cyrano138

I'm looking in particular at nashbar's and performance's sub-twenty dollar (each), 700x23 category. The ten dollar tires are what intrigue me most. Anyone have any experience with something this inexpensive?

cblaster

It depends if you are constantly skidding or if you are using a front brake to stop most of the time. If you skid a lot, its probably best to pay for dependable tires, but I use a front brake with cheap tires and they are fine. Cheng Shin (CST) makes cheap tires and you can find them on eBay (for $30) a pair, I heard good things about their "Czar" model tires.

cyrano138

Yeah, sorry. I should have mentioned that I don't use brakes, but I rarely have to stop short, so at most I'll find myself skipping here and there. Thanks again.

Johnny Nemo

Don't get 'cheap', get 'quality' on sale.

kurohelmet

if u dont use brakes, i wouldnt get cheap tires. or u could at least buy a good rear and a cheap front. but for the money i've enjoyed my Michelins. i forget the model, but they have a gray stripe down the center and were only 22$ each. recommended

cc700

vittoria zaffrino.

usually can be had for 15 or so.

they're sticky, work in wet, ride nicely, sturdy, and make the zippiest of sounds when you skid on them.

downside? heavy. ***** to stretch out around the wall. probably pinch flat more than some touring tires.

brandonspeck

I like my Maxxis Detonators. Probably not in the price range you're looking for though. Those are the cheapest tires I'd buy.

muckymucky

vittoria zaffrino just because its cheap and all white for me~ <3

modernfuturist

probikekit.com, free shipping from england

22 for rubino pros on the front, 24 for gatorskins on the rear. has served me well.

ADSR

Last October I bought a Specialized Armadillo and a Continental Ultrasport. The pair cost me about 60 bucks, and I'm still using them. That's about 10 dollars a month so far, with no signs of letting up. I'd say it was an economical choice.

soul05

i picked up some gatorskins at a local garage sale for 5 bucks each!

ItBeStrider

Kenda contenders.

carleton

Generally speaking, You get what you pay for (just avoid new companies that are aware of that maxim).

Better tires cost more.

Keep in mind that a good tire is one that spins with low resistance (to take advantage of the horse power that you have so graciously provided) and they grip (to keep you from donating skin samples to your local pavement).

"Skidddddd" tire are sh*t. They are just hard tires that don't grip.

I expect to pay $50 per tire. Anything less than that for a good tire is a bargain. Any more than that I need a sponsor.

BTW. Most good tire manufacturers don't bother with making various colors for their nice stuff. Also: Most manufacturers make cheap tires to cash in on brand recognition.




Basically, Caveat Emptor

cyrano138

I'm aware of this, but I'm also becoming aware of the tendency people have of exaggerating the importance of costly equipment. There were plenty of people who said my fuji track had crap components and I'd be lucky if I rode for a month before switching out most of the bike. It's been almost a year (and a couple thousand miles), and it's still completely stock, including the tires.

Granted, I might be pushing the limit of frugality with ten dollar tires, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I just figured I'd see if anyone had done the same in case I'm wrong and it's a horrible idea.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. It looks like it's a moot point for now, though; a friend at a LBS said he's going to give me some semi-expensive tires that someone retired before their time.

I'll post the results when I do go for the ten dollar tires, though, if for no other reason than to let people see the egg (or contusions) on my face.

sp00ki

it is a bad idea. replacing a tube two or three times a month is really wack, especially when you consider that a thirty dollar tire designed for durability will go over 2,000 miles without a flat.
consider this: i was riding this summer and started hearing a "tic-tic-tic-tic".
after two days of inspecting every part of my bike, i came to find that i'd been riding on a big gauge staple that started to but couldn't make it all the way through the tire and wound up being folded down.
never even touched the tube.
to this day, bontrager race lite hardcases are on every bike i own.
even if you're really good at changing tubes, you're turning a fifteen minute crosstown ride into a twenty (twenty-five for the rest of us) minute ride + adding the cost of round trip train fare three times a month (or thirty six times a year) just to save fifteen bucks.

cyrano138

spooki,

I appreciate your advice, but unless you've actually used el cheapo tires, aren't you just guessing at the frequency with which I'll be changing flats and patching tubes? You told me about your experience with nicer tires--thanks, but could've guessed what that would be like.

I guess it's possible you're intimately acquainted with tire construction and material density, composition, etc. across most brands and can base your response on theoretical (as opposed to empirical) evidence, but you haven't mentioned anything so far that makes me think this is the case.

Really, thank you for trying to help--I mean that--but I'm not convinced. There are fewer, but still a lot of people in the cycling world who would've said, "You get what you pay for," in reference to my Fuji Track, and every time I ride I'm thankful I didn't listen to them.

Like I said, I only posted a thread to see if anyone else had used extremely cheap tires and could report what they were like. If nothing else, it'll be a twenty dollar lesson, as I said in my previous post, and I'll be the first person to come back and admit I was a dumbass.

cyrano138

Again, thanks to everyone else for the suggestions, too.

sp00ki

when i first started riding, i used various sub $20 tires (panaracer, low end continentals, etc). i became accustomed to changing tubes once every two weeks (philadelphia's streets are not clean). after hearing some advice, i went to pricier tires, but never got past the flat a month threshold if i was actively riding. i sorta just accepted that this is how road tires worked (never had the issue w/ bmx bikes).
it wasn't until i went with the hardcase that i realized that you didn't have to get flats very often at all. esp riding fixed, as your rear tire wears down way faster than with a typical road tire, this type of tire holds up beautifully. even if you eliminate flats, this type of tire holds up to skidding ~5 times longer than a cheap tire.
granted, i haven't ridden other puncture resistant tires, but i will say that the cheaper tires weren't a bargain by any means. i didn't start out riding hard cases, i got to them eventually, and they have definitely proven their merit.
if your time isn't worth it, or you'd prefer to spend $30 over the course of months instead of at once, go right ahead. otherwise, you really aren't saving anything by going that route, esp if you ride fixed + in areas that see infrequent street sweepers.

ed: but yeah, a recap w/ the amount of miles ridden between flats would be interesting.

jpdesjar

i rode detonators for a bit and they held up pretty well but i wasn't skidding very much and then i switched to some vittorias zaffiros after and those rode great

i am considering some vittoria randonneurs in white for spring riding...they have decent puncture protection and shed water well and you can skid on them all day

cyrano138

Spooki,

I think our situations and riding style must be very different. As I said, I don't skid; I skip. Even with the stock tires (that came on my fuji) worn down to the cloth layer in several places, I only get flats once a month or so. Even then, I patch my tubes, which takes about ten minutes and costs pennies per flat. Sometimes, the question isn't whether you want to spend money now or over a period of several months, though, because spending 60 dollars to replace a tire is not an option. It's not very often and it certainly isn't the case now that I have 60 bucks to spend on anything. Thanks for clarifying, though.

jpdesar, where do you get your vittorias?

jpdesjar

i ordered my zaffiros from bens cycle...it seems the white vittorias are out of stock, people love them
i also saw some green zaffiros somewhere...those are neat

sp00ki

*$30.

franknstein

My bike came with cheap 23c Kendas stock. I rode the hell out of them but was constantly getting flats and it really got annoying.

I switched them out with a pair of 25c Gatorskins and I couldn't be happier.

cyrano138

So I went and picked up those secondhand tires today. They were Gatorskins. The one I put on the back hadn't even worn through the tread pattern, so I'm thrilled. The one I put on the front was a bit worn, but not nearly as bad as the tires I'd been riding on. Also, I wanted to go to 23's anyway, which is what they are, so things worked out pretty nicely. I'm going to go for a test ride over to publix and pick up some cookies. Again, thanks to everyone for the advice and suggestions. I'll keep it all in mind when these tires have given up the ghost and I need to replace them.

cyclezealot

Every time I bought those really cheap tires, it was a case of fix flats daily. I always insist on some kind of flat resistant tire. They last longer, too.