Tyres - What do you use?

petemadoc
petemadoc Posts: 2,331
edited September 2010 in Road beginners
And what's good/bad about them?

I'm currently running these

Vredestein Fiammante DuoComp 23mm - I find these nice and smooth and loads of grip in the corners. Maybe a little more rolling resistance than others.

Schwable racing ralph- on my cross wheels, seem good but not tried others so nothing to compare with.

Also have a set of Continental ultra race, feel fast but ride is harsh. Very very difficult to get on :x

Comments

  • AndyF16
    AndyF16 Posts: 506
    I just swapped my new (and first) roadbike to a pair of Armadillo Elite after a few '000 wonderful punctureless miles with their Hemispheres on my MTB.

    The ride and grip on these seem excellent, but I've obviously almost zero experience of road tyres in general yet - it was the promise of "no" flats that really attracted me to splash the cash for these
    2011 Bianchi D2 Cavaria in celeste (of course!)
    2011 Enigma Echo 57cm in naked Ti
    2009 Orange G2 19" in, erm orange
  • My second hand bike came fitted with Schwalbe Duranos, whcih have been bomb / thorn proof so far. They seem to roll OK and I feel incredibly stable with them and have great confidence descending and cornering. I won't be winning many races with them, (not that I enter any races) but I would rather lose a minute every 20 miles than losing 20 mins repairing a puncture.
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    Trouble is, there are just so many different tyres out there.

    My Allez came with Mondo's on them, and they were bad, they didn't roll well, they were noisy and punctured within 3 weeks.

    I went to Conti GP4000S, and have done getting on for 2000 mile on them, sportives, commutes, time trials, crits, they handled everything I've thrown at them, and then some.

    I've had one puncture in them, which was caused by a pothole on a sportive, ride may be harsh, but I've got little to base that on, considering I've only used two different tyres.

    They've coped with everything so well, I can't see any point getting anything different when the time comes (TBH, they got well over 1000 miles still in them)
  • kryllion carbons on both my bikes now, love them
  • Hutchinson Fusion's but will be changing to Schwalbe Ultremo's
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    Schwalbe marathons on the Tourer - very reliable.

    Armadillo Elites on the Carbon road bike - very happy with them

    Halo pink tyres on the fixie - purely for their sexy hue!

    Mondos on the Allez - won't be on there for long.


    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)

  • GP 4000S on the Sunday best. (went back to them after a brief dalliance with
    Vittoria Open Corsa EVO's)

    Gatorskins on the Winter/Commuter.

    Never had any problems, used the Gatorskins on Rapha's April 'Hell of the North'
    ride. No punctures!!!



    ' Another coffee or are we off.....'
  • Evil Laugh
    Evil Laugh Posts: 1,412
    Vittoria Rubino 3 and Vittoria Open Pave

    The Rubinos are decent tyres for £35/pr pretty good ride, grip and so far seem hard wearing. No Ps yet but still early days. Good vfm.

    The Open Paves are sublime. Sticky, fast and the ride quality is something special. They're really supple, feel like the hug the road. Downside is price (£70/pr), the fact that they only come in green and they are wearing quicker than the Rubinos. No ps yet on these either.

    Personally I'm gonna stick the Open Paves on all the time from now on. They're expensive in relation to other tyres but the ride is so nice for the extra £20 over your standard fayre. People would spend hundreds to get that sort of ride improvement out of a frame or wheels.
  • GP 4000 S 's on the road bike, fantastic fast, grippy and surprisingly durable/p********* proof.

    Maxis Refuse on the FG commuter, slightly slower but cheaper and supposedly tougher still than the 4000's.
    Scott CR-1 (FCN 4)
    Pace RC200 FG Conversion (FCN 5)
    Giant Trance X

    My collection of Cols
  • Schwalbe Luganos - best £20 (for the pair) I've spent on my bike
    --
    Chris

    Road ride: Univega Via Laser
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    25mm Conti 4 seasons cos that's what Chris at Epic suggested when I said I'd be riding all year round.

    2 years old now and still in good nick; only one puncture due to a thorn that would've gone through anything.
  • furrag
    furrag Posts: 481
    Anyone used the Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps? If so, can anyone answer how do they compare to the GP4000 S?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Vittoria Open corsa evo CX on my litespeed. Teamed with Mavic Kysrium ES wheels, they are excellent. I used them in a closed circuit race which had a good smooth surface and ran them at 140 psi, absolutely magic. I have Continental 4000s 23mm on my training wheels and they are also very good, a lot more hard wearing than the vittorias, I think the contis beat the vittorias day to day, but for performance the vittorias are excellent.
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    Furrag wrote:
    Anyone used the Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps? If so, can anyone answer how do they compare to the GP4000 S?

    Not used these but I was well impressed with the Fiammante when I got them. I'm probably going to stick with the Vredestein brand after using them.
  • Scrumple
    Scrumple Posts: 2,665
    Krylions on the Sabbath Ti, for all round use.
    Some Conti 4 Seasons too, as an option.

    Cont Attack / Force on the Wilier, as I just have loads of them in.
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,467
    Pro3 Race. They wear out really quickly but I don't care. Summer is too short here in Finland not to make the most of it.

    One trick I've learned is to keep using tyres from last season at the start of the season and only fit new ones around the begining of June when the grit and moisture on the roads is mostly gone. If you fit new tyres right at the start of the season, they are full of little holes within a week, leading to more punctures later in the spring/summer.
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    +1 Pro Race 3

    Head and shoulders above anything else I have tried.

    I pump em up before each ride - and this keeps the punctures to a min. 1800 miles on my current set and still going ok.
  • swapped 25mm Kenda Kriteriums which had developed a bulge for 23mm Conti GP4000Ss. Noticeably much more comfortable, i thought i hadn't pumped them up properly when I first fitted them. No punctures thus far *touching everything remotely wooden in my vicinity*. They feel alot better in the corners, inspire more confidence to carry a bit more speed.
    CUBE Agree GTC Pro '10
    Giant Defy 2 '09
  • flasher
    flasher Posts: 1,734
    GP4000s, zero issues, great tyre!
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    Two sets of wheels one with conti 4000s and the other with vittoria open corsa evo cx, i used the 4000s as my favoured tyre after getting cheesed off with pro 3s puncturing and cutting up, and they were from a different planet compared to the michelin, blinding grip and durability.9/10
    I've used the vittorias for the last 2 mths and i'm well impressed, they've remained puncture and cut free, they're light and the grip is great and when the 4000s have had their day, i'll be buying another pair of vittorias.10/10 upto now