Disclaimer: I am not a pro rider. In the past couple years, I've done a few sprint Tri and various charity events, plus the training that goes with them. Since I cross train for Tris, I get fewer miles on the bike in a year than some guys get in a month.

I only got 1 season and less than 1k miles out of the Vittoria Zaffrinos that came stock on my 2009 Bianchi. They checkered badly and began to come apart at the sidewall. Thankfully I noticed before I got stranded in BFE with a split tire.

I am a sucker for colored tires, and picked up Vredestein Fortezzas. They were (I think) an older model year; at the time Performance Bike was clearing them out and I got them for $25/tire.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...rtezza-tricomp


Holding up fine on chip n' seal and poorly maintained county roads. I was 230/240lb when I first installed them and run pressures on the high end of the recommended range. I always get comments on my Blue Bianchi with Blue tires -- while it doesn't make me faster, it does make me smile.