which touring/commuting tires?
 

looking to upgrade my rubber.
i now have 700x28c continental ultra sports. cheap, crappy tires.
the guy i bought the bike from put them on the bike and ive gotten 3 flats in 300-400 miles.
yes, ive put the tubes in right, trust me when i say its the tires. ive seen tons of bad reviews for them online.


i have a touring bike, what i want is some bulletproof tires that will go thousands of miles for me. im willing to shell out about $50 clams for a tire.
i think some tread will be nice because i want to use it in a variety of weather, but if the tires are treadless and do well in all weather im fine with that.
i commute, do tours, centuries, ect.

i would like the tires to absorb some amount of bumps too for a more comfy ride and so my wheels stay true longer.

im trying to decide between these continental tires:

gatorskin http://www.amazon.com/Continental-Ga...pr_product_top

top contact http://www.amazon.com/Continental-Co...ywords=700x28c

tour ride http://www.amazon.com/Continental-To...ywords=700x28c

touring plus http://www.amazon.com/Continental-To...cmu_pg__header
anyone here who can give me their 2 cents on which would best suit me/ knows of a quality tire?

thanks,
-matt

Have used Gatorskins (23mm) and Top Contacts (28mm), never found the Gartorskins to be anything special, they worked fine, but didn't find that special thing some do with them, still got punctures with them.

For the Top Contact, they feel real nice, and should do at the premium price, but really didn't like the ride the rear gave when loaded; always felt squidgy even at 60 PSI or above, swapped out to a Schwalbe Marathon Plus for the rear, Top Contact for the front, which give a great combination.

For keeping the wheel true, no tire will help significantly with this, you need well built wheel in the first place.

exactly what i was looking for. thanks.
trying to decide between top contact and touring plus
leaning towards the touring plus since im on a college budget and it seems like a good tire for $35

so why not two schwalbe marathon plus? why have the top contact in front? less rolling resistance?
now those are looking nice at $40
http://www.amazon.com/Schwalbe-Marat...eywords=700x28

Because I had a single Marathon Plus as a spare, it didn't cost anything to try, and it worked.

gonna get me a pair of schwalbe marathon plus tires.
onlookers who are wondering the same thing take note of this:
turns out after some research, that the touring plus is continental's equivalent to schwalbe's marathon plus. the marathon plus seem very widely recognized as the superior tire, if not one of the best touring/commuting tires.
check out this page: http://epicureancyclist.com/?p=855

My only complaint about the Marathons is that they are very difficult to install. I use this tool. http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...&item_id=KS-TJ

Marathon front is less grippy. Just my experience. Durable, OK ride, but not too grippy on braking, or hard cornering.

Schwalbe..........FTW

I do think Schwalbe has thoroughly graduated in puncture resistance. At the moment, they are head and shoulder above everybody else in this department. The Marathon Plus are the best-of-breed in terms of puncture protection and durability, but I would suggest to the OP the lighter (and easier to install) Schwalbe Silento. They're also cheaper than the Marathon Plus.

im all for another schwalbe tire as long as it's just as tough. i dont mind think ill mind the weight of the marathon plus (even though theyre more than twice the weight of the ultrasports i have)
but i cant find the silento in a 700x28c size, any other tires in 700x28 that may be comparable to the marathon plus in durability?
700x28 marathon plus= 740g
700x28 ultrasport= 350g

how about other tires in the marathon line? anyone?
http://www.amazon.com/Schwalbe-Marat...walbe+marathon
this is a little over 500g as opposed to the marathon plus

Regular marathons fit what you've written in your first post in this topic. Lighter than marathon plus, a little. Work fine: thornproof (tested it more than once), roll OK (not the fastest tyre), grip is OK on wet and even light snow, but on dry there are A LOT grippier tyres. I use them for commuting on bad roads (paved and not) and find them a good compromise for all weather/all kinds of road use.

Panaracer pasela tourguard 700 x35 or 32, I use the 35"s with great results.

I apologize, I was under the impression that Schwalbe Silento's are available in that width, too. Maybe they were - mine is pretty narrow (will have a look later, bike's downstairs and it's night and getting cold). Anyhow, that's academic at this point; Schwalbe changed their portfolio somewhat. I had a look at their USA website, and found a few novelties, among them a slightly improved Marathon Racer:
http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_ti...thon_racer_429
They have an ETRTO 30-622 tire, which is just slightly fatter than a 28-622. Weights only 395 g, so I think you should definitely have a looksy. In fact, I'm interested also. According to Schwalbe, the new Marathon Racer are very nicely rolling tires.

Of course, if push comes to shove, there's always the Marathon Supreme, which, as the name implies, is of supreme quality - I have a pair, I love them to bits.
http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_ti...rathon_supreme
It comes in 28-622 and weights only 310 g. It's incredible that they managed to pack that much puncture protection in such a nicely rolling and light tire!

Drawback? Expensive like hell. Which is why I am looking for half-buttocked alternatives :(

i very much appreciate all the input my friend. im thinking of getting the marathon hs 420's
http://www.amazon.com/Schwalbe-Marat...arathon+hs+420
im worried about going any bigger than 700x28, because its likely that any of these tires running 700x28 are larger than the ultrasports im running now. it would be cutting it a little close. i need the money but im thinking these will do me just fine and not weigh as much as the marathon plus, maybe handle a little better as well

if you couldnt tell im very careful about making decisions, either that or im just very bad at it :lol:

Certainly, the Marathon Plus have the harshest ride of all the Schwalbe's touring tires. But if you're buying a Marathon Plus, you don't care: you're buying a bombproof, quite literally indestructible tire that you can put on your tandem or super-loaded touring bike, and leave the spare tubes, patches and tire levers at home forever. The Schwalbe Marathon rolls smoother than the Plus, but I, for one, am going to look into the Racer. If they roll as nicely as Schwalbe claims, they might just be the tires for my commuter bikes.

I recommend Marathon Plus for people who absolutely don't want a puncture and don't want the hassle of fixing one. These people include users of IHG/hub brake utility bikes, commuters and tourists with no mechanical skill, folding bike commuters, commuters who ride in suits.
My own choice of tyre is plain Marathon. I can fix a puncture if I have to but they are quite a rare event.
Marathon is a good general purpose tyre but there are faster options if you prefer to ride century style endurance events.

I have friends that rode from the Southern tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska using Marathon Plus and raved about them. Good enough recommendation for me. If I do that ride next week I'll get some MPs... :)

I'd not suggest any Continental tire. I've had nothing but problems with them. I've had Top Contact tires that blew off the rim at even the hint of the recommended pressure. They blew through 4 tubes on the first day of a tour, leaving me stranded 25 miles away from the start. I had to carry no less than 6 tubes the rest of the tour and pump the tires up to less than 70 lb which is 20 lb below the recommended pressure. It made for a very squishy 500 mile tour.

I've had Top Touring that cracked and then blew out the sidewall...thankfully, I wasn't on the bike!

And on my last tour, the new Top Contacts I bought at about the midway point did this in less than 200 miles

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/IMG_0119.jpg

The outer tread split exposing the inner liner and the inner casing. The split was likely caused by an impact with a rock or a pothole. I probably could have ridden it for the remaining 500 miles but I didn't really trust it. I replaced it with a HelMart Bell Ton 'o Bricks tire that was superior in every way.

The tires I replace after about 800 miles of glass strewn road was a set of Michelin Lithion which were really good tires. I should have kept them but they were looking a little worn. I'd go with them again.

Are those Conti Top Contact tires made in India?

EDIT: I had a look, and Top Contact tires are horribly expensive!?

No idea where they were made but I'm not buying any more of them.

well i just went for a 30 mile ride today, lucky i got that far.
i stopped at a coffee shop in the city and had some tea, after about an hour i realized my rear was flat.
so, at exactly 316.1 miles on conti ultrasports, i have had 4 flats.... :thumb:

NICE! i cant even trust them for short rides. luckly i had a spare tube so i just biked to my friends house and was brought home.
dont think i trust my bike enough to ride it until i get new tires, i think its time to officially retire the ultrasports.

the rear tire tread felt about as thin as the tube itself, i cant believe i had a slow leak and not a blowout, talk about lucky

How's this old fart make it look so easy getting the Marathon Pluses on? :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

Old dude has skills!

Ultra Sports have about as little flat protection as possible, so don't be surprised if you keep getting flats. They're designed to be lightweight and fast.

At the risk of sounding condescending, how much effort to you make to steer around cracks and sharp-looking things, and to get out of the saddle when encountering bumps? (If you're rolling over everything like a sack of potatoes and not paying attention to the road, well, that's not good for tires or rims. ;))