Bluebatmobile

Been running Conti Grand Prix 4000's for a good while now, decent puncture resistance, but I find them a PITA to mount on my ZIPP 404's :/.


B@t™

PepeM

Pay the shop $5 to do it.

friday1970

+1 for this quote. I switched to latex tubes on my road bike, and it's been good. Just gotta keep refilling them every other day or so.

ClydeTim

$5 ?

I have bud who bought the tires from the LBS. Cost of tires was $80. After installation, $120!

Cougrrcj 

I just put the Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech IIIs on my Arizona bike. Lots of glass and steel-belted-radial wires on US60 and AZ79.



I also use good old-fashioned Tire Savers.





You don't include a location in your profile, so what tire choice is good in one part of the country might not be as good in another. For instance, AZ has very rough pebbly pavement surface due to the summer heat evaporating the tar binder from the asphalt. That factor - along with my 'Clyde' 200-pound physique made me choose 28s front and rear, but I'll probably drop down to 25s next time - at least for the front. The bike came to me with a 23 Zaffiro on the front and a 25 Gatorskin on the rear, and the ride was terrible. I found out when changing the tires that the front also had a very thick and heavy puncture-resistant tube.

Oh, and a gratuitous whole bike shot...




.

whosmatt

One flat in about 3k miles on 28mm Gator Hardshells. That was from a nail that went through the tread and came out of the sidewall. Zero flats in as many miles on my 25mm Hardshells. That said I'd probably use something lighter if my riding wasn't 90% commuting. Everything's a tradeoff.

Cougrrcj 

Oh, forgot to mention that the Vittoria Rubino Pro Techs are on sale at Nashbar for $24.99. Hard to find another 150tpi tire for that price!

12strings

Get cheap tires...I've been using the stock Vittoria zaffiro tires (about $15 each at magnate) that came on my bike, not flats, no issues....it was the same on my previous bike...probably KY had $10 tires on it.

.. and don't get those super-thin tubes either.

whosmatt

I had one of those Vittoria Zaffiro tires tear at the bead and develop a bulge after only a few hundred miles. No riding damage; it just happened. YMMV.

Sangetsu

Puncture resistant tires have been something of the Holy Grail of cycling generations. The best way to avoid flats is to pump up your tires before every ride, and keep on eye on the road. But even with these precautions, punctures still occur, it is hard to look at the road when riding in a group, when you are buzzing along in the Twilight Zone (my favorite place to be), or when visibility is not good. No matter what tires I have tried in the past (and I have used everything from old Dunlops, to Clement, Specialized, Vittoria, and even Goodyear), I have gotten punctures with all of them. The worst are Vittoria Rallye tubulars. Rallyes are cheap, but since they are twice as likely to puncture than the higher end Vittorias, you aren't going to come out ahead, unless you are a total cycle nerd who enjoys patching or replacing tubes in tubular tires.

Carrying a spare tube and patch kit, and knowing how to change or patch a tube quickly is a basic necessity, and if you are going go be any kind of serious rider, you will get plenty of practice.