winter road tyres

jongrubb
jongrubb Posts: 9
edited October 2013 in Road general
Hi,
So, i have had 3 punctures this week and clearly need to sort out my tyres.
I ride a Trek 1.2 with Bontrager T1 tyres, the ones it came with.
Ive only been riding 7 months and this is my first winter on 2 wheels.
My research tells me to go for continental GatorSkin but the question is, which ones?
My ride daily ride is 25 miles in total from Surrey into Central London.
Any thoughts, experience and advice would be great.
Thank you in advance.

Comments

  • Gators are very good. I put them on a previous road bike and never had a flat. Specialised Roubaix tyres are also good.
  • I used to ride gatorskins but swapped to conti 4 seasons last year. They ride a lot nicer in my opinion as they are more supple and grip better in poor conditions.
    I have just replaced my rear one after 3500 miles and no punctures.
  • Another vote for gp4 seasons. Amazing grip in nearly all weathers and almost as fast as the gp4000s I use in summer. Great puncture resistance as well. I run a 23 on the front and a 25 on the back.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    KINGGARY wrote:
    I used to ride gatorskins but swapped to conti 4 seasons last year. They ride a lot nicer in my opinion as they are more supple and grip better in poor conditions.
    I have just replaced my rear one after 3500 miles and no punctures.

    I would agree with this as my conti 4 seasons have been great so far with no grip problems. You may want to get the wider versions of the tyre if they will fit your bike as it will cushion you more from the road.
  • teebs_123
    teebs_123 Posts: 357
    Kajjal wrote:
    KINGGARY wrote:
    I used to ride gatorskins but swapped to conti 4 seasons last year. They ride a lot nicer in my opinion as they are more supple and grip better in poor conditions.
    I have just replaced my rear one after 3500 miles and no punctures.

    I would agree with this as my conti 4 seasons have been great so far with no grip problems. You may want to get the wider versions of the tyre if they will fit your bike as it will cushion you more from the road.

    Agree with all the above regards 4 Seasons. Did 3,000 on mine with no punctures and I've just put a set of 25mm on my new winter bike. I found Gatorskins horrible in comparison.
    Orbea Orca OMX DI2 MyO
    Kinesis 4s Di2
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Bit of a GP 4 Seasons fan club developing. I run them in 25mm flavour year round. Got 4000 miles out of the rear and 5000 from the front on my last pair and replaced them with the same. 4 punctures in 6 years; two were self-inflicted pinch flats and one was a thorn like a javelin through the sidewall of the tyre, so no complaints from me.
  • moonshine
    moonshine Posts: 1,021
    i use vittorie corsa evo CX on my good biles (TT and road race) in the summer and have hade great sucsess with 25mm Bontrager Race Lite Hardcases on my fixed commuter / winter training bike over the past few years. I struggle to remember the last puncture i've had on the Bonty's and i do a lot of miles. Plus they last for ages.
    They are not the most inspiring ride, but i'd happly trade off feel for reliability and puncture resistance on my commuter and in the winter... flats are no fun!

    http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bon ... e-ec001737 - you can get them cheaper, but for illustration purposes
  • buckles
    buckles Posts: 694
    moonshine wrote:
    i use vittorie corsa evo CX on my good biles (TT and road race) in the summer and have hade great sucsess with 25mm Bontrager Race Lite Hardcases on my fixed commuter / winter training bike over the past few years. I struggle to remember the last puncture i've had on the Bonty's and i do a lot of miles. Plus they last for ages.
    They are not the most inspiring ride, but i'd happly trade off feel for reliability and puncture resistance on my commuter and in the winter... flats are no fun!

    http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bon ... e-ec001737 - you can get them cheaper, but for illustration purposes
    I love these tyres. Would certainly recommend them.
    25% off your first MyProtein order: sign up via https://www.myprotein.com/referrals.lis ... EE-R29Y&li or use my referral code LEE-R29Y
  • Initialised
    Initialised Posts: 3,047
    antsmithmk wrote:
    Gators are very good. I put them on a previous road bike and never had a flat. Specialised Roubaix tyres also good.
    I don't know about the Roubaix but the Specialized Espoir range are very durable, 4000miles before the rear wore out on the Sport 28mm, a total of three punctures between them. What really impressed me are some of the teeth I pulled out of them that didn't make it through the Blackbeltl. So impressed that I replaced with 23mm Elites, both have very good wet grip but for winter they feel a bit less surefooted than the 28mms.
    I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Just about to order a set of specialized all condition armadillo's myself.
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    arran77 wrote:
    Just about to order a set of specialized all condition armadillo's myself.
    Not impressed with those - lasted just 1000 miles before the punctures started. Binned them in favour of the go 4 seasons in the end
  • my choice for winter came to budget. i couldnt justify £50+

    found a pair of Vittoria rubino pro 3's for £32 so am tryin them this winter and see how i go.

    i've had them on a week and they seem to be fine. no problem getting through the soaking roads so far
    Cube Cross 2016
    Willier GTR 2014
  • I am getting used to a pair of Bontrager Racelites after trashing both my much-loved Panaracers on a strip of sharp metal a fortnight ago. The Panaracers are a superb ride and have a good degree of puncture resistance. On the other hand, as is well-known, they have very thin and delicate sidewalls.

    The Bontragers were easy to fit and seem very robust. I was attracted to the claims that they resist snakebite punctures as being rather too close to 100kg for comfort, my bikes are prone to these. (It is the rider, not the bikes, weighing in at 100kg, by the way, though all my bikes are old steel.) The ride seems a bit "dead" by comparison, though they are not, in theory, all that much heavier. After 200 miles or so in present conditions, which round these parts means flooded roads, mud and hedge-cutting, they seem pretty good.
  • MacLeod113 wrote:
    my choice for winter came to budget. i couldnt justify £50+

    found a pair of Vittoria rubino pro 3's for £32 so am tryin them this winter and see how i go.

    i've had them on a week and they seem to be fine. no problem getting through the soaking roads so far

    I have had Rubino Pros on Last Winter and through the Summer until this week. They are fantastic on dry smooth roads but they used to loose traction and spin up when putting the power down on hills - mainly in the wet or damp.
    Changed after nearly coming off last weekend when the rear decided to loose grip again. They have done so since day 1.

    Found they are light and roll OK but are quite hard.

    Moved to GP4000s and they are in a whole different world. I was the same about expensive tyres but to me the difference was huge. - more comfortable and float across the tarmac too.
  • Schwalbe Duranos aren't a bad option either
  • speedo
    speedo Posts: 115
    I would recommend Bontrager Racelite Hardcase Tyres as Buckles - always run with these on my bikes.
    Fitted on my Trek Domane 6.2 , vitually no punctures.
    J.E James are currently selling these for £ 13.99 a bargain :D
  • Moonbiker
    Moonbiker Posts: 1,706
    Interesting what you say about rubinos as thats what i have, & find them ok but not tried any other expensive tyres as a comparison with them though.

    Was thinking trying Vredestein Fortezza TriComp in 25mm, shame they only do 25mm tyres in single colour though I like the choice of colours with the rubinos.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Bontrager, hardcase, race lite. Best Tyre I've ever used.
  • DesB3rd
    DesB3rd Posts: 285
    specialized all condition armadillo's

    Went from these (25mm) to the same in Gatorskins; the Conti's aren't a superb ride but they're soooo much nicer than the leaden Armadillos - though not quite a resistant to glass/stone penetrations.
  • LegendLust
    LegendLust Posts: 1,022
    lewiskinch wrote:
    Schwalbe Duranos aren't a bad option either

    ^^^ These

    I wouldn't touch Conti Gatorskins ever again - they're treacherous in the wet