this year since Feb 1/2 term (when I took the ice spikers off). No punctures and once a week dig out the bits of flint and glass with a penknife. Rear was a little squared off, but put both in the bin a few weeks ago when it got cold and the spikers went back on.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-prime- ... road-tyre/ Now over £14 each, but still a good deal in my experience.

w00dster

I use Vittoria Corsa G+ in a 28 on one bike and Bontrager R3 32 on another. The R3 also comes in a 28.
The Vittoria roll nicely, had no visits from the puncture fairy since last Spring. No visits at all while using the bontrager.
Both tyres are reasonably quick, probably edged by the Corsa, but longevity wise the bontrager win that.

luv2ride

NitrousOxide wrote:

Voyagers have very mixed reviews, PF resistance is generally not regarded as one of their strengths, good luck!

My 38mm Voyagers have great on my Crosslight. Comfy as.

iron-clover

Have you tried the 'race guard' Duranos yet?
They don't have the extra layer of rubber under the tread that the Durano Plus tyres have and my 25C tyres feel like other winter tyres to me- more supple than the old Gatorskins I used but a little harsher than Michelin Pro4 endurance tyres.

These have lasted me really well- I'm on my second pair now after I started to wear my first pair 'flat' after a couple of years. About 13 months in a piece of safety glass from a car accident that had occurred on my commuting route took a chunk out of the rear tyre about 2x5mm right down to the carcass. I swapped it to the front, poured super glue into the wound and amazingly it didn't cause any punctures for the next 11 months.

I really did rate my pair of Michelin Pro4 endurance tyres while they lasted (about a year), but as soon as I moved to the North Downs they were torn to shreds by flint that washes into the road so I had to try something else. They were the closest to summer 'racing' tyres I've used for winter use.

cycleclinic

challange strada bianca or IRC RBCC tyres for me. the latter is tubeless and budget busting. the former is budget busting but comfy and and quick like a race tyre. Conti GP4000s tyres in 28mm form are o.k and not a awful choice. they are puncture resistant enough but aren't all tyres vunerable at this time of year.

compass tyres might be worth a look and the pacracer gravel king too. the latter is under £30 as well.

prawny

Some interesting suggestions to work my way through over the year, I hadn’t really considered the race guard Duranos, how wide to they go?

Budget is an important consideration because it’s for commuter, it does 40 miles a day 5 days a week so can burn through a tyre in 2-3 months if they’re not tough. As much as I’d love to ride super nice tyres it’s just not cost effective.

cycleclinic

The irc tubless tyres (x guards) I use are cost effective as they can do silly miles. My rear tyre on the commuter is up to 5000km now and it is half worm according to the wear indicator hardly any cuts too. So nice tyres can last. The strada bianca did 5000km for me without punctures and were not fully worn when I took them off the commuter.

I am not some featherweight rider either.

These are the two comfortable fast tyres I have used that have done high miles.

paulbnix

I don't commute but do ride about 6000 miles per year.
I use Schwalbe Durano Race Guard and they last up to 5000 miles normally.

prawny

Might have a nose at the race guards then, how are they puncture resistance wise?

paulbnix

In my experience cycling in Cheshire & Derbyshire I get a few punctures - probably half a dozen in the last year.

jimmocrates

I had Conti Gatorskins (25's) which were puncture resistant for commuting, but didn'tgive the nicest ride.
I switched to Cotni GP4S which have been great. Puncture resistance has been as good as gatorskins but grip has been better.
I've also tried Vitoria Rubinos and Michelin Pro4 Grip, which have been ok but not done in 28's.
New bike has Schwalbe Durano Raceguard 28's which I don't really like. OK when the going is good, reviews suggest they will last ages but I find them skittish on wet roads - especially on descents.

Ribble are doing GP4000sii (28's) for £25 each. Given the reviews, I've bought a couple as general consensus seems to be good.

voodooman

Seriously - the lifeline tyres. I weigh 105 kg and commute across the New Forest, so loads of little bits of flint knocking around.

Just undo as soon as you get them, and leave indoors for a day or two, then put on an old wheel and take off again. Less than £30 for two and mine were covered in scratches and cuts right down to the kevlar layer. I regularly dug out little bits of flint / glass / thorn each week. They have been more p-fairy proof than the pro4 Endurance although not quite such a supple ride. I'd already bought a new pair for Feb onwards when the spikes go to the shed back in September.