Schwalbe or Conti?
 

Thank you all for steering me away from either Armadillos or Hard Case, size 700x28 or 32. Now next one:

Conti Gatorskins, Conti 4000 or Schwalbe marathon supreme? All were recommended for their wet traction and puncture resisitance.

Now the criteria changed:

1. Which one runs cleaner - my current tires have low knoblets on the sides and throw dirt and grime on my legs. Fenders do not do much in tropical downpour, so I did away with them. Schwalbes have low-profile sipes, contis are nearly smooth, so am I correct that smoother tires will run cleaner?
2. Which one lasts longer - I already did my hyperventilating over Schwalbe sticker, nevertheless I do not want my gas savings wiped out by fast wearing expensive tires.

Cross - posting to Road and Cyclocross

Thank you again

SF

I've never been so insanely filthy in my whole life, including after scuba diving in a Lake Ontario algae bloom, as after riding in a drizzle w/ marathon supremes and no fenders.

I blame the lack of fenders more than the pattern on the tires, and in fact I really can't see myself running anything but schwalbes when available. I do wonder what fenders you've rejected, something like PB Cascadias w/ a decent mudflap do an amazing job of keeping the road spray and grime off you, no matter how wet you might be getting from above.

I have Gatorskins on the road bike, and Supremes on the touring bike.

Smooth ride: Gatorskins win.

Puncture resistance: Supremes win.

I average 600 miles between flats on Gatorskins, usually thorns, glass, or wire.
Supremes have ~3000 miles and the tread has *never* been punctured.
The one and only flat came from a huge chunk of 3/4" glass that sliced the sidewall wide open, requiring a new tire.
I recently dug two chunks of glass out of the tread of a Supreme that never made it past the Vectran belt.

Tread is a useless decoration on tires that are used on asphalt.
Last year I did a mountain descent on the Gatorskins at speeds up to 45mph w/o problem in the rain.
This year I descended the upper half of Mt Evans in the rain on the Supremes w/o problem,
(speed limited to 35 mph due to the lousy pavement).

+1

BTW just so you know up front:
Gatorskins are made in Germany.
Supremes are made in Indonesia.

I've had good luck with continentals. Gatorskins last forever, at 145 pounds, I have nearly 4000 miles on the front and it doesn't really even look worn at all, the rears should go for about 4000 miles too. The downside is that gatorskins ride really rough, I haven't seen them pick up anything in the with 400+ miles of rain riding.

My 4000S are much much smoother riding than the gatorskins, I don't have any expedience with them in the rain.

No matter what tire you run, you're going to get dirty riding in the rain.

I've been running Conti Gatorskin 4 Seasons on 2 road bikes for years. Have not had a flat in 2 years. They make this tire in 28mm size, but they are pricey at $60 ea.

SB

Fenders I rejected served their previous master in drizzly coastal Northeast extremely well. Rain in these parts mean riding though a 1/2 inch-deep puddle as wide as your commute is long. Water is picked up by a tire in a visible sheet of water, refocused by a fender and cheerfully jetted on your legs mid-calf on downstroke. Wet from above - like a recommendation to take a shower in your helmet once in a while to keep funk down - I actually welcome it. Great visual, ain't it?

To everybody answered - thanks for your concern.

SF

Nothing but love for my Supremes,they handle like sport bike radials. Not sure how many miles I got out of my first set,my math says over 3k miles. This was on a 32lbs touring bike that also hauled groceries. Something did penetrate the rear,but only enough to nick the tube and cause a slow leak that I was able to ride home on. Many,many other scars from stuff that didn't get through,and I've never had to fix a flat on the roadside with them. Awsome in the rain,and the reflective sidewalls are a big plus. Totally worth what I paid for them,enough that I bought the second set to replace them.

Maybe, but Schwalbe is of course German

gators

Definitely agree with the GatorSkins. They are rough at first, but you get used to the ride. At least I did. Ride was rougher than the Specialized Mondos that came with my Allez, but have had only a couple flats since I got them, and they were all on the side :X

4 season tires have two layers of vectran, I don't know how thick the total of layers is between them and the Schwalbe, but I'm going to compromise and go with the GP4000's next :)

Only have about 130 miles on the gators I got last month, two 20-some mile rides, one 80-some mile ride that resulted in a crash that totaled my wheels. I ride them at about 90f/100r, not a bad ride on crappy, glass/nails/staple/crap filled MUPs.

This sounds like you're using a short fender. Have you tried one of the long ones?

You sometimes see English commuters using a pie-dish design - a long fender with home-made(?) plastic walls added.

Don't get any of them. Get the Conti Force/Attack combo. They are great for cornering and very puncture resistant. It is a rear and front specific tire.

my 2 cents

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this tread. After nearly 5-week wait for the tires (my LBS supplier was out of ANY Contis in size requesed) I got a pair of 700X28 4-seasons. $$Ouch!!!
Put some talc powder on the tubes, installed the tires - not bad in installation, though tire levers were needed.
Handling is more responsive, felt almost twitchy at first, again, in comparison to stock Boroughs 32mm that came with the bike.
Wet handling - like it very much. Tread is very grippy, almost chewy to the touch. About 300 mi in two weeks and have not wore out the center seam in the tire - looks promising for a longevity.
Ride quality - did not notice any difference, I am a light Athena, therefore any tire will flex enough to cushion the ride. Potholes still no issue.
Fast? Um... Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide....Compared to Boroughs, on smooth pavement they fly effortlessly. Some roads around here are pretty rough asphalt, almost chip-seal, and I have to work more to maintain the same speed. Oh, well....
Puncture resistance. My problem is glass, so on way home I subjected it to fail-test repeatedly and pointed them down any beer party remains. At home examined the tread - nothing picked up. However, found one spot where tread was cut, by either large glass shard or a steel washer aimed just right. Nothing major, did not go through, booted the tire just in case...
Bottom line - I am happy.

SF

And...?

A mudflap (which might be what meanwhile was referring to) would go a long way to preventing that I would think.

Matthew

I think you just inspired me to order a pair of Conti 4 seasons. Now I just have to price hunt...

I'm not sure I understand this, but -- if you're saying your fenders don't work in deeper water then:

a. get fenders that are longer or
b. get (or make) a mud flap, as noted above.

I'm skeptical that you can stay drier riding without fenders than you can with (properly fitted) fenders.

Why oh why would you do this?

purposely riding through glass, genius... i would have just let time tell if the tires get punctured by glass