Road Cycling - Decision on new tires- please help

Ok, please be patient.

I've pulled up old threads on this, but I still need some help for a decision. I've read the pros and cons, but if you all wouldn't mind spitting them out for me one more time, I'd appreciate it.

After today's incident, where my back tire blew, and this guy helped me to get my tire changed (actually, he did all the work while I provided the visual entertainment!! :lol: ), I decided I'd had it with these Continential tires. I have the Continential 1000 sport tires and I hate them. My old tires I think had the kevlar beads and were so easy to take off I didn't even need a tire lever to take it off. I'm tired of fighting the tire to get it on and off.

I don't have a lot of money to spare, but I would like a tire that is a decent road tire that performs like the Continential (or better) with speed- I just changed my tires to the 700 X 23 tires, and the speed I've gotten just from going from the 700 X 26 to the 700 X 23 is impressive. I want a tire I don't have to wrestle with to get on and off. I don't want to have to build an alter and sacrifice a chicken and pray to God that he grant me the strength and energy to change a flat. I liked my old tires- in no more than 10 minutes, I could have the rear tire changed and ready to ride, and less than 5 minutes for the front tire. I am frustrated and I give up.

So, keeping in mind my budget, can you give me some recommendations? I'd like to order my new tires on Wednesday afternoon after I finish my ride.

Thanks in advance and thanks for your patience!

Koffee

P.S. What sucks more than anything is that other than getting them on and off, the Continential tires are perfectly fine, and I can't believe I'll be throwing away a perfectly good set of tires!

The best value in road tires right now are the Specialized Turbo Cipollini and the Bontrager Race Lite (not the Race X Lite). We sell both for about $30. They're good, wear well and have excellent cornering performance in most conditions. They're also kevlar bead and get onto the rims without too much fuss. My personal favorite tires are Conti Grand Prix 3000s. They cost a bit more, but I find that they wear much longer than most other road tires.

Koffee, if you don’t own a set already, try Parks metal tire levers, they are cheaper than a new set of tires and should provide you with enough leverage to put on and take off your Conti 1000’s.

Hey Peloton- do you know if those tires puncture easily?

I had almost no flats on my last tires until I wore them down to the threads. Those were some good tires, man. I believe they were Hutchinsons, but I don't know exactly which Hutchinsons they were. They were just puncture resistant, it seems and lasted an entire year with lots of miles under the belt, and they just came off as smooth as I could pick my thumb under the tire and just pull. It was almost like peeling a banana. Dang, I miss those tires! :cry:

Conti Ultra Gatorskins are really puncture resistant and they ride really good. They are a little heavy but I think they are worth it. I used them here in New Orleans and the only flat I got was a hyperdermic(sp?) needle.

Oh yea and I did not have a hard time putting them on either.

I'll put in for the Kenda Kaliente with their flat protection system. Should be around $30 and they're about as light as it gets. Mine are wearing well in their first 600 miles of my experiment.

The Continental GP3000 are a very good tyre that have a kevlar bead and are foldable, so they are easy to get on and off. I don't know how much they cost in $US though.

CHEERS.

Mark

My vote goes with the Michelin Carbon. Kevlar belt, foldable. 700Cx23, no flats yet... Just changed from Specialized New Turbo 700Cx26C... The ride seems nice with the new Carbons.

I've heard good things about the Vredestein Fortezza Road product too - however it's not imported into Australia so I can't comment.

Good luck and good to hear about your good fortune with the puncture repair service :)

I like Michelin Wildgripper City's. Great tyre.

Koffee

These are the best clinchers (imho) at a great price. They are not the current 2003's but they still give an incredible ride.
These also go on and off w/o effort

vittoria corsa (http://www.supergo.com/itemdisplay.asp?itempageitemid=21964)

I’ve always had great luck with the Continental GPs too. Currently, I’m using the Continental Ultra 2000s. They were less expensive than the GPs. I don’t carry tire irons either. When I remove the tire I don’t “peel it off”, I usually just grab the entire tire with both hands opposite the valve stem and pull the whole thing (tire and tube) down and toward me. It just pulls the whole thing off. When I’m putting it back on the last little bit can be hard. To finish getting the tire on the rim I’m usually sitting down with the wheel in my lap working with both hands until you get to the last little bit. Then I just sort of squeeze the tire with both hands (thumbs on the back of the rim all 8 fingers squeezing the tire) and pull/roll the whole thing back on the rim. It sometimes helps if you grunt or scream just a bit. If your hands just aren’t large enough or you just have a really tough tire make sure you hold the part of the tire that’s on with one hand and work the tire lever toward that hand from the opposite direction or you’ll just be pushing the gap around the tire. Some tires just don’t work well with some rims.


Good Luck

So there you go... a whole bunch of options. The Bontragers have a 170 thread-per-inch casing, which should impart some puncture resistance, and the Specialized has the "Flak Jacket" puncture protection strip, which seems to work (or so our customers say). Neither seem to be terribly prone to flatting or punctures, so I think they're a good bet.

Keep in mind that all tires will puncture if you go over enough glass, thorns, etc. The best thing to do is to remember to wipe your tires when you go over crud and wipe them down with a damp cloth at the end of your ride to get whatever naties might be sticking into the tread.

Thanks for everyone's responses! I will take a look at all of them in-depth and get online with my favorite online store and order them this afternoon.

Dang, I just hate the tires I have right now. :(

Koffee:

Consider Michelin Megamium http://cycleus.webmichelin.com/tires/megamium.htm

I have these on two different bikes and have been very pleased with them. They are easy to install and remove and my LBS sells them for $29.95 (for price comparison purposes).

Regarding your old tires - list them on Joe's new bicyclebid.com web site :)

Zack

just a side note, if you're looking for some premium tires, Ebay has some great deals, i got a pair of Michelin Pro Race for $60(includes shipping) on ebay

you can get a pair of Conti GP3k for around $70(includes shipping)

Koffee...

i've been rockin the Vittoria Rubino Kevlar beaded tires for about a year on my old bike, and with about 900 miles... no flats... I got thm at my LBS for $25 a piece... I wanna say that either Nashbar, or performance just had them on sale... I'd recommend those... I was happy.. as long as I don;t have to worry about flats, or getting the tire up and over the rim, them i'm all good

Jeff

I use and am very happy with the performance of the Conti Ultra Gator wire bead 700x25.
To address the issue of struggling with the tire.
What works for me is: Put the tire on the ground with the valve stem up. Starting at the bottom left, push as much tire up to the valve as you can making sure the beads are in the center of the rim and hold it. Go to the right and do the same thing.
Now you have both sides of the tire at the valve. Simply pull the bead closest to you over the rim and remove the entire side.
It is not necessary to carry tire irons. I learned this technique after I snapped three tire irons trying to get a pair of Conti slicks off my mountain bike.

I put Vredstein Fortezza 700x25 on my wife's bike; and I'm jealous! Absolutely
fantastic tire.

I got tires! Thanks for the suggestion!

With regards to getting the tires off- try a Continential sports 1000 tire sometime- it is a lot harder than just pushing the tire up to the valve- I've had guys at the bike shop literally struggling to get the damn tires off my bike, and the guy at the path had to use one of my flat wrenches and a tire lever in order to get the tire off. Those wire bead tires are just difficult to remove. With all that hassle, and trying to "scheme" on a way to best get the tire off, etc., it's better for me to just buy new tires. I'm going back to the kevlar's....

Koffee

So,

what tires did you get? :D

Marty

Lotek- stop teasing! ;)