Please Recommend Tires?
 

It feels like time for new tires. This is my commute bike with 700C 25 mm tires. My wish list is: flat resistant, not too much rolling resistance, not too expensive, good in the wet, 23-25 mm, reflective sidewalls, not ridiculously hard to mount. Yes, I realize I may not get all of those wishes. What tires would you recommend?

I've used Paselas up to now. Was thinking about Gatorbacks but they are not reflective.

Another can of worms I bet.

Marathon Supremes

(I actually prefer my original Marathons, but the Supremes are better on wet pavement.)

A friend of mine tried Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires and was disgusted when they arrive and he felt the weight in his hands. Then he tried them and was super-impressed at how they felt better than tires that weigh half as much. I don't know how Schwalbe does it.

You should also consider some Continental tires such as the Super Sport. I believe that model has a reflective strip available. These companies have made some breakthroughs where puncture protection has a "cost" to performance so low that they actually perform better than tires with no puncture protection designed in.

Smallest is 28. But other than that requirement, I would recommend them as well. Love them.

I'm the friend...and they're very impressive. For disclosure - I have them at 35c on a tandem, so I'm not sure how much inference I can make for your use.

For 25c, I'd probably use Conti GP 4 seasons. I don't think they're reflective, but neither me nor my wife have flatted them (knock knock) and they have tremendous feel and grip to them. I am a fanatic about Conti GP 4000 and GP 4 seasons - they're just tremendous tires that feel great and resist flats well.

If you ever want an amazing feeling - tubular GP-4000s. Just...WOW.

Sometimes its cheaper to spend the money on something of higher quality that will last a lot longer. And unless you enjoy fixing flats through out the year, then you'd be better off taking the advice of the above posters. I've recently converted to Schwalbe Marathons from the Specialized Armadillos. The Armadillos are a good tire also as far as flat protection. I was getting over 5k on them and would get only one flat. Other people say they are too heavy, but I don't notice stuff like that. But I wanted to compare the Marathons to those.

Well, the decision was made for me. On the way home, I stopped by a bike shop, pumped up my slightly soft front tire, then as I was browsing the store there was a BANG and that tire was flat. The wire bead had separated from the casing, the casing had ripped for 1/2", and there was ruptured tube sticking out. So I had to buy a new tire and Conti Gatorbacks were all they had, for a flat resistant tire in 25 mm. I replaced just the front, because I want to give my main LBS the business for the rear, and as a result I'm riding with mismatched tires, the horror.

I guess we'll see how the Gatorbacks do. They aren't reflective, but oh well.
By the way, why the heck does Park even make those self sticking tube patches? I used one of those to repair the tube, and five minutes later the tire was soft. Yup, self sticking patch didn't hold. It was a newish, dry, clean tube and I roughed it up with the bit of sandpaper. I had to pull the new tire off and patch the tube again with the old fashioned vulcanizing fluid and rubber patches. This is the third time I've tried the Park patches and the third time they have failed. I should throw the remaining couple away so I'm not tempted to use them.

kevlar bead gatorskins are ok but most conti clinchers other than the 4000s/4seasons feel dead to me. i prefer rubino pros, michelin pros and tricomps/grandfondo.

I've got 23 Gatorskin on the front, it came new with the wheelset. I bought a 25 GP4000II(Reflex) for the rear, I wanted 25's. It really works out great with the pressure calculator for a 15% ft/rr difference---set them both the same. They are better tires than I am a rider. I really like 'em. They haven't been off since new, I just hope they go on easier after having been mounted and ridden. Swap your new front to the rear this weekend and your mismatch shouldn't be a problem.

I think you'll be like yours just fine.

I've never tried the self-sticking patches. Most of the feedback is similar to yours. I just carry a small Rema Tip Top kit. You probably did well to toss the self-stickers.

Did I say Gatorback? I think I meant Gatorskin.

On my weekend bikes I ride tubulars. So I'm spoiled. But whatever, this bike is for getting to work and home and not flatting, much.

Kenda Kwik? Ridden over glass numerous times with mine, not so much as a scratch. Reflective sidewalls to boot! :)

Kwick Trax

- Andy

Just noticed that one was not small enough, so here is a model that is 700x25

Kwick Tendril

- Andy

Panaracer T-Serv. Great combination of grip, flat resistance and decent performance. Not sure if they come in reflective sidewalls though.

heh...sealant makes my tubulars pretty darn flat resistant but they are too expensive for every day mileage.

Vittoria Randonner Cross 700x28c

And long-wearing too - I get about 3K out of the pair

SF

My experience as a commuter is reliability trumps everything else. You aren't gonna break any speed records getting to work. Nor should you try. Fixating about tire weight is missing the point: getting there without having to wrench on anything. This aint a race, its going to work. or school. or back home.
Relax

Slight correction - at 30 mi RT ride quality comes close second, if not a priority. Punctures happen more often or less often, but a tire with bad feel sucks every time.

Let me know how these work out for you.

Airless Bicycle Tires

Those are horrible. There's only so far you want to take things. There are always compromises.

That was the point.

Schwalbe offers reflex side walls, But .. you have to scrub off your tires regularly

as the road dirt and aluminum coming off the rim dirties it to not be reflective much, before long.

being already worried about rim wear, the Wheel/Bike cleaning routine will benefit you there too.




Airless /captive air foam plastic tires may be suitable to the Trainer wheel since their higher rolling resistance will = a harder workout,
if that is why you ride the trainer.

OK, with a slightly shorter commute.. about 20 RT, i run Armadillos knowing full well they are heavy, not the most comfortable tires out there. I work a little harder which I probably need to do. I don't worry about every piece of glass, metal shard or thorn on my very industrial commute. I don't suggest airless tires..that is pretty extreme. But most kevlar belted tires offer a lot of protection for a relatively small trade off. Its your call. I don't much like repairing flats, especially on the side of a highway. You are welcome to.

:beer:

I have decided I like the quasi tan wall look of these Gatorskins. They look just like vintage gum wall tires, after the gum walls have gotten dark and filthy from wet road schmutz.

My LBS has tubes with removable cores. What do you think about using those and charging the tube with an ounce of Stan's No Tubes or similar?

I've never done that, because from what I've read sealant will autoseal some punctures, but make other larger punctures that it doesn't seal a nightmare to fix on the road. Not saying I have personal experience - just what I've read.

I doubt you will need that with Gatorskins, they are pretty tough tires. IMO a good choice for commuting.

I ride Schwalbe Marathon Supremes on my city bike. It's 700x40 and weighs 500g which is super light. Nice tire but expensive and the smallest size is 28mm - these are touring tires after all.

My road bike runs Schwalbe Durano which I understand are very comparable to Gatorskin. No reflective sidewalls on the Duranos and folding bead mounts up easily. I have 2000 miles or so on the set and they still look ok. I read somewhere Schwalbe claims 10 000 km for these tires.

works great! i stopped using sealant on my clinchers because i flat very rarely (i almost never ride frap)