agarose2000

Was wondering if anyone here had success with inexpensive (<$30) tires, such as the Nashbar or Hutchinson brand tires. I haven't had any particularly bad experience with recurrent flats, but I've been having occasional flats regardless of tire - ContiGP4000, ContiGatorskin, and Rubino Pro - and they all feel pretty similar to me. Was wondering what kind of changes/sacrifice I could expect with cheaper tires.

shuffles

Used to ride the Conti UntraSports, but they wear out quickly. The Forte Kevlar belted tires are complete rubbish, with very poor handling and they're not sized right.

I'm riding Conti GatorSkins now, and I'm very happy. It's my experience that flats are due more to mounting technique (learning how not to pinch tubes) and tire pressure than to the quality of the tire. Keep 'em inflated to near max pressure, and you'll have a lot less flats.

Plus, you've laid out for a P2C. Don't skimp on tires, doesn't look right.

wookv

FWIW, my Scott CR1 Team came stock with Hutchinson Equinox ($20). I've been using them for >1500 miles over the past 5 months as my weekend bike and (knocking on wood) I haven't had a flat yet.

Phantoj

I bought a pair of Pro3 Race off of ebay for $50, so that's "<$30" for each tire.

This was a cheap tire (Hutchinson Flash):


Expensive tires have less rolling resistance, and the effect is more significant than some of the gear stuff people pay a lot of money for.

Trucker Dan

My bike came with a set of kenda kaliente. They gripped well and lasted. No flats either. I have a friend that got some kenda kriteriums off ebay for real cheep. He seems to like them. I don't know why kenda seems to get so much hate.

prathmann

I've been using Nashbar's Prima tires for years with no bad experiences. Slightly prefer the non-belted version but they haven't had those available lately. And they raised the price to nearly $20 when it used to be under $10.
The Performance unbelted Forte GT seems ok too - but it is narrower than labeled, so just get the next wider size.

jrobe

I haven't paid too much more than $30 for Conti GP 4000's at PBK (with shipping, no tax). I see the 25mm ones are $39 now but they are often cheaper than this. Watch their web site for sales. No need to buy cheap tires when you can get these for reasonable prices

Ex Pres 

Just wait until Nashbar,etc puts a $50 tire on sale for $20 and load up.

Reynolds 

I used 6 Specialized Mondo (about $15-20 each) and didn't have any problems with them.

StanSeven

Yup. Or buy them from places like probikekit. I got Conti GP4000S a few months ago when the dollar was down for $30 and free shipping.

sced

Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 2 and Michelin Lithion are both good, with the edge to the latter. They can be quite cheap at PBK.

ericm979

I like the Forte Pro Kevlar tires. They are light, ride well, wear decently and stick to the road, especially in the wet. Their only drawback is that in wet weather they pull up more water from the road than smooth tread tires do, so you get more spray off the tires.

They're great $25 tires but their list price is more like $50. They are not $50 tires. But they are often on sale.

helmut

I've used Kenda Kontenders (700X25) that came on my Giant, and while they have a reputation for being crap, I've never had a flat. When my wife's bike needed new tires, I put the Kendas on hers and bought some Vittoria Rubinos (700x23) for mine, in blue to match my new bar tape. I have also not had any problems with these, and they cost me $22 each.

Namenda

The Rubino Pro's I have on my bike right now cost something like $17 from pbk a while back. Not quite so cheap now, unfortunately. Good tires, getting a bit worn, but still functioning to spec.

saratoga

I used the Hutchinson Fusion Comps and would only buy them when performance had a sale... something like $25 ea. Certainly not the best but not the worst either. They were good for training/trainer tires.

docjoe

I have to ask how you're getting flats. Are you getting punctures? Do the tires wear out too fast? Are you getting pinch flats?

I would think that the Gatorskins would be fairly indestructible.

My recommendation would be to try getting some Specialized Armadillos. Unfortunately they are quite expensive, about 50-60 per tire.

intence

Just wait for a sale. Also, Micheline Pro3s are about $40 or so each with their 2-tire package and the 10% off coupon from PBK.

pgsandiego

I also bought these a few weeks ago when PBK had them on sale for $22. Good reviews and I've found them to be nice tires. At $22/each delivered, it was an easy decision. Now I wished I'd bought more than 2.

caloso

I've been using Hutchinson Equinoxes (with Mr. Tuffy liners) as my off-season training tires for a few weeks now. The Hutchinsons were something like $12 a piece on www.bonktown.com. They're heavier and less grippy than the GP 4000s that they replaced, but they're great for the winter.

carpediemracing 

I used Schwable Blizzard tires for a while. They're 700x23, name notwithstanding. I think they're good for blizzards only in that you never flat one, they're very tough and durable. Retail would have been $16-18 each.

Get a wire bead version of a brand tire (like the Mondo). Usually good for inexpensive and heavier training tires.

cdr

AngryScientist 

im running some maxxis detonators on one of my bikes, they can usually be had for under 30, and i have no complaints whatsoever.

UGASkiDawg

Rubino Pro are less than $30 and work just fine for me.

palesaint

They road a little hard, but I really enjoyed the two sets of kenda kriteriums ($25/ea) I used last year. Got 3000+ miles out of each set with nary a flat. They cornered and felt good, though not as nice as the conti 4000s I switched to. I could see myself going back to them in the future.

Nachoman

I'm now trying out the Vredestein Fortezza SE tires. I don't like them much. I got them for about $25 dollars at Performance. Pretty rough ride, relatively heavy and tpi is too low for that price.

Ed Holland

$12 each purchased last month...

I'm cheap, and in general, baulk at tires costing more than $30. My LBS had some tyres at $12 each during a recent sale. Worth a go I thought, so bought some for my recent Raleigh C&V project. They took a little effort to get seated uniformly on the rim, my first effort resulted in a noticable bump. However, I straightened this out and have since put some decent miles on them without any trouble. They are less supple than the more expensive tires I've used recently, but for $12 each, and in combination with a nice steel frame, it doesn't matter.