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Road tires for a 215lb rider

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Road tires for a 215lb rider

Old 12-09-11, 03:24 PM
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Road tires for a 215lb rider

I finally took the plunge today (well, a minor plunge), and retrieved my unused-for-almost-14-years Bianchi Eros from where it was stored. I've asked some questions about it here, and got sufficiently pumped up by the answers to decide to take it out of mothballs, even if I do weigh 64 lbs more now than when I used to ride it.

I'm going to try to save the wheels - I'll need to sand some gouges out of one of the rims, where it hit some cobblestones the last time I rode it. But they're decent wheels, with 32 spokes front and back, so I think they'll be strong enough to support me. But obviously, after 14 years of sitting, the tires and tubes are toast.

It currently has 700 x 25c tires on it. I plan to ride it on the road, but also maybe on some MUPs that are, IIRC, a mixture of paved and not so paved. What would be good tires to get? Should I stay with the 700x25, or go to 700x28? I don't think bigger tires will fit - there's not a lot of clearance there now.
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Old 12-09-11, 03:28 PM
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I use 700 X 28's on my road bike and touring bike.
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Old 12-09-11, 03:38 PM
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Continental Gatorskin comes in 23, 25, and 28
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Old 12-09-11, 03:47 PM
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I would give the Vittoria Rubinos a go, not the rubino pro's They can be bought online for 49.00 / pair - free shipping - lots of colors.. Here is where I buy mine..

https://www.ebay.com/sch/wheelandspro....c0.m270.l1313
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Old 12-09-11, 04:34 PM
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If you can go to the 700x28 then I see no reason for not giving them a whirl. They should provide a slightly less harsh ride (in theory) with no rolling resistance penalty than 23mm or 25mm although none of those tire widths are well suited for off-road.

I'd venture to say that I doubt many people would notice / feel / sense any difference between a 25mm and 28mm 700 road tire of the same make / model.
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Old 12-09-11, 05:27 PM
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Originally Posted by socalrider
I would give the Vittoria Rubinos a go, not the rubino pro's They can be bought online for 49.00 / pair - free shipping - lots of colors.. Here is where I buy mine..

https://www.ebay.com/sch/wheelandspro....c0.m270.l1313
Are the these the same as the Vittoria Rubino Tech tires?
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Old 12-09-11, 08:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Seve
If you can go to the 700x28 then I see no reason for not giving them a whirl. They should provide a slightly less harsh ride (in theory) with no rolling resistance penalty than 23mm or 25mm although none of those tire widths are well suited for off-road.
In a double-blind test, I doubt I could feel the difference between a 23, 25, and 28mm version of the same tire. I've settled on using 700x25s because there's a better selection of tires than 700x28 and I can almost imagine that they provide a smoother ride than 700x23... I like Continental and Vittoria tires; haven't been terribly impressed with the Michelins I've tried.
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Old 12-09-11, 09:37 PM
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Originally Posted by tony_merlino
Are the these the same as the Vittoria Rubino Tech tires?
I have never ridden the techs.. I have ridden the rubino's (wire bead) and rubino pro (folding / lighter) version.. I usually will put a rubino on the rear and rubino pro on the front, the pro's are a lighter weight and grip great in the corners, but the pros can be prone to flats if using on the rear if you are 200+ like most of us on here.
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Old 12-10-11, 07:46 AM
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The Bontrager Race Lite 700 x 25 which came on my Lemond Tourmalet lasted 4000 miles. Mostly road, but some crushed limestone trail. (The Illinois Prairie Path) I weigh 240.
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Old 12-12-11, 11:14 AM
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Michelin pro3 or pro4 at 23 or 25.
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Old 12-12-11, 01:13 PM
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I'm a fan of the Panaracer Pasela and Pasela TG tires. Available in 25mm width, I've had great luck with them (in a 32mm) on terrain all the way up to 12+ miles of loose gravel forest service roads on a backwoods mountain pass. They have a light tread to them which is good for fire-road and grass path "off roading", but I wouldn't suggest them for anything beyond what you're comfortable subjecting a road bike to.
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Old 12-12-11, 01:37 PM
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A lot fo tires say 28 but are actually 26 or 27c...

If you can find a larger tire, I'd do that.

The Conti GP 4 Season comes in a 28 but Contis usually run small.
And it only weighs 250gr.
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Old 12-12-11, 01:43 PM
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I had 700x28s on my CX bike most of the time I had it. They worked on a gravel rails-to-trails in the mountains around here. A few times they were a bit dicey in deep gravel, but even then they managed to keep me upright. These days I do some light gravel on 700x23s.

If you don't go wider than 25 mm, try GP4000s, but, if you do, get them from a shop in England. The LBSes around Seattle charge $75 per tire, while Ribble and PBK tend to charge more like $35.
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Old 12-12-11, 03:04 PM
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It turns out my memory was not so good when it came to the MUPs I was thinking of - I just read that they're just about all gravel - about 50 miles of it. So maybe the road bike is not such a great choice for them... Since they're mostly flat, my heavy "dorkcycle" will probably be ok. So I'll probably be exclusively be riding the road bike on roads. From the responses, it sounds like any reasonable quality road tire will do.

Thanks everyone!
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Old 12-12-11, 03:12 PM
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Need the wheel truing to be maintained, that will help you not break spokes.
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Old 12-12-11, 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
Need the wheel truing to be maintained, that will help you not break spokes.
It's the tension that matters, not the true.
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Old 12-12-11, 08:37 PM
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Yeah Conti Gatorskins are good if you don't like to fix flats.
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Old 12-13-11, 09:33 AM
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I have a similar bike to yours, an 12 year old Bianchi Veloce. Wheels have been holding up just fine. I normally buy 25's or 28's for it. Bought the cheapo store brand tires from Performance earlier in the year and they lasted somewhere between 700-800 miles, then I had a blowout. There is also a lot of bike trail maintenance going on here, so frequently getting off onto gravel no doubt wore them out sooner. I replaced them with some Vittoria's with a slightly heavier tread pattern and will pay more careful attention to the condition of the tires.
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Old 12-13-11, 01:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Yo Spiff
I have a similar bike to yours, an 12 year old Bianchi Veloce. Wheels have been holding up just fine. I normally buy 25's or 28's for it. Bought the cheapo store brand tires from Performance earlier in the year and they lasted somewhere between 700-800 miles, then I had a blowout. There is also a lot of bike trail maintenance going on here, so frequently getting off onto gravel no doubt wore them out sooner. I replaced them with some Vittoria's with a slightly heavier tread pattern and will pay more careful attention to the condition of the tires.
Was the Veloce of that time the double crank with Mirage components? The Eros I have was the one they made the year they brought production back to Italy, and was their Mirage-equipped triple.

I've got nearly 14 year old Vittorias on my bike right now, but they're probably brittle. I'm tempted to just get some new tubes and see what happens. I mothballed the bike exactly one ride after fixing it up after an accident - the tires were ridden on only once, for less than 20 miles - those tires were brand new. The front wheel had just been rebuilt, and the components were upgraded to Chorus with the insurance money from the accident. I crashed the bike on its maiden ride after being fixed up - wasn't looking and hit a cobblestone curb.
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Old 12-13-11, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by tony_merlino
I finally took the plunge today (well, a minor plunge), and retrieved my unused-for-almost-14-years Bianchi Eros from where it was stored. I've asked some questions about it here, and got sufficiently pumped up by the answers to decide to take it out of mothballs, even if I do weigh 64 lbs more now than when I used to ride it.

I'm going to try to save the wheels - I'll need to sand some gouges out of one of the rims, where it hit some cobblestones the last time I rode it. But they're decent wheels, with 32 spokes front and back, so I think they'll be strong enough to support me. But obviously, after 14 years of sitting, the tires and tubes are toast.

It currently has 700 x 25c tires on it. I plan to ride it on the road, but also maybe on some MUPs that are, IIRC, a mixture of paved and not so paved. What would be good tires to get? Should I stay with the 700x25, or go to 700x28? I don't think bigger tires will fit - there's not a lot of clearance there now.
If you weigh 215 I'd doubt you'd have any problems unless you go for serious lightweight tyres and even then I'd expect you'd be OK.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked but I hope it's relevant. The Specialized Borough CX tyres that came with my Tricross took my weight just fine - I only swapped them out because I wanted the puncture protection of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres. They also take my weight just fine. I'm about 240 now, I don't think I've weighed over about 250 since I bought the tricross. My tyres are 700x32.
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Old 12-13-11, 02:45 PM
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My take on tires is that if you can afford race tires use them all the time. There is no point in using "training" tires unless you can't afford race tires. Gator skins and other trainer tires are hype and don't handle as well as race tires IMHO and experience.
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Old 12-13-11, 03:30 PM
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Originally Posted by tony_merlino
Was the Veloce of that time the double crank with Mirage components? The Eros I have was the one they made the year they brought production back to Italy, and was their Mirage-equipped triple.
It's the triple. Actually, the shop was nice enough to do some swapping for me. They only had the triple in stock in yellow, and if I was buying a Bianchi, it had to be Celeste. They swapped the parts around with a celeste frame for me. Might have worked out better for them anyway. Probably fewer people wanting triples on a bike like that.
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Old 12-13-11, 04:40 PM
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I run 700x28 tires on my road wheels and I think they work great. I had to use liners in mine to keep from getting flats all the time though. Before I put them in, I had 3 flats in 2 days, while commuting to & from work. Since putting them in, I haven't had a flat since. I have a second set of wheels that I run cyclo-x tires on, for the spring when there is lots of gravel on the street.
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Old 12-19-11, 10:31 AM
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700x28 will be fine - I ride 28s at >234# (106Kg) on fair roads at low speed - I would suggest just going with the cheaper tires at first...

Here is a fair deal - Use the coupon word "SPIKIT" for an online discount...

https://www.bikemanforu.com/products/...Rimstrips.html

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Old 12-19-11, 10:45 AM
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Thanks, everyone. I wound up going with the Vittoria Rubinos, at 25c. I've still got a few maintenance sorts of things to do before that bike is ready to go back on the road, but I'm expecting to be able to give it a spin before the year is out, weather permitting.
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