Originally Posted by
Doane
I have a fairly short commute back and forth to work of less then 10 miles.. all down hill in the mornings, all up hill in the evenings and they are sometimes wet. Mostly asphalt on the roads while the town streets are cement with lots of patched cracks and joints for off the seat jolts. The asphalt shoulder riding area has a lot of stones, glass, nails, and other debris that so far have not given me flats on three bikes, but I try to keep a sharp eye out for obstacles and am just wondering if there might be a better tire brand then what I have now.. weight isn't that big a consideration, but rolling resistance and traction are.
My current bike is a Specialized Sirrus Sport with 700x32c specialized "All condition" wire bead 60TPi with "Flak Jacket" protection tires that are fairly smooth. The tubes are listed as Standard Presta valve types. Also, what does the tire term, "60TPI" and "wire bead" refer to and what exactly is puncture protection (?) "flak jacket"?
60 Threads per inch (TPI) in the casing. If you have a light tire it usually has a high tpi and little rubber, rides supple, good grip and doesn't last long. Cheap tires tend to have low TPI, thick sidewalls and heavy riding. But you can have a tire advertised as 60tpi but it's light casing with multiple layers, and other materials so it can be very durable. It's really not a useful designation for determining quality of tire.
"wire bead" is a bead made out of steel wire, the bead is what seats against the rim and the casing wraps onto. Without the bead the tire would expand with the tube and simply blow off the rim. Steel is heavier and cheaper than Kevlar. Kevlar is a light fabric that can be made into a light cord and allow the tire to weigh less and be more easily folded. For a commuter tire you won't notice the slight increase in weight.
"flak jacket" is Specialized marketing term for their tires with extra sidewall and tread puncture resistance.
Low rolling resistance and high traction is usually contrary to high durability and puncture resistance. So it's a compromise. There are a lot of tires that ride nicer than FlakJacket tires but they either cost more or aren't as durable. For the same price you get different.
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme is a good and expensive choice.