My commuter bike is due for a new set of tires. I've currently got set of 37mm Vittoria Randonneur tires on my 700c wheels.

Any recommendations? Here is what I'm looking for:

#1 Comfort. I have sort of decided I don't want to be jarred or feel like I have to choose roads on my way to work based on how smooth the road is. I of course did not have to do that with the Vittorias...but I still felt they were a bit harsh for their size.

#2 Speed. My round trip commute is 24 miles. Not astronomical, but not exactly a few blocks down the street either. I'd like something relatively quick where I don't feel like I'm stuck in mud, but not to the point of severely sacrificing comfort.

#3 Puncture protection. A bit would be nice. A lot of course would be better, but I am assuming I am going to have to choose at most 2 of my 3 things. I carry a tube, patchkit, levers, and pump with me, but honestly feel a bit foolish for doing so having not had one flat in thousands of miles on the Vittorias. If I need to sacrifice something, I'll sacrifice flat protection.

So....best choices out there?

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...omendations%22

I'm biased, but I've had great luck with Continental Contact II tires, albeit in x32. Good puncture protection, not the fastest tire, but still feels quick and nimble.

The very best tire for what you're looking for (that I know of) is the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme:
https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_t...rathon_supreme

It's a fairly expensive tire though...

Check out the Continental Speed Ride, the 700x42 (nominal, actually closer to 38 wide) version for urban/trekking. It's the wider version of their cyclocross Speed Ride. I snagged a pair for half price on a one day sale, $25 for the pair. They'd still be a good value $25/ea.

Been riding these for a week at the recommended 50 psi (I weigh 160). Four rides each of 20-45 miles so far, mix of 70% pavement (usual stuff, including some chip seal) and 30% gravel/chat trails. Best of the three types of tires I've tried on this early 1990s rigid fork hybrid/mountain bike. Cushy but not sluggish. A softer ride was essential due to chronic neck pain from an old injury. Otherwise I'd give up on the rigid fork and go back to my comfort hybrid with spring suspension fork.

The first set of tires, Innova all terrain with chevron tread pattern, were good but just a wee bit sluggish on pavement.

The next set, an older pair of Specialized Hemispheres, were a bit quicker feeling but noisy and uncomfortably harsh.

The Conti Speed Rides are keepers. The tread is an odd mix of shallow diamond file with sorta-knobby sides. Conti claims the tread is almost like a slick, but that's just silly advertising hype. But they ride quiet, smooth yet sure footed on gravel and dry grass. I can accelerate more quickly and with less effort than with the previous two sets of tires, and it shows in my ride logs -- I'm averaging 14 mph over 20-45 miles, compared with 12 mph on the other tires, and on my heavier comfort hybrid.

Only drawback is they're too wide for my SKS fenders. But I'll deal with that.

Schwalbe Marathon Racer.

Continental Contact II.

Comfortable, fast, light, and if you don't go narrower than 32 mm, they will be decently puncture resistant.

Contact II has a bit of a tread, so can be used even off road, like soft ground (not mud), wet grass, etc, while Marathon Racer is a bit better on pavement, a bit worse on "off road".

Marathon racer might do the trick. I'm never off pavement. Any experience with Vittoria voyager hypers? I think i've got down to these 2

Choose a tire at least 37mm with thin, supple sideways and fairly thick (not knobby) tread.

Before recommending something different, what do you not like about what's on there now? What are you willing to give up?


If what you want is better flat resistance, and you're willing to give up speed and shock absorption, the recommendation is going to be vastly different than if you want better speed and shock absorption and are willing to deal with more flats.

I finally gave up and bought a pair of Marathon Supremes for my upright bike. Can't fit them on my road bike so I bought a Gatorskin for the rear there. Sure stopped the flats.

That Vittoria Randonneur sounds like a pretty awful tire to ride: Vittoria Randonneur Rolling Resistance Review

My MO is to use lightweight tires with as little puncture protection as I can get away with. The occasional flat is quickly fixed, and the price I pay for bikes that are nice to ride the rest of the time. Along those lines, I have been using Panaracer Paselas (regular and TG/PT) in various sizes on my bikes, and am gradually shifting them over to higher-performance versions like Pacenti Pari-Moto and Compass/Grand Bois. If cost is no object, the Compass Bon Jon Pass model would be my pick for this thread.

I've got these in a 37mm width. I wouldn't call them awful, but they do seem heavy and slow. My commute is only 5km though so I don't really care.

The Vittoria Voyager Hyper used to be called Randonneur Hyper, which was unfortunate, because the Randonneur is considered by many to be heavy and slow, and the Voyager Hyper is a fast tire. I'm impressed. One tester found it to have lower rolling resistance than any tire ever tested. Mine are rated at 35mm and measure 37mm.

I buy tires for how they ride, and if that means I won't have puncture protection, I'm cool with that. Same for reflective strips. But the Hyper comes with both. I haven't had a flat. I don't know if the reflective strip works, but I haven't been hit from the side yet.

Overall, this is the best tire I have ever bought, by most measures. I should have gotten the next size down, because it's difficult to fit such a wide tire in my favorite bike.

Continental and Schwalbe make some of the best tires, but their reputations allows them to command high prices. Vittoria tires seem to be at least as good in every respect, and the prices are lower.

I'm willing to give up puncture protection. Most of it anyway. I've probably put 5000 miles on these tires without 1 flat. I'd say they are probably a hair overbuilt for how/where I ride

Essentially, I'm looking to trade a significant portion of that flat protection for speed and comfort. I still wan't a BIT of flat protection, but I'm not going to cry if I have to change a flat once a season, or even every few weeks/months.

It's not an awful tire, but it is on the slow side. It's been utterly bombproof for years, and has worn extremely well; I could probably get another season or 2 out of them if I really wanted to, but I'm ready for something different. That darn website is one of the reasons I've been looking at getting something different lol!

Yup, I think the Voyagers are going to be the ones. I'm just not prepared to spend 70+ on Schwalbs. I had been considering a set of Grand Prix 4000s, but I want larger than 28mm. I'm thinking Voyagers in 35 or 38mm will be the ticket, depending on what I can get under my fenders.

I'd recommend Continental Gatorskin folding tires for the sauage king. I don't know how "fast" they are but they don't seem to hold me back. I think they're a good compromise between fast and racy with no protection and slow and stiff with too much protection. Only drawback might be the price. But you can usually get them online as low as $40 or so. Am always on the lookout for a cheaper alternative, though. I might have to try Panaracer Tserv again. The last time I had them, I ended up slicing the rear sidewall. So they didn't last long enough for me to really evaluate them. But they are cheaper and were recommended by some city biking folks.

I've heard Gatorskins are on the harsh riding side, no? I actually rode on a set for a while, but they were 23mm at 130psi...anything would have been harsh.

I read a review in a British publication which found that the puncture protection in the Voyager Hypers is not the best, so there's your compromise, but you seem like you're leaning towards good ride and away from the ultimate in puncture protection.

Just bear in mind that they run large. For some reason, the 35mm model is listed on the sidewall as 622x37. I wish I had known!

I use the same tires but with 90psi front and 100psi rear. Am lucky to have wider rims (Velocity A23) so can easily get away with 10psi less. They seem to be supple enough to have some grip around the corners. Could go down to 80/90 but the rear starts to feel a bit splashy. But if you are running narrow rims, then I think you could get by with 100/110? That's what I recall using previously.

I could maybe have gone a bit lower pressure...but I am 195 lbs.

I just received a set of Vittoria Randonneur Pros in the mail yesterday. I had a set of the Randonneurs (not the pro) on my bike and liked them a lot. I thought the ride quality was pretty nice actually. I went 3100 miles on rough city roads without a single flat. Then I switched to the Hypers. They are faster (a bit), but after six flats in 1600 miles, I've had enough. I'm going back to the Randonneurs, this time the pros.

Hrmm. 6 flats in 1600 miles is about every 300 miles, or roughly once a month for me. I'd say that's about the low end of what I would consider tolerable for me, if i pick up more speed AND comfort.

Still...I've got to believe a couple of those are just plain bad luck. 6 in that milegae seems high for a decent tire

Abe, you could probably run 35 Gatorskins at 85 psi, and they'd be comfortable. I'm heavier than you, and my 32s are pretty decent.


Panaracer Pasela TG would be another option. If you can find them, they're made up to at least 35, and maybe 37-38. A little smoother than the Gatorskins, but not quite as resistant to flatting.

I have what I THINK is an old Motobecane Grand Touring (I know it's a Motobecane....not 100% on model, decals gone) that I'm planning on putting the Paselas on. Figured gumwalls would be a nice look with the bike when I'm done repainting and putting it back together.