bhdavis1978

I need a new rear tire, and I'm debating buying a new front and rear tire. I have a Vittoria Randonneur and used to have one on the rear and they have lasted extremely well. When my previous rear tire (the Vittoria) finally gave up I replaced it with a Michelin City something or other. It was the only 700x32c that the shop had at the time and they charged me like $20 for it. That was some time between 12 to 15 months ago, and now it has blown out a side wall. Now I typically ride with the tires in the 100 to 110 psi range, which is over the recommended max pressure, but I've been doing it forever (and I believe with Sheldon Brown's approval) because I don't like how it feels at 80 psi - the ride is too soft.

So I'm debating buying a new rear tire - and debating between Rubena V66 Flash 700 Wire Tire (which doesn't seem to get good reviews anywhere), the Continental Touring Plus Reflex, Continental Comfort Contact or Continental Tour Ride. I ride almost exclusively on the road, although I have ridden on hard packed gravel, but not in a few years. I commute to work through out the year, including the winter time and I live in the Pacific North West - so we get a lot of rain in the winter. The problem with these tires is that I can't inflate them, according to their specs, to the PSI I want to and they all have more tread than I really want.

Alternatively I'm debating switching both the front and rear to 28c to get something like a pair of VITTORIA RUBINO 700 WIRE TIRE, Continental Touring Plus Reflex, Continental Ultra Sport II (which has very little tread), or the Continental Ultra Sport II.

The advantages of the 28c are that I can get tires with less tread, run them at a higher pressure, and they'll be lighter. I typically commute between 40 and 80 km / day (although it can be as little as 20, if I go the most direct route and only go in one direction). On the other hand they'll have less tread to deal w/ water and they may wear out faster (right?).

So I was hoping some of you guys with more experience might have some insights for me.

Thanks,
Brad

kickstart

The Vittoria Randonneur series tires are worth sticking with IMO. If you just want a change and don't want tread, the schwalbe Kojak might be worth a try.

bhdavis1978

I can't find the Vittoria Randonneur around here

kickstart

No Canadian on line retailers? My local LBS special ordered some Vittoria Randonneur trail tires for me.

GamblerGORD53

Schwalbe Marathon Plus. 7,000 miles guaranteed.
How the hell do you ride on rock tires anyway ?? My 35s are best at 68 lbs.

Bike Gremlin

Good front mudguard should be able to handle a 32 mm wide tyre splashing. Instead of going narrower, get a proper mudguard (with wide lower part - not sure what it's called in English).

Durability wise - narrower tyres do last a bit less, but since you're planning on using it just at the front, a front 28 mm should outlast a rear 32 mm tyre.


Schwalbe Marathon Racer (tread is just cosmetic with these, for road use only):
Schwalbe Marathon Racer Performance Touring Wired Tire 28" - Black-Reflex

If you like high pressure, light fast tyre, I'd recommend these, in 28 mm width:
Continental Grand Prix 4-Season Folding Tire 28-622 2014 - Bike24



Very grippy, very good, reasonably durable. However, my choice for fast city commuting was a more universal tyre that can take lower pressure for less bumping when I load the rear of the bike with groceries, and one that can be used when there's just a little snow, so I only switch to a studded front tyre. It was Continental Contact II, 42 mm wide:
Continental Contact II SafetySystem Breaker Wire Bead Tire 28 Inch - black Reflex

It rolls quite fast and comfortable, with good grip on pavement, in spite of the tread. Not the best choice for you from what you wrote, but just something to consider.


As far as high pressure goes, it often gives a false feeling of going faster (being bumpier, jarring), but actually makes you go a bit slower because of worse traction. The rougher the road, the less one gets away with over inflation. However: comfort, speed, even traction suffer (braking, cornering). Under inflated tyre is bad too, feeling wobbly, but once you get the right pressure, that's as good as it gets. 100 psi for a 32 mm wide tyre is waay overkill, unless you load bike with over 150 kilograms. I run 28 mm tyres at 90 psi.



To what pressure should I inflate my bicycle tyres? - Cycle Gremlin

bhdavis1978

I'll check out your suggestion.

I dunno, I like them really hard. I weigh over 220 lbs, so that could be part of it. It just handles a lot better at around 100-110 psi.

bhdavis1978

Not that I know of, and I don't want to wait the 1+ weeks it'll take to arrive. Shipping in Canada is slooow and expensive. Maybe that's foolish though.

PaulRivers

Have you seen the Continental gp4000s? They're very good in the wet, come in 28c now, and are a very popular tire that should be fairly easy to find. They're a "close to a race tire but has flat resistance" tire.

noglider 

The Vittoria Randonneur is heavy and slow compared with the Vittoria Voyager Hyper which used to be misleadingly called the Randonneur Hyper. The Voyager Hyper has a thick, puncture resistant tread and a supple sidewall, and it rides a lot faster and plusher than you would expect. I have the Voyager Hyper, and if you want heavy puncture resistance, I don't think you could get anything that rides better. It also costs less than anything similar from Schwalbe.

09box

Panaracer Pasela's?

Andy_K 

The Continental Grand Prix 4 Season is a pretty good tire. I found the puncture protection to be excellent, but the casing split after about 2500 miles. The Schwalbe Marathon Supreme is another good choice. It has great wet grip (better than the Marathon Plus, similar to the GP 4 Season) and puncture protection (not as good as the Marathon Plus but better than the GP 4 Season). It's tread life is also better than the GP 4 Season but not as good as the Marathon Plus. It rolls better than the Marathon Plus but not nearly as well as the GP 4 Season. The point of the preceding comparisons is that you need to decide what your priorities are to pick the right tire. I didn't mention price, but that also figures in. The GP 4 Season and Marathon Supreme are both pretty expensive.

alan s 

+1 on the Marathon Supreme. Keep in mind that there is a new version HS469, which replaces the older HS382. Just received the new model tire in 700x32, as they apparently don't make it in 28 any longer. Looking forward to trying it out.

Bike Gremlin

Almost forgot - I've had bad experience durability wise with Rubena. Of the cheaper ones, Kenda is better IMO.

bhdavis1978

I'm trying to decide between the Schalbe Enduros and the Vittoria Rubino. The Rubino is $32 (CAD) vs $70 for the Schwalbe Durano Plus. Is it crazy to spend an extra $40 per tire for the Schwalbe's? Are they going to last that much better than the Rubinos. Will the traction and wet weather performance be that much better? Am I being a crazy maniac about tires for my commuting bike (which granted, gets between 6000 and 10,000 kilometers per year).

Dear lesser god's of Bike Forums, please help me out!

noglider 

I'm sure Schwalbe are very good tires, but their name seems to command the highest prices. I bet part of the price difference is explained only with the name. Try the Vittoria. Vittoria is one of the top brand names with a real R&D division, and I expect it to be at least a very good tire, possibly even better.

bmthom.gis

I like my Panaracer Ribmo. I don't buy tires at my LBS, as they don't really carry the brands I want to buy. I mentioned Panaracer to the manager and she had not heard of them. They like to sell Conti, Schwalbe and Michelin. All good tires, but not for the price. I agree with @noglider that Schwalbe places a premium on their name and you can get two very good tires for the price of 1 Schwalbe. The 700x 32 Ribmo PT with wire bead is on amazon for like $30. In a year, I have had 1 flat, and it was a very slow leaking flat that I still used for a few rides. I have enjoyed Vittoria tires as well, but I don't really remember which model they were, but the price seemed very reasonable and I remember thinking that they were very supple.

I like the pressure to be between 90 and 95 in mine. I'm also around your weight.

Andy_K 

In general I think money spent on expensive tires is worth it, but it depends on what the extra money is buying you. For me, that's usually a combination of road feel, low rolling resistance and good puncture protection. The Durano Plus doesn't really have the profile of a tire that I would spend that much for, but if you wanted a fast rolling tire that could stand up to thorns (specifically thorns because pointy objects penetrate fabric-based protection belts like Kevlar pretty efficiently) then they might be a good choice.

I don't see anywhere that Vittoria says what the puncture protection scheme is on the Rubino. That makes me nervous, but they give it a good rating so I would guess its some kind of Kevlar/aramid belt. If you don't feel like you have more trouble with punctures than the average cyclist, this tire is probably a good choice.

jaxgtr

I just put folding Gatorskins in 32 on my commuter. First experience with the Gatorskins, but not extremely harsh as I was expecting based on the Gatorskins rep, but running them in the 70 psi range. Got them for $35 a tire at WesternBikeWorks

blackieoneshot 

I like the Panaracer T-serv Protex 28s. For me they are a good combination of speed/comfort/price/durability.

bhdavis1978

I ended up going w/ a single Marathon on the rear wheel. I was about to pull the trigger on a pair of 28 Durano's for the front and rear and the shop guy talked me out of it. He said he thought the front tire was in still in good enough shape to keep using, and that going to 28s probably was a mistake in Vancouver winter weather. I wanted 28s and slicks cause I was hoping to make the bike feel a bit zippier, but he didn't think the difference between 28s an 32s was going to make a huge difference, at least not enough of a difference to justify the difference in cost. Plus even though I don't usually ride on trails, going to slicks really kills my ability to do that - even just riding on the **** paths around the lower mainland. Something I hadn't considered.

Anyhoo, thanks for all your input, I appreciated it.

Giant Doofus

My apologies for reviving a thread that's a couple of months old.

Tom - I'm curious if you are using these on your Bianchi Volpe and, if so, what size? I need to replace the tires that came on my Volpe pretty soon and was looking at the Vittoria Voyager Hyper. The bike came with 28mm Randonneurs, which have been been pretty good, but I'd like to bump up to larger tire, a 35mm if possible or 32 if not.

noglider 

If you really want a bigger tire, this is it. It offers all the pluses and minuses of a wider, heavier tire, but given how big and heavy it is, yeah, it's fast. The good that you would expect is that it's cushy and comfy, and yes, it definitely is. You do lose that quick maneuverability that you get from a light, narrow tire, but if that's not important, it's fine. The bonus is that for a wide heavy-ish tire, yeah, it's fast in straightaways. I think my cruising speed might have actually increased from the Panaracer Pasela 32mm's I had on previously.

And yes, this is on the Bianchi Volpe which is my heaviest bike other than the Raleigh Twenty and the Rudge 3-speed. It's a good match for commuting and would be damned good for light or heavy touring. The flat protection it offers is excellent, and it's more than I actually require. I don't mind fixing flats every now and then, but with these tires, I don't expect many or any flats. It's tough where it needs to be.

The reflective strip is a very nice bonus which I would have lived without, but given that it has them, I'm very happy with them.

The other great thing about this tire is that it isn't a Schwalbe and doesn't have a Schwalbe premium price.

Is that a positive review or what? :-D

Would I buy them again? Yes, but in a narrower size. Some love wide cushy tires, and I like them, but I think I'll lean back onto narrower and lighter. Maybe next time I'll get the 32mm size. This is the 37mm rated size which I measure to be 35mm inflated.

Here it is with the Voyager Hypers.

Giant Doofus

Thanks! That's a very helpful review. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that you have found them to have such good puncture protection. I think this is what I'll go with. Probably the 35mm one, maybe 32. The other tire I was looking at is a Compass Stampede Pass, but I'm not persuaded that it's worth the extra money.

I really love the Volpe -- such a useful, versatile bike. It gets most of my miles these days. I'm getting ready to put fenders on mine, probably the SKS longboards.

noglider 

SKS fenders are some of the best. I've had these SKS chromoplastic fenders on since about 2012.

I've been a huge fan of Panaracer tires (who make the Compass tires) for over 30 years, and I still am. But that Stampede Pass is a lightweight tire. If you're after a sturdy and practical but not sluggish tire, you don't want the Compass, you want this Vittoria instead. The performance penalty is extremely low, and it's probably as tough as the fancy Schwalbe tires.

For whatever it's worth, my bike weighs 34 lbs, I weigh 158, and I sometimes carry a bit of gear, so that's not a huge load I place on tires, but it's not tiny, either. The Volpe is the bike I attach stuff to. My Raleigh International is going to stay light for now. When I ride it, I wear a backpack to keep the bike light and bouncy. It has 28mm Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy tires, which are light and made by Panaracer.