The variety of bike tyres around and it makes you realise that there must be a Market for all the different types. I learnt a long time ago that I like a certain type of tyre. Offroad and on our terrain- and I like a certain type of tyre. Plenty of sharp edges to get grip- not too much space between the knobbles to give me plenty of rubber to make contact- and a rounded tread that does not drag on the short grass on the Downs. This has settled out to 3 or 4 different tyres that I could use out of the hundreds that are made. There may be more that are just as good but I have never tried them.
It is the same on road tyres. They may all basically look the same but there will be a difference in constuction- difference in type of rubber and a difference in puncture resistance. I have only used four different tyres on the road. Kenda contendors and They had drag and not a great deal of grip. The original tyres Boreas and they were vrederstein Fortezza's. They wore out within 500 miles and did not have the grip I thought should be there. Michelin Lithions and in the wet they should be called Lethal Ions. I am using these as my winter tyres though as speed will be lower and I might as well damage a tyre I do not like. Then there is the one I like Mich PR2's. I got these on the recomendation of the LBS and was one of the two I was thinking of. I like them so I stay with them. .
Then there is the Tandem- and I hate to say it but I do not look for a performance tyre on this bike. It has to be strong- hopefully have a long life and good puncture resistance.
Decide what you want from a tyre and then look at the choices. Deciding is the problem- Tyre size. puncture resistance, long life, performance, and finally price. Somewhere there will be a tyre that suits all your criteria- but it might just take a bit of finding. And a bit of money to find the ones that you don't like
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How long was I in the army? Five foot seven.
Spike Milligan