transposon

I need help choosing between these tires for commuting to work. Flat resistance is a high priority to me. I weigh ~220lbs and go by several potholes on the way to work. Can you guys help me narrow these down?

Vittoria Randonneur Cross Pro Reflective Tire - 700 x 32
Continental Ultra Gator Skin Tire - 700 x 28
Panaracer RibMo Commuting Foldable Tire - 700 x 32
bontrager hardcase race light 700x32

NormanF

I like Schwalbe Marathon 700C X30 on my Lemond Zurich. A wider tire is good for commuting!

CACycling

Andy_K 

I think they're probably all good for flat resistance. The GatorSkins or Bontrager will probably feel fastest. If you ride at night, the reflective strip on the Vittoria is very useful. The Ribmos are, in my experience, better than the GatorSkins at preventing flats and have much tougher side walls, but like I said they feel slower.

sauerwald

I love my Schwalbe Marathon Plus's for commuting - never have to worry about a flat, and they wear like iron. I have yet to get a flat on an SMP (I have them on two bikes), and I have 9,000 miles on one tire which still has life left in it.

CliftonGK1

I can't stand the Vittoria Rando-Cross tire. Pick any of the others.

- low inflation rating
- inflexible casing and sidewalls
- bead is too tight on 5 different rims I tried using

The first 2 issues lead to the tire just feeling like garbage. It's flatproof as all get out, don't get me wrong there. But you're sacrificing ride quality, and may the gods help you if you do ever need a roadside flat repair.
My vote is with the Gatorskins. Or, Pasela Tourguard 32mm. I recently switched over to those from 28mm Gatorskins.

chipcom 

Price is no object for my commuting tires....
Conti Top Contacts in 700x28 or 32 (folding bead) are the best combo of durability, puncture resistance, rolling resistance and weight.

chipcom 

+1 they came stock on my one-way and roll like bricks.

tsl

I've used both the Gatorskins and the Race Lite Hardcase.

Of those two, I prefer the Gatorskins.

Ride and puncture resistance is similar on both tires, but the Gatorskins seem to spit out little bits of glass and such, where I had to pick it out of the Bontragers.

The big difference is wear. I can't get more than 3,000 to 3,200 miles out of a rear tire on a Race Lite Hardcase before the center tread strip starts to peel off. I get 4,500 to 4,800 on the Gatorskins (rear) before the casing starts to show through.

transposon

Do you feel that the dropping in width from 32 to 28 is worth the advantages of the gatorskins?

h. bicycletus

I'm currently running RibMo 700x28's. . .they are a bit heavier than other tires and certainly not a "plush" ride, but for commuting they're fine. The 32's would be overkill for me. I was running Panaracer "T-Serv for Messenger" for quite a while and they were fine until it started raining. . .had a bunch of flats in a short time. That's not uncommon however, so isn't entirely the tire's failure. But I don't worry so much about having to ride through gutter crap on the RibMo's as I have with other tires. So far, highly recommended.

dwilbur3

I'm riding Marathon Supreme 700x35. But I understand that's a big bill and won't suit everyone. (Perfect as far as I'm concerned.)

I've also tried:
Marathon Racers (the same nice grip as the Supreme but not quite as good flat protection)
Hard Case Lite (I like the one I've got but it's a 23 so it stays on spare duty)
Transworld City (I can not recommend, too many flats per mile for my taste)
Armadillos (Love the flat protection, hate the ride, especially on wet pavement)
Kojaks (Great ride, I don't think they're supposed to be flat resistant, but my wife hasn't had a flat in 2000 miles)

The reviews here for the Gatorskins are very good. I would strongly consider them too.

shouldberiding

I've run over some pretty nasty hunks of glass with the Bontragers and no flats. That's all I can say about that.

|3iker

I'm riding Specialized All Condition Armadillo. Rolls really well. 700x25 size. Looks hot too. I'm such a tire thread *****.

Queequeg

I'm currently enjoying my commute on Michelin City tires (28s) with reflective sidewalls. Seem to ride well and claim to be puncture resistant, and I'm on some pretty rough urban roads. However I don't have much to compare them to, and some of the other tires mentioned on this thread sound interesting. Anyone ever ride the City tires? What am I missing?

dwilbur3

I'm very confused by their tire names. I had a tire called Transworld City which seems to be called World Tour now (or is that a US vs Europe thing?). (Altho it could be City I can't tell, looking at two different Michelin sites just confused me more). But the tires I had did NOT (IMHO) have very good flat protection.

corkscrew

I don't get the hate for the Vittoria Rando's. I have them on my Cannondale, my roomies have the 26" version on their mountain bikes, and a friend runs them on her Lemond. We all love them, even if they are a bit of PITA to install.

I have Pasela TG's on my Motobecane. I like them but worry about the weak sidewall.

waynesworld

I might try these someday. Or maybe the Touring Plus.

The City Contact came on my Felt, and so far they're great.

lambo_vt

Do you have the Randonneur Cross? The different Randonneurs tend to be very different, and I'll give a huge +1 to the Randonneur Cross rolling like a petrified turd -- though I didn't have the "Pro" model, and mine were 26x1.75.

I've ridden the Randonneurs and have Randonneur Hypers on my Bridgestone. Those are nothing like the Cross model.

Andy_K 

It's true that flats are more common in the rain, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that means it's not the tire's fault. Living in NW Oregon, I ride in the rain a lot. When I had Gatorskins, they were great for the first 2500 miles but then started getting flats in the rain often. By that time, they had a lot of battle scars and the sidewalls were coming apart in several places.

I've had my 700x28 Ribmos for about 1900 miles. I had one flat from a big contruction staple when they were nearly new but nothing since then. At 1900 miles, they are still performing pretty well. The rear tire is showing a little bit of wear (the siping isn't quite as deep as it once was), but I'm not at all worried.

I've also used 700x50 Marathon Supremes for just over 1000 miles, almost exclusively in the rain. They got one flat from a 1" screw at 500 miles, but nothing since. Both tires have a few small cuts in the tread where they picked up small shards of glass (which didn't cause any flats) but otherwise they mostly look like new.

transposon

ok so ive narrowed it down to these two.

Continental Ultra Gator Skin Tire - 700 x 28
Panaracer RibMo Commuting Foldable Tire - 700 x 32

i like the gatorskins better but would it be worth it to go with the ribmo for the extra width?

goalieMN

That exactly mirrors my experience.

Andy_K 

If you value comfort over speed, go with the Ribmos. If you value speed over comfort, go with the Gatorskins.

The difference in width is probably more than just a little bit. Continental tires tend to be narrower than the advertised width, so the 700x28's are probably close to 26mm wide. A guy at my LBS said my 700x28 Ribmos were some of the widest 28's he'd seen (meaning, they're actually 28mm wide).

transposon

Do both have equal flat protection?