Road Cycling - Best performing clincher tires?

Which brand/model of clincher tires would you recommend for high performance and ride quality?

vittoria open cx's are one of my favorites.

Which brand/model of clincher tires would you recommend for high performance and ride quality?

I use Conti 3000's. Ride and wear qualities are good. They have reasonable sidewall protection. To avoid flats (of which I've had very few), I am always on the lookout for glass, nails, etc. I retired my last set of Conti 3000's after about 3500 miles. They could have gone more, but I decided it was time to replace them.

I have had great luck with the Mich Pro Race. I've gone over sand and not moved off line and the person on my wheel moved 2 inches out of line in the corner. The seem to stick for me. I'm 150 lbs and have gotten great milage out of them.

For strickly high performance you can't beat Conti SuperSonics. Conti rates their rolling risistance to be better than their tubular tire. They are extremely light 140g for a 700x20c and are rated at 170psi. I don't think you'll find a higher preformance clincher. The downside? The cut and flat just by looking at them wrong.

I have ridden on so many different tires and I really liked the Attack/Force setup. I also really like Vredstiens (sp) but they oxidised very quickly. My last set were Hutchison Carbon Comps black and they have held up well and roll nice. I just put on a set of Michellin ProRace so we'll see about those this weekend.

I have had great luck with the Mich Pro Race. I've gone over sand and not moved off line and the person on my wheel moved 2 inches out of line in the corner. The seem to stick for me. I'm 150 lbs and have gotten great milage out of them.
Very good tire, I have seen better mileage from other tires but they lacked the great handeling of Pro Race. It's all about priorities, wear vrs. performance- it's a trade off; but they do both well.

Another vote for the Hutchison Carbon Comps. I've ridden though INSANE amounts of broken glass on the side of the road and had NO flats or damage of any kind. They have a really smooth ride as well.

Michelin pro race

Switched from Conti's to Hutchinson Carbon Comp's a year or so ago. Got 2900 miles on first set before running over a knife on the road that sliced through both tires. Not one flat before that fun walk home!

From what I've used, I prefer Michelin pro race over anything else. Got 2400 off of the back (I actually rode about 100 miles with the casing showing through before I realized it) without a flat and am at 3800 with the front with no signs of a plateau forming. The Continental Grand Prix 3000 I have on the back right now has been horrible. 3 flats in only 1300 miles with one flat making a pretty nasty puncture right through the casing. I also have this feeling like I'm riding a semi flat tire sometimes.

I'm using Michelin Pro Race tires and they rock! There's often debris on the bike path where I ride, from gravel to broken glass. So far this set has 500 miles and no flats.

I use Conti 3000's. Ride and wear qualities are good. They have reasonable sidewall protection. To avoid flats (of which I've had very few), I am always on the lookout for glass, nails, etc. I retired my last set of Conti 3000's after about 3500 miles. They could have gone more, but I decided it was time to replace them.

I'm beginning to think the GP3000s are only good for the PNW. I've had excellent experiences with mine but other people elsewhere seem to be criticising them for being flat-prone. Like you, I replace around 3500 miles now. I let a pair go to well past 4000 once and got two flats in one day. The last one was a case rupture during a 40MPH descent on 228th. Ave SE near Skyline High. Luckily it was the rear and luckily I only needed to go straight.

I like the roll out on the "Attack Force" set by Conti. 700x22 front...700x23 rear.

Veloflex Corsa are the best tyres i've ever used. They're hand made in Italy and it shows, the finish on them is first class. I've found the ride quality to be wonderfully smooth and supple even though they're width is only 20 mm. I don't notice any difference in comfort between these and 23 mm for example. They're very light weighing in the region of 350 grams a pair but somehow also manage to be tough and puncture resistent. This coupled with the fact you can pump them up to a max of 135 psi and you can imagine they go like a scalded cat. They're far easier to spin up on the flat, require less effort whilst climbing and look totally classic in all black. I really don't know how those Italians do it !

I've been riding Conti GP 3000 for the past few years. Very happy with them. :beer:
My rear tire is worn down so the thread is showing in a few places so I'm going to try Vittoria Rubino Pro to see if they hold up as well since they're about $10-$15 cheaper.

My Conti 3000s are still pretty new, but I have no complaints so far. They ride more like a sew-up than anything else I've been on. No flats yet, and I ride mostly in NYC, but I'll have to say that I got more flats when I lived in the Pac NW than I ever do in NY. Lake Wash Blvd was the worst, with Eastlake/Univ being a close second. I'll take Riverside Dr and Flatbush Av anytime.

I got more flats when I lived in the Pac NW than I ever do in NY. Lake Wash Blvd was the worst, with Eastlake/Univ being a close second. I'll take Riverside Dr and Flatbush Av anytime.

Wow... I must be living in some alternate universe. The PNW has been the place I've gotten the least amount of flats. I average one flat per year now even though my mileage is up to around 6000 per year. I used to live in the midwest (grew up in the Chicagoland area) and the place I got the most flats was riding around the Detroit/SE Michigan area. I also lived in Ann Arbor.

I rode a pair of Vittoria Open Corsa Evo KS last month and they rode like a dream, but there were a couple drawbacks. One, they didn't fit my Mavic Open Pros very well and I got a flat when the rear wheel peeled off and second the material is very soft and I flatted with a three inch gash cut in the tire.

Still, the 290 TPE made the road feel like silk and I was very sorry to toss them after 200 miles. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Yup! for every day riding the Conti GP3000 can't be beat.. If you want to roll as if God eliminated friction from this world, try the Conti GP Supersonic...

When I take the tubulars off, the Open Pros with Conti 3000s go on. I have also found the Specialized Team to be higher mileage tire than the softer compound Contis. They rolled very fast with little resistance. They are about the same price (I still think that $40 and more for clinchers is crazy) and can be less common to find because the large outlets like Colorado Cyclist and Performance don't carry them

Michelin pro race