deejay21

After riding the harsh streets of Denver (and numerous flats on my bike as well as my wife's), we splurged and each got a set of Specialized Armadillo tires. This morning my 9 mile commute was the first run. To be honest, the ride this morning suuuuuucked. The tires did absord a lot of the jolts that my Specialized All-Conditions didn't, but the ride was a lot slower. I mean a lot. Like the sort of ride where you're looking at the brakes just to make sure they're not clamped down. My usual commute of 45 minutes turned into an hour, and so I am wondering if these are going to stay like this, or if they'll break in after a bit (hopefully not a lot longer!). I want to like them, and have the great protection, but I don't know how long I can keep up a miserable commute in them. They are 28c size - I know I can exchange them, but would like the input of others beforehand. Thanks guys you rock!

FlowerBlossom

What size Specialized were you riding? 28s?

And, apologies in advance for asking the "stupid questions", but, did you inflate them fully? I don't remember off-hand what the psi is, my tires aren't in front of me so I can't double-check myself, but I know they are high-pressure (90-110? someone correct me please!), and just 10lbs under makes a big difference.

knobster

I have heard they have much more rolling resistance and like you I have noticed mine was slow.. Faster than the MTB nobbies that the replaced though. They have become quicker, but to tell you the truth, it might be I'm just getting stronger...... I prefer the hazard protection over the speed... I save the speed for my weekend rides on my roadie..

Edit: Yes, like flowerblossom said, check your pressure. I run mine at the maximum.

Scorer75

I run mine over max stated pressure.

I have had 2 experiences and 1 observation with mine that are worth sharing.

1. They lose pressure quickly. My tires will lose 10+ lb. overnight from 125 or so to 110 is normal.

2. Running these at pressures lower than you are used to, or unused to since they are new, feels slow and sloppy. I ran out of my house theother day to try and get some srints in before it started raining, and pulled over a block later. I could have sworn I had a flat. I just hadn't inflated the tires before I left and they were at 110psi. They felt terrible. I used my frame pump to getthem up to pressure and they rode nomral after that.

Observation: Having gotten my bike with armadillos on them, the older tires were much less rigid than my new ones. If this is what you consider "breaking in" than I would assume they will soften for you. I don't know how much or how long it will take though.

They are great tires and I wouldn't trade them for the speed of a quicker tire.

deejay21

Yep - Inflated to max (100 psi) last night. That was one of the things that got me confused - I'll check them when I get home and see what's up. True enough about the hazard protection, the ride just was brutal this morning.

aadhils

They don't lose pressure quickly for me. Infact thats what I like about em. You Inflate the tires to 125 PSI? The Max is 110 PSI.

banerjek

The Armadillo is a slow tire with a crummy ride, but they're not that slow. On a 9 mile ride, I'd expect to lose maybe a minute but probably not as many as 2 if they are properly inflated. I think something else was going on and suspect the riding conditions and/or the rider.

cgchambers

Keep the tire pressure maxed, as said above I have found that really helps with the speed issue. They are a lot heavier, and they are a rough d@mn ride as well. (of course maxing the pressure won't help this) For me it is definetley worth the trade off, no flats since I put these tires on!

knobster

Yeah, maybe he's got a leak!!

genec

Actually the tires shouldn't affect pressure much at all... it is the tubes that hold the air, the tires simply hold the tubes.

avmanansala

I put Armadillos on my bike when I first bought it, I only had the stock tires, for a week before I swapped these on. I live a new development that still has a lot of construction going on so I have to contend with screws, nails, staples, glass, gravel, and thorns. I went more for puncture protection than speed. I inflate them to 110 psi for every ride. I have noticed that after the first 100 miles or so my times got better, of course, I could have gotten stronger (I'm a noobie). Give it some time, they may work well for you. YMMV.

ducati

It's not the tires, I bet. It's you. You're either 1) tired (as in lack of sleep) 2) need a rest, or 3) simply in a bad mood.

I've gone from 23s at 120 psi to 32 knobblies at 80psi with less than a minute commute time difference over a 14 mile commute. Tires matter, sure, but how you feel is a much bigger factor, IMO.

I will assume the pressures were set correctly, just before the ride (I do this every day, as mine always lose 10lbs or so). Also, it is possible your seat slipped down lower than normal. That would certainly make for a nasty, tiring day. One more thing to check: when you put your wheel back on, could it have not been centered exactly the same? Could the brake have actually been rubbing?

My money's still on a mental or physical thing, though. I occasionally ride with a fella who has 28c armadillos and he's fast as hell.

rguysailing

I couldn't take it any longer. I bought Armadillos and road with them for 2 weeks. I finally took them off and put the old tires back on.

I have almost 4000 miles for the year so I don't think its my conditioning.

They are just SLOW

ActionJeans

Couple of things, I don't like the Speciaized Armadillo tires. They offer pretty good flat protection, but don't do well in the rain, very hard ride for 28's, and very heavy.

I am using Michelin Trans City 32's now, and at 80psi, they are faster than the Specialized. Not by much, but I can tell the rolling resistance just isn't as bad. Not sure why that would be (directional tread on Trans City, I don't think they are any lighter, rubber compound?), but it was a noticable difference. They work really, really well in the wet too, and are very comfortable (I didn't really know how much of a pounding I was taking until I switched to these tires).

So, bottom line, I went through two sets of Specialized Nimbus Armadillos, and while I didn't hate them, I won't be buying them again. They wear like iron though, and, as mentioned, do support pretty high pressures for a 28 tire. That being said, it's too slow for what it is, and not good enough in the rain for me to use on a daily basis (I don't like swapping tires unless I have too). 15 minutes is odd though... perhaps a headwind, combo of not eating enough carbs before you road, breakfast, etc, sometimes I'll feel great, but have no go in my legs. Usually can trace that back to lack of sleep, lack of carbs, lack of water, or a combo of all three.

I'd exchange them for the Michelin Trans City 28's, as they should be even faster than my 32's. Word still out on the puncture protection of these guys though. I haven't had a flat, but I've only been on them for a month. Plus, there about $10-$15 cheaper than the Armadillo's, depending on what you're paying for them.

Tom Bombadil

There is general agreement that they are on the slow side. The disagreement is that your example cited that they alone increased your commute time by 33%. That's the number that is hard to believe.

Scorer75

I guess I should have been slightly more specific.

My armadillos are 700x25 and the minimum recommended pressure is 115psi, maximum 125psi. Someties I'll go 130 or a little higher but at that point you are talking about less than a 5% increase so my feeling is it's negligible.

I do wonder about the air loss, it does seem like a lot. First of all, it's not a slow leak. It is not detectable by sparaying the tube with a soapy solution or even holding the tube under water. I do weigh 230 lb. and do hit quite a lot of holes, I wonder if that can contribute to the air loss in the tire. Any ideas???

Air

When I put them on I found them faster than my old tires since they had more of a slick pattern and had a higher PSI (1.95 x 26).

Definately less traction in the rain, but after seeing all the stuff that hasn't gone through I don't mind at all.

acidinmylegs

My experience withe 23c armadillos is that they feel like truck tires. They are slow, they are harsh, but they resist flatting very well. I swapped them out for some race tires (Michelins) and the difference was night and day. I also flatted.

GreenRiver

I pressure mine up to 125 psi - I weigh 215 lbs. I ride a "plush" geometry bike (Specialized Roubaix) - I am not a performance type of rider. The only difference that I noticed after switching to the Armadillos was not having any more flats.

markhr

stiff, yes - slow, only your own legs - just make sure they're always at 110psi+ and no problem

mister

I might be out in left field, but did you put them on going the right direction? My Armadillos are directional. I went from knobbies to Armadillos and noticed a drastic increase in speed.

froze

Uhh?? This isn't the fault of the tires, the tires don't hold air-THE TUBES HOLD AIR. Do you actually ride a bike?

froze

The Armadillos seem to feel sluggish but I knew the captain of the Team Action Sports that won the 4 man division RAAM race in 2005 and they used Armadillos on their bikes. Their theory was that if they didn't have to stop to fix flats then maybe that would give them enough edge to win; they don't know it that was why they won or not but unlike their rivals they had no flats and they won.

I use to use Armadillos when I lived in the Mojave desert area of California due to all the Goatheads and other thorns and thistles along with man made garbage and never had a flat due to road debris but once and that was due to letting an Armadillo go till the cord was showing.

The reason they ride harsh is because Specialized puts a flak jacket protection belt into the sidewall to prevent leaks and it's the only tire company that I know of except for maybe Schawabe(sp?) that does that. This sidewall is so tough that when that bald tire went flat I rode it flat slowly for 5 miles just for fun, and the sidewall withstood it, and the rim nor the tube wasn't even damaged from that stunt.

If you want a tire with the least amount flat problems to commute on then use the Armadillos, if you want a fast tire for the weekends then have another set of lighter racing tires for that purpose.

egonlou

Greenriver, I ride the Roubaix w/ armadillos as well.

I had my first puncture flat ever on the armadillos last week. I find them slower than the stock tires also, but the time and aggravation that I save in not flatting is worth it.

slowandsteady

Do YOU actually ride a bike? Sure it is the tubes that hold the air, but it is the tires that create the pressure. Having very hard stiff tires will alter the pressure of the same volume of air. Duh.