Romulus

What size and what kind of tires is everybody commuting on?

I'm riding on a pair of cheap Nashbar 700x23 tires worth 100PSI, but been troubled by them. Me = 185#, and flats after my first 60 miles, changed, and even now I feel like the tires don't hold 100PSI anymore...slow leakage? Did not measure, but they really compress under my weight...

Should I inflate them to more than 100PSI? (if so, how much?)
Is it normal that they drop that much under me?

Anybody has any opinion on the Nashbar Prima 2 Plus with Kevlar belt for flats? Other recommendations?

Stubacca

Dude... air's in the tubes. Bad tires might pick up more punctures, but their ability to hold pressure is up to the tube. If you have a slow leak, check the tube and if you find a hole check for any debris in the tire. How often are you checking the pressure? I'd suggest at least once a week, preferably before each ride. Tubes will gradually lose pressure - the rubber they're made out of is slightly porous. I run 700x23s at 115-120, but it's a bit of a personal preference thing. Try them at a higher pressure and see if you like it.

I commute on Specialized Armadillo 700x28s. No punctures in the 1500+ miles I've ridden them.

Eggplant Jeff

I've got 700x35's. A lot of people will tell you that's too wide, and heck, maybe they're right. But they're the tires that came on my bike. I've run them anywhere from 40 (didn't realize they were low) to 85 (max) psi. The difference between 40 and 65 was very noticable, the difference between 65 and 85 was less noticable.

I have one cheapo replacement rubber tube in the front and an original slime tube in the back, the slime tube loses air probably twice as fast as the normal tube. I normally pump them up about twice a week.

Boogs

Continental Ultra Gatorskins (27 x 1.25) on my Schwinn Voyageur.

Only on for 250 miles, but the ride is vastly superior to the IRC 1 x 1 3/8 tires that came on the bike, and they only lose 5-10 psi per week from the 100 (front) and 105 (rear) psi that I inflate them to. No flats so far during their short tenure on Philly's decrepit, glass and debris strewn streets - of course, this has hardly been tested yet, especially since I use Tuffy kevlar liners underneath them... all I can tell you is that the unlined IRCs flatted on the second day.

randya

Through intensive scientific research, I have found that properly inflated round rubber tires usually work best.

PaulH

Schwalbe Marathon Plus, 40-622. Aout 3,000 flat-free miles.

Paul

DiegoFrogs

Regarding the nashbar prima II+ tire: It's made by Cheng Shin. I bought 2 of them thinking they were just going to be a cheap 27 x 1-1/4 tire (they come in 700c sizes too). I've since replaced the rear wheel with a 700c, but I can tell you that next time I place an order with nashbar I'll be getting some of these tires again. In 3000 miles of riding in a Pennsylvania city with [arguably] the worst roads in the world, I've only gotten one flat, and I deserved that flat. I basically tried to bunny-hop a pothole that I could've hidden in if the police were looking for me, and pinched the rear tube on the other side. And that was within 4 blocks of my house! The prima II's have been pretty good to me. and I think I paid about $7 apiece during one of their sales. I rode the local "fire road" (on top of a ****... think uncontrolled speed bumps in dirt) for at least 4 miles on my 20 mile commute before school ended.

regarding commuting tire pressure: I always tend to converge to about 80 psi.

late

https://www.rivbike.com/webalog/tires_tubes/10043.html

Actually, it's the only tire I use.

rykoala

I'm on 27x1 1/4" tires, one just a raleigh gumwall the other one a cheap one from performance bike. That's my single speed. On my geared mountain bike, I ride on (again) cheap performance bike tires, 26x1.25". Those work great. Very few flats so far. I also tend to be *very* careful of debris in the road.

bkrownd

Got about 9-10 months on a size 25 Continental 4-Season on the rear, no punctures. My front is still a crap stock tire that has survived a whole year by some miracle, but I got one of those $15-on-clearance purple Michelin Pro Race to replace it when it finally gives out. The mesh threading on the sides of the 4-Seasons have got a few rips from hitting larger rocks - are those orange threads decorative or protective? The rubber under the ripped threads seems fine, so maybe that's what they're there for.

javna_golina

26x1.5 Here. Appareantly they are "Innova Swiftors"...probably cheap. Used them for over a year, with just one flat, which was a puncture. Run them @ 65psi, and I'm around 91kg. I could probably go for a 26x1.25 or smaller, but then I'd have to change rim, and would be less confident riding rough. I'd also probably have to buy another set of wheels, as my rims would be too wide.

Camel

I've been itching to buy some of there speed blend tires for my brevet bike. I've used there "rolly polly" tire-pretty darned nice as well.

MichaelW

Schwalbe Marathon 28mm and Continental Top Touring 32 (both are the same size) at 90psi. This is really my winter setup, I change to a lighter 28mm such as Vredenstein FlexSport for summer.

ridealot

700x35 Specialized Infinity tires, 90psi. Been great tires so far, got about 550 miles on them so far. My other commuter has Specialized armidillo tires on it with about 1,500 miles flat free. Both are great tires and I would by them again.

nick burns

Conti Ultra Gatorskins 700x25 on fair weather bike.

Conti Ultra Gatorskins 700x28 on rain bike.

dee-vee

Specialized all condition 700x28 115 psi. Im gona get the armadillo version of this same tire.

DogBoy

3 seasons: Armadillo nimubs 700x28 @ 100 psi. Heavy and slow but comfy and reliable. When (it seems more like if) these tires wear out I will replace them with Armadillo all conditions 700x25s.

Winter: Nokian W106 700x35 & 60 psi (studs). or Nokain rava????cross 700x35 @ 90 psi (no studs)

Quickbeam

Panaracer Pasela 700 X 35.

mr_tom

Armadillo 700x28s. But they have absolutely lousy grip in the wet, as I discovered the other day...

I-Like-To-Bike

I commute on Schwalbe Marathons 47 x 622 (700-47), inflated to hard enough as determined by my thumb and finger gauge.

jnbacon

I second Stubacca's rec: check the tubes. And the valves. Get the valve stem wet and see if there are bubbles.

I run 700x32 Schwalbe Marathons. I've only got about 400 miles on them, flat free but I've gone that far on un-lined regular tires before, so nothing definitive about their protectiveness. Still, they have a wonderful rep, and I've had a good experience with them.

Grasschopper

I run 700x28 Performance GT-2s at 110 PSI in the back and 90 PSI in the front. These have held up well to my 225lbs and my daily commute since Nov., still looking good.

atombob

Michelin 30-559 26 x 1.25 @ 70 psi. T
These things are a little heavy but tough as hell. Work great in the rain too.

Boogs

I should probably mention, since tire size seems important to the original poster, that the Ultra Gatorskins (marked "27 x 1.25" [or 31.75mm]) are actually only 28mm. They ride great and grip when wet, but they are about 4mm thinner than marked, FWIW.

grolby

Panaracer Pasela Tourguards, 32-630. Only puncture wasn't a puncture, but a pinch flat from hitting a nasty gash in the pavement crossing an intersection. And then the tube just wasn't the same, so I replaced it and it's been fine since. And the Kevlar has saved me from at least one major flat - I dug some chunks of glass out of the tread early last month.

I'm pretty happy with these tires, but I have no idea how they compare to other tires, since they're my first commuting tires.