Road tyres - Schwalbe Lugano replacement?

joebristol

I’m due to pick up my new bike in about 3 weeks time when my cycle to work voucher eventually arrives (it’s killing me waiting)!

It’s a Cannondale Caad12 105 Disc and I’m quite excited about it. The standard wheels are meant to be rubbish - both heavy and potentially not very well built - so I’m swapping them out for some Mason x Hunt 4seasons road wheels which I’ve ordered.

The standard tyres are Schwalbe Lugano 25c folding - I’ve seen some mixed reviews online. They’re not tubeless compatible - but the new wheels are which is interesting.

I’m tubeless on my mtb so curious about road tubeless - but don’t want to spend another £80 on tyres at the moment. Is it worth just keeping the standard ones until they wear out, or are they really that bad - if so what are some budget options to go for that aren’t too expensive? Tubeless or non tubeless. The bad reviews I’ve seen on the Luganos suggest they have a high rolling resistance but do ok with puncture resistance.

I’m current on Michelin Lithium’s I think in 23c size - on Mavic Aksiums. They’ve been ok for grip, but I have had a fair few punctures - a mixture of broken glass and pinch ouncturesn- despite running them just above 100 psi most of the time. I weigh around the 12 stone mark so I’m not massively heavy.

joe_totale-2

I'd swap them out once the weather gets a bit better. You can get a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Endurance's for £40-50 which are a great tyre as discussed here:

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... ce-v2-2015

In comparison here's the same site reviewing Lugano's:

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... ugano-2015

I use the Michelin's and they roll nearly as well as GP4000's, have great grip and I've not had a single puncture all winter.

As it's a disk brake bike I'll assume it can take 28mm tyres as well which you should take advantage of, pretty sure the Michelin comes in a 28mm version.

A downside of road tubeless right now is the high cost of the tyres, as you stated it could be £80-90 for a decent set of tubeless tyres.

joebristol

I think the bike can take up to 28mm tyres but I also need to fit some clip on type mudguards in the winter so will need to check space for that (it doesn’t have mudguard mounts).

The other tyre I’ve had suggested is the Schwalbe Durano which interestingly is one of the comparison tyres in the first review you linked.

Maybe I’ll look at both of those options and see what the deals are that I can find on them.

I use the bike mainly for commuting, but this year I’m planning to do more road fitness training on it in the evenings (where possible, once mynlittle girl has gone to bed) to improve my mtb fitness.

mrb123

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/ty ... x-pro-tyre

Recently fitted a pair of these to the winter bike and am impressed so far. Seem a decent combination of grip, puncture resistance, speed and value for money.

cycleclinic

try tubeless they can actually save you money in the long run. mine certainly do. so if you buy the right ones the high initial cost is offset by them outlasting everything else. £ per mile is what is important. I am testing a bunch of tubeless tyres to destruction to find this out. it will take a while though. Some tubeless tyres wear too quickly though and they dont save you money.

Otherwise you simply have to try various tyres out till you find one you get on with. reviews are only so helpful here.

joebristol

If it’s unclear at this stage which tubeless road tyres are good and which aren’t, I’m happy to wait until whichever tyres I start with in non-tubeless wear out and then see if things have moved on with road tubeless. It seems like it’s fairly early for the road technology compared to mtb where there is a much bigger voice of tubeless and therefore prices have come down a bit.

Maxxis Padrones look the best to me from what I’ve read but they are more expensive than I can justify at the moment

lostboysaint

Another vote for Pro4 Endurance. Best compromise of rolling, puncture resistance, grip and volume I've ever used. Had the 25s on my Wilier and have the 28s on my Cube. Very, very good tyres.

kingrollo

lostboysaint wrote:

Another vote for Pro4 Endurance. Best compromise of rolling, puncture resistance, grip and volume I've ever used. Had the 25s on my Wilier and have the 28s on my Cube. Very, very good tyres.

Ive not long put pro 4 endurance on my winter bike. Really impressed

sloppyschleckonds

Plenty of good choice in road tubeless tyres, probably best to read through the tubeless tyre thread.
CRC had the Padrones for £31.99
PBK usually around £35 with voucher codes usually available
Slightly bonkers to run inner tubes if you have tubeless rims

orraloon

Ditch the Luganos pronto. They came as standard on my Cannondale Synapse and were cr4p; rear blew out through the tread in little more than 1,000km, started to distort, bump bump bumpity bang, front went the same way month or so later but fortunately recognised the symptoms so 1/2 deflated and limped it home that time.

joebristol

I think they have to go for sure!