cyclinfool

Last year we had a lot of discussion on tires, it's that time again.
I am looking at replacing my Tarmac's tires for a fast century coming up in mid July. My standard tire is the Conti Ultra-gatorshin. But in thinking a lot about how rolling resistance varies with tire selection I came across this study:
https://www.terrymorse.com/bike/rolres.html

The second graph is telling and relates in many ways to what Hermes has been saying about the effects of weight on the mere mortal rider like me.

From this study the Vittoria Open Corsa seems like the tire for me. When actually getting more specs on it I find it has good puncture resistance and a decent ride as well. It is pricey compared to the UG but 13w savings is substantial. Consider that the best cyclists over an hour TT average no more then 300W I'd be lucky to put out half that much, this could be an easy 10% performance gain. https://blog.mapawatt.com/2009/07/19/...e-power-watts/

stapfam

Tyres make for a lot more on a ride than we think. From experience you sort a tyre and width for your type of riding and stay with it. It also depends on what your LBS stocks so your choice can be limited.

I use Michelin PR2/3s and that has come from The LBS stocking and recommending them and My own personal usage. I do look for low rolling resistance and a certain amount of Puncture resistance but that article points out a few things that are worth knowing.

t4mv

Maybe you can borrow some tubulars for your ride.

George

I've been having pretty good luck with the 4000s, but I get better mileage with the 4/seasons. Oh, the 4000s ride better than any others that I've tried.

gcottay

I believe the correct spelling in England would be tybulars.

maddmaxx 

Notice that Kenda is not on the list. The lightweight Kenda Kalliente Iron Cloak are reasonably priced high performance tires indeed. They are race rubber, so don't expect to get 4000 miles out of them.

Kenda has also replaced some new versions of road tires to replace them, but I havn't got any experience with them and since I'm plumb out of road bikes, probably won't.

They certainly aren't the $14 Kenda's that come on OEM bikes.

jdon

I run GP 4000 s on my Tarmac as a great all-rounder. It has reasonably low rolling resistance and great handling. Just my preference though.

billydonn

I love the Gatorskins but love the new Schwalbe Ultremo DDs even more I think. They are pricey.

https://www.schwalbetires.com/ultremo_dd

cyclinfool

There are a lot of choices. What I found interesting is that tires you would think should have low rolling resistance actually don't. Without comparative data I am now very skeptical of any claims. I spoke to my riding buddy today, he use to run the Vittoria open corsa and really liked them but went to the Michelin Pro 2 because they were easier to get. He had not seen this data but he had figured it out anyway - my respect for his bike judgement which was high just went up another notch.

Dchiefransom

Strange that they list the Schwalbe Stelvio as having higher rolling resistance than the Stelvio Plus. Schwalbe lists the Stelvio Plus as slower.

cyclinfool

The data was from the conti test lab and done some 12 years ago - things may have changed.

Hermes

The Vittorias look good. I have not seen any data comparing them to Mich Pro Race 3 and Conti 4000 s. Also, it would be interesting to know which tubes were used in the testing butyl or latex. Most of the tests I have seen use latex tubes with the high end clincher tires.