rjhammett

Is anyone riding Specialized All-Condition Armadillo tires? I have a couple sets of 700x23c tires. I have never ridden them. They were on bikes that I purchased to rebuild. They seem to be rock hard and from what I have read they are supposed to be bullet proof. I bought a bike that had these on from a guy that lived in the Southwest. He said he bought these to prevent cactus needle flats. I live nowhere near cactus and don't ride too much near glass.

Does anyone have any comments about these tires? Is the ride rock hard? I know I could just mount them and try them out for myself but I wanted to get feedback from Forum members. Thanks.

10 Wheels

They ride like bricks and I had one blow out a sidewall on a front wheel.

lungimsam

Not bullet proof. I switched to Gatorskins because the Armadillos were getting too many flats and tread cuts.
Gatorskins worked better, but they too get benign slices in the treads pretty easily.
If I remember correctly, the 'skins were the better ride.
This is in glass strewn roads where I live - no cactii or goatheads.

Is there such a thing as a not-rock-hard ride on any 23 or 25mm tires? 100-120 psi and its gonna be a road vibration-fest.

rjhammett

I am running 700x23c tires on all my bikes. I have a real mix of tires on them. Some are a bit hard but believe it or not most ride pretty smoothly.

10 Wheels

Yes, Continental ULTRA Sport 700 X 23's are the best riding tires I have used in 46,000 miles of riding.

rjhammett

I have those on my Peugeot. They do ride pretty nice.

superfred

Maybe you need to reduce your pressure. I'm still doing experimenting myself, but it seems I need to go down to 80-95 psi

Looigi

Hard and heavy, but a number of us switched to them to help with goathead thorns after trying liners and various sealants. They were pretty effective at that.

shipwreck

Never run 23mm, but here is the only flat I ever had with them on my 28mm


The screw actualy dimpled the rim , and locked up on the brake bridge. I wheelied to a stop on the front tire the best I could. A boot, and I was good to go.

Ran them for another couple hundred miles, then put them on my beater bike, where forty mile an hour decents on potholed pavement and flint road shredded it. The tread started coming off in big chunks, so I retired it and moved the front to the back where it does the most good. I ride thru dry county lines on rural roads where there are seas of broken glass from drivers throwing out whisky and beer bottles on the way back from wet county liquer runs, so they get a lot of abuse.

I was just considering getting another set in 23mm as a training tire. They ride like a brick, but I liked them ok.

DataJunkie

They ride terribly and are not entirely puncture proof. At least they are cheap.
When I commuted I used to run one on my rear wheel and it seemed to reduce the number of flats. Plus it was a fixed gear.

deanp

I have a little 2000 miles on a set with no flats, and I'm getting good wear from them.

bkaapcke

They can be a bear to get on/off the rim. Not fun if you have to do it in the field. bk

Black wallnut 

I ran them for 4K+ miles this year. Wore out two rears and one front, flat free although I was using 700X25. I ride mostly chipseal roads with our bike lanes littered with rocks, glass, and other crap. I have since switched to a 23 front, 25 rear and when the rear is worn out will switch to 23 rear if I lose 15 lbs. or more. I have no other ride to compare it to other than the original tires that came on my road bike and I did not notice a difference in ride. I'm a believer in not fixing things that are not broke and since I am flat-less since going to Armadillos I'll stay with them, for me they work. Before the switch I had lots of flats as my son has had with the tires I replaced.