Originally Posted by
jamesdak
Hmmm, like I said earlier I tried the Open Pave's for awhile too. I wouldn't consider them harsher at all. The ride seemed pretty much the same. I was running the 700 x 27 vs my normal Conti 700 x 25. I was hoping for a bit more volume from the "bigger" 27c tires but in most cases that just wasn't the case. I ran the Open Pave's on 3 different bikes trying them out and can't say any of the bikes rode worse with them on. I just flatted a couple of times on them, something that I don't usually have happen with the Conti's. Could have just been the 'luck of the draw". In my case the Open Paves just didn't give me a reason to switch from my dependable Conti's.
Man, the Pave is so smooth and grippy that nothing else I've ever had even comes close. I run mine at 60/70 (I weigh 170) and it makes the chipseal roads I have here feel like new asphalt. As you know, these tires are so soft they come flat and you could almost ball them up in your hand. I don't have to ride the Conti to know it's not that flexible. The tubular version has been run at Paris-Roubaix, and those teams aren't going to use tires on the cobblestones from hell that flat easily.
