Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Yo, tires for fixies

What kind of tires do you guys have on your fixed gears? I want a durable tire thats going to hold up under urban use thats not going to hurt too bad to pay for, any ideas?

i was gonna make another thread but ill just chime in here. First an answer. Most durable= armadillo. durable and good feel= gatorskin . all around good and chaeper IMO= rubino or fortezza.

my question is do armadillos or gators come in colors.

I found this thread after I posted. I must have missed it when I searched for "tires"(got 500 hits). Does anyone have anything else to add?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=110395&highlight=Chucks+bikes

YO,

rubino's, awesome.

For a long time I rode Conti Ultra 2000's and was very pleased, though they can be a b*tch to mount. More recently, though, I've been running a Specialized All Conditions Pro in back and it feels just as good with better durability - doesn't wear out as quickly as the Contis did under conditions of regular skipping/skidding. Never had flat problems with either - in fact, just the other day I had my first flat in 2 years.

Vredestein Fortezza Road=700x23

For a long time I rode Conti Ultra 2000's and was very pleased, though they can be a b*tch to mount. More recently, though, I've been running a Specialized All Conditions Pro in back and it feels just as good with better durability - doesn't wear out as quickly as the Contis did under conditions of regular skipping/skidding. Never had flat problems with either - in fact, just the other day I had my first flat in 2 years.


I'm going to second you on this one Dave. I gots one of dems and I just love it to death. No flats, no noticable wear, and they're pretty darn cheap.

I've run various combinations of tires and am on a quest to find something decently priced but will hold up well. For a long time, I rode only Vredestein Fortezza's but they flat way too much for my liking in the glass and metal lined streets of Chicago.

Thus I switched to Gatorskins, which ride well and hold up great but don't have such a great feel -- that of a racing type tire.

Having a nasty piece of metal put a hole in my rear Gatorskin a few weeks ago (I throw my tires away instead of booting them or the like), I switched the fresh front to the rear and threw on a Vredestein Fortezza up front.

The feel is great -- a good compromise between durability for the rear where it needs it the most and good handling and a good grip up front where feel is important.

However my all blue Fortezza really doesn't match my bike and the tire's a little old.

On my list for replacements: Michelin Megamium or Continental Grand Prix. I doubt I'd run a different rear than the Gatorskin but I'd like to try something different (and all black) up front.

rubinos (with the kevlar layer) in my experience actually both outlast gatorskins and feel better. the dillos can't be beat for shear flat protection though (knock on wood, running them now). They feel a bit slow and stiff though, might throw a rubino back on the front soon.. Conti Grand Prix's are pretty awesome, pretty solid flat protection and they ride great. Not quite tough enough for the daily city commute though..

if you want a monster that will take decades to skid through, put a kenda kourier on the back. that thing is like a car tire. sadly, it weighs like 30 pounds, is slow and is 35c wide...and really really ugly. but when you skid it sounds like you're unzipping a zipper

My advice is not what to buy but instead what NOT to buy. Conti 4 seasons. I received about 60-75 miles before they died. $40-50 tires should not die this early. I tried contacting Continental and they seem reluctant to resond.

i'll throw in my vote against armadillos: they're great for flat protection, but make your bike feel like a tank. i've been running gatorskins lately and they're okay (great for flat protection, but i don't really like the feel of skipping/skidding on 'em). both contis and armadillos may great for roadies in training, i just don't like how they feel on my fixie.

i've run a variety of cheap road tires as well, and they all feel pretty good but also flat quite a bit. IMO the best all-round tires are bontrager hardcase's 700X25...i get MILES out of them with no problems and i really like how they skip/skid/corner.

i 'm hot for my rubinos however after just a month on them they're looking pretty under the weather. Make sure you ge something with some solid kevlar down the middle. Theres a pretty sizeable hole-ish thing in my rear from god knows what

Theres a pretty sizeable hole-ish thing in my rear from god knows what

its nothing to be ashamed of, we all come that way.

I've got a bunch of tires lying around that are in various stages of death. I had a set of Conti 1000's on my road bike that I moved onto the fixie when I got new Michelin's for the roadie. Then I gota new wheelset for my single speed, so now I have a set of Bontrager dual-compound race-lite tires (I like them fine; I wouldn't have paid for them if they weren't part of the deal I got on the Botrager Race wheelset). The Conti 1000's got a lot of good miles before they started to go, but the sidewalls started to show threads after a couple thousand miles and there are some monster cuts in them. The fixie is now running a set of the Specialized all-conditions Armadillos (23c), which I picked up on the cheap at the LBS. I think they're great tires. The road feel is nothing I'd race on, but for commuting and riding around town, they're great. As for colors . . . the sidwall of the Armadillo's is a dusty red color. The tread itself is black with a bit of a directional pattern.

BTW: I had a (yes, one) gatorskin on the back of the roadie for a while after I toasted another rear tire on a piece of a broken bottle. I thought it was a fine tire. I never had a flat on it in the 2 years I rode it and I thought it handled fine. Is it just me, or are your impressions of handling with tires very different, front and back? I feel like I'm always more conscious of the handling on the front wheel than I am in the rear. Just curious.

its nothing to be ashamed of, we all come that way.

*checks clipboard*

Mmhmm ... that's 2 points for that one. Nicely played.

I was running Kenda Kontender tires for a really long time. They have a nice feel to them (not the best), but I never flatted them even once and put a ridiculous amount of skidding into them, without too much wear and tear. Recently I got a new wheelset and decided to upgrade and put on some continental grand prix 3000's. They feel great and they are nice and fast and I haven't flatted those yet either, but after just a few days of skidding I noticed some serious missing rubber and have since stopped skidding on them (they are darnded expensive and I don't want to burn through them before I have to). I don't know if anyone else has ridden on the kenda kontenders but I'd reccomend them and they are well priced as well and can handle 125 psi.

the fortezzas, which have been mentioned by a few people, are super nice tires -- very smooth and fast -- but get destroyed very very quickly skipping and skidding (at least in my experience). i don't think that i would buy them again for a brakeless fixed.

Vittoria USED to make the "Courier" model, which was my fave. Came in rad colors (nicest green tires I've seen), lasted forever, a bit stiff and heavy but also with some responsiveness to them. Haven't been able to find them at the lbs or online for a while though.

Right now I have the Continental UltraSports on my Steamroller and whatever IROs are coming with these days on my Jamie Roy (<plug> which, by the way, I'm selling soon since it's a bit too big and I want to follow things to the letter for my back's well-being </plug>). The UltraSports seem to work just fine and give a pretty nice ride, but they are a bit heavy (they're also 700x28, go figure).

That said, I'm switching to Michelin rubber as soon as I wear the Contis out. I've heard nothing but good things about Michelin (Axial) Carbons - long-wearing, very durable, light (235 g in 700x23), with decent feel and rolling resistance. Their "race" tire, the Pro Race2, also seems to be just/nearly as good as the vaunted GP3000. I have the low-end Dynamics on my (girlfriend's, now) Giant, and they've been super, especially given their price.

If you want the absolute bestest ****-off option (for clinchers), then I think there's no question that the new Conti GP4000 is the way to go. It's $55 per tire, but it gives you the puncture resistance of something tough like the Carbon, with a rolling resistance and weight better than almost any tire out there.

absntr, out of curiosity, why bother with the Megamiums? For a little more you could get the Carbon or Pro Race2, which seem to be much better tires.

absntr, out of curiosity, why bother with the Megamiums? For a little more you could get the Carbon or Pro Race2, which seem to be much better tires.

Hey PSN -

I've looked at the Carbon Axial's and I like what I've read and heard, however two nitpicks, one larger than the other:

1) It's a pretty damn bald tire. I don't know if you've seen them but they're slick all round. Reviews I've read say all of that good stuff but the cons here at that they completely suck in the rain (causing two reviewers to slide out on corners at slower speeds) and in the snow or ice just fail. With the upcoming winter, it's not something I want in a tire. I need something stickier or grippy. I've ridden them on steaktaco's commuter and they just don't have a nice feel - they're like Armadillos, sort of dense and dead.

2) That yellow stripe - major aesthetic faux pas on my ride. That's the minor nitpick. ;)

I've looked into the ProRace 2, and I'm considering that for my front. However, my choices are too keep my tires at about $30 dollars average. Going by this, at Biketiresdirect(.com), they have a large assortment of tires at good cheaper prices.

Megamiums I've heard, have a great balance between feel and durablity and price. Biketiresdirect lists them at $25.99. The Conti Grand Prix's are the same price. A folding Gatorskin is 33.95 while a wire bead is 27.95. I'd sort of like my tires to match somehow so I'm considering the Grand Prix up front and as always a Gatorskin in the rear. The Gatorskins hold up very well in the winter, rain and snow so I'm sticking with that for flat protection. Most of road feel comes from the front tire where you arms absorb that and flats occur less often there thus a nice "feel" up front gives you just that.

Fair enough. For issue #1, the full slick pattern (or lack thereof) on the Carbon doesn't bother me, but then again, I'm not looking to ride on it in bad weather conditions, as being a true Cali kid, I hate the rain/cold/whatever. Michelin actually makes another tire (the Pro2 Grip) that is optimized for wet conditions, should you still be interested. For issue #2, 700x23 conveniently also has a red stripe option. I like red. My helmet is red. MIT (cycling) color is red (and white). I can live with that. You're right - yellow is always iffy. You need to have (or ride, in this case) something truly bold to justify its use.

I started a thread a few weeks back about tires. There are a few good reccomendations and opinions in there.

Here it is:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=131621

whatever the shop i work at has in the trash. gatorskins,rubinos,michelin prorace,armidillos, and most recently a 28c bonty

I'm going to second you on this one Dave. I gots one of dems and I just love it to death. No flats, no noticable wear, and they're pretty darn cheap.

I third it. I've not gotten any flats whatsoever and I've riddent over glass and sharp things and it's just great. The price wasn't that bad either. I love em. No Flats!

I use IRC Triathlon/Kevlar tires as I can get matching for front (27x1") and rear (700x25c). They are relatively cheap at $15 ea.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=121&subcategory=1085&brand=&sku=1899&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

No flats in 2200mi. I am not sensitive enough to know if they handle/ride better or worse than Gatorskins.

Al

I use IRC Triathlon/Kevlar tires as I can get matching for front (27x1") and rear (700x25c). They are relatively cheap at $15 ea.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=121&subcategory=1085&brand=&sku=1899&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

No flats in 2200mi. I am not sensitive enough to know if they handle/ride better or worse than Gatorskins.

Al


I'm trying out new Schwalbe Stelvios at the recommendation of an LBS owner. Like the above, not sure if I can tell whether they are better or worse than the Gatorskins I too am used to riding on.

I love my pasela tourguards (700x25 @ 115psi), though the kevlar wasn't quite able to stop the 16P nail that went through the thickest part of the tread, the tube twice, and out the sidewall last night. Patched up the tube and the tire is holding fine for now, even around those large holes, no bulging.

I use Performance Forte GT-2 Kevlar (wire bead, kevlar belt) http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=4664&subcategory_ID=5420 on my IRO. They are 700x28, but they are a little narrow for a 28. They also come in a 25 which is about the same as most 23's. They are heavy, web says a 28 weighs 320 grams, but the wrapping the tire came in says 400? I use Performance thorn proof tubes which are a whopping 275 grams each. The combination doesn't feel that heavy, but it is my training & commuting bike so who cares. The tires seem to handle quite well with good traction wet or dry. Excellent mileage, I have about 2500 miles on them & they show very little wear. I've ridden through lots of glass but I have yet to have any flats on them. I just bought 10 more (7 bikes total we have of which 3 are fixed) for $9.96 each.

whats the most skid proof tire i can order but in RED. i know its stupid but im just curious.

Not to be a basher but, don't buy Schwalbe Blizzards. They wear out way too fast.
I could not get 180+ miles out of those on two consecutive sets (and I rarely skid)

I just put on a set of Rubinos with the kevlar middle surface, so no durability verdict yet. They were dirt cheap but a serious pain to mount, 700x23 on a 22 mm (outside with) Fir Mt232.

I ended up throwing two brand new tubes and two different(x2) so-called extra low profile kinds of rim strips in the garbage and that was just to get the damn thing on the rim. Then I had eight flats in three days thank you very much. Needless to say I 'grew a bit upset' .

At 120 psi, the tube just pushed the strip to a sorry bunch of what it was: a very flexible, gooey variety of plastic not doing what it was supposed to do: covering the spoke hole eyelets. Turned out the eyelets on the Fir were so sharp that I could only avoid inside flats by using the original thick cotton rim tape i started with in the first place. Great.

Fortunately, I could fit the tire more easily after it had been mounted two or three times. Has anyone ever experienced the mounting problem with the Rubinos (not the flats, they were due to the Fir)

whatever the shop i work at has in the trash. gatorskins,rubinos,michelin prorace,armidillos, and most recently a 28c bonty

I found two hardly used Megamiums in blue (the exact tires I use anyway) in the trash at my shop. Working at a shop totally effing rules for salvaging tires.

jamtastic. i would recommend vittoria rubino pros. not slicks. great ride. not to bad in price hold. up fair in a skid and.. come in red.

much abliged sir.

I love my pasela tourguards (700x25 @ 115psi), though the kevlar wasn't quite able to stop the 16P nail that went through the thickest part of the tread, the tube twice, and out the sidewall last night. Patched up the tube and the tire is holding fine for now, even around those large holes, no bulging.
I got ya on this one, I just posted the story on the Commuting forum as it happened yesterday. Nail went thru the tire, the tube, the inner rim wall and the outer rim wall (Mavic MA3) and came out between two spokes on the inside of the rim.

Al

jamtastic. i would recommend vittoria rubino pros. not slicks. great ride. not to bad in price hold. up fair in a skid and.. come in red.

I've got two sets of 'em collecting dust at my crib, one pair yellow, the other red. The yellow ones are new, the red about 25 miles before I switched back to Gators. I've got like 25 or so pairs of different tires 'cause I too used to work at a bike shop. My discount was pretty much like 2 fer 1, so I stocked up for the only reason being that I'm a pack rat.
Oh yeah, I've also got some Bontrager Hardcase tires, 700x23c, and 25s, if anyone wants to trade or something. PM me if interested.

Yo Jams, the Continental website implies that they can make all of their tires (read...gatorskins) in all types of colors an an LBS can order them...check this (http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tips/bikestyling_en.html) out.

Edit: I just noticed this is a really old post, but whatever.

Theres a pretty sizeable hole-ish thing in my rear from god knows what

You think it could be skidding? :rolleyes:

Again, rant about Hungarian shops... they stock nothing of quality at any reasonable price. But I might order a super-sexy ultralight seatpost from Germany very soon (check it out (http://www.bike-x-perts.com/en/product_info.php/products_id/127194?osCsid=37326bea665a1a334ddb76115fcec518) ), and they have tyres fairly cheap as well.
Question is, if I throw in a pair with the order, should it be folding Rubino Pros for 20 Euros each, or folding Gatorskins for 24 a piece? Weight is, surprisingly, pretty much the same, the Vittoria looks better, and both are said to be durable and flat-proof. Is the gatorskin noticeably more bombproof? I'm unsure after reading comments on roadbikereview.com: many say it proved to be a flat magnet. Is there a noticeable difference in wet grip between the two?

i run bontrager race lites in front and back. they last a long time, feel good for skidding, and it sounds like they cost lest than the other tires y'all are talking about ($30 a piece).

$30 is a bit more than 20 Euros for a folding Rubino...

i freakin' LOVE these things http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=121&subcategory=1085&brand=&sku=11667&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

they aren't light, but they're very tough, and at $19.95, the price is doable

I disagree on the point that Conti Grand Prix's are not durable. I have been using a set since April with no problems at all. In fact, I think the only flat I have had was a pinch due to being forced into a pothole. I don't live in a proper city, but I do have to frequently ride past frat houses on glass filled streets. The number of times I have gotten home and picked a chunk of glass out of my still intact tire is rather impressive.

{edit**
After thinking about this I want to point out that no, of course these tires are not the most study out there. However, I am willing to accept slightly faster wear for the feel that they give...which is far and away the best I have ever riden.

I am using Michelin Carbons right now. They're very hard and holding up great.

when I decided to put together a 700c coaster project I figured i should buy the cheapest tire i could. I was planning on doing a lot of skiding. That was early summer and the tire has been used almost every day since and it is still in ride-able shape.

The tire that I got was 7$ (on sale, but should be cheap anyway) and from performance it is called the forte gt4 (I think)

it is not a "good" tire, but it is ok and lets out a satisfying buring rubber smell when you hockey stop (I do this all the time).

btw. In my experience the single most effective way to avoid a flat while ridding around debris (e.g. any where in a city) is to make sure your tires are pumped all the way up. I am sure some tires are better than others, but that little thing will make a huge diffrence