i figure it's been a while since we had a good ol' 'i like these tires. oh yeah? well you're a moron, i like THESE tires' thread, so i'm starting another one.

there's one rule: they have to cost less than $25/tire.

i've got 2, and one i'd like feedback on, if anyone's used it, and oddly enough, they're all vredesteins.

(other factors: i live in san francisco, which has lots of REALLY bad streets, but no snow/ice, weigh 130 lbs., and ride mostly without a handbrake, but don't skid or skip that much)

1. my hands-down, flat-out favorite tire is the vredestein volante se folding tire from nashbar. they're not light, but they look good (yes, that matters a bit to me), are tough as hell, don't mind if you over-inflate them a bit, and take the pounding that san francisco streets dish out. and take it and take it.
$19.95
you can get them here https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

2. vredestein fortezza se. almost 80 grams lighter than the volantes, and not as tough, but with a much livelier feel, plus you can inflate them to 170 psi if you want to test how firmly your fillings are seated.
performance has them in blue for $21.98 here https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5420, and supergo has them in red for $22.98 here https://www.supergo.com/profile.cfm?L...2&srccode=1749

the tire i'm looking for feedback on is one that performance calls the "Vredestein Fortezza Road Tire" and has absolutely no info on. you can see it here https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...egory_ID=5420#
anybody know anything?

i skidded through the fortezzas extremely quickly. they were super nice, but not for me. i don't even skid very much... back pedaling and skipping.

OK boring answer--Specialized Armadillos. They make it right at your price cutoff with my Transportation Alternatives discount. The only tires I've tried that last 3+ months on my commuter bike. Tried vredestien, michelin, conti, bontrager, etc. those were all more like six weeks (around 900miles/month, rarely skid).

they're like jeans... there are lighter options but...

I wonder when different people consider themselves ready for new tires. I go until I get several flats in a row or more than say 3 in 10 days... although I'm not scientific about it, more like I get a bad feeling looking at them & I keep being late to work.

I got a pair of 700x40 Continental Avenues for five bucks apiece at the good freewheel.

I really should've picked up more than one pair, but my 700x60 big apples are on the way..

700 x 60??? What frame do you ride that'll take a tire that wide?

jim-bob.... did you fixed a motorbike?

From the "Bulletproof Tyres" thread:

Michelin TransWorld City (reflective sidewall, too, works great!)

Karate Monkey.

Michelin Megalium

vittoria rubinos have lasted me a while and look decent

Continental Sport 1000 have lasted over a year. A great, but expensive, tire.
For an everyday tire that wont break the bank, I like Bontrager Select K.
Vittoria Rubinos, too, especially because they come in red.

maxxis detonators. i got a lightly used secondhand pair and they've lasted almost a year.

GAtorskins, Zaffiro's, Rubino's ,Diamante's. All folding and all were cheap 'cause I worked at a bike shop. I've got like ten sets of 'em just collecting dust, I can only ride two bikes at a time.....

i love me some panaracer rubber

I love my Vittoria Rubinos, they are affordable, durable, and i feel safe with them in the rain and around hairy turns in high speeds. If you want me to give you my personal experience with other tires, just send me a a set and ill be glad to test them for you and report back once i have fully broken them down.

I've been riding some vittoria rubinos for about a month and a half now and i've really enjoyed them...until they started falling apart. I was skipping and skidding a lot so the rear is completely shot of course and the front tire has been collecting a lot of little cracks and tears in it. I've never seen a tire do that before. The sidewalls have even started cracking.

i've been riding rubinos for a rediculously long time, and there holding up extremley well the rear is just starting to develop bald spots, by a long time a mean like 3 and a half months, i skid and skip alot I weigh 110 pounds and i ride about 30 miles a day doing food delivery in NYC.

My girlfriend has been riding Bontrager RaceLite Hardcases. They're the poor man/women's armadillos here. Used by a lot of messengers. Hold up well to the abuse of London Streets and apparently corner just as badly in the wet as the armadillos.

Man, I can't remember the last tire that I rode that cost less than $25 apeice...

i really like the michelin pro race (now pro race 2) and the michelin carbon. i just wish the carbon was available in all black or grey.

i rock a seven dollar nashbar kevlar-belted dealie on my front tire, and that has done me well. kind of shredded one on my rear and i got a $23ish Schwalbe Blizzard tire on there that's doing good things for me. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Several flats with the Armadillos? I go until they start looking like this, but I haven't flatted one yet.

HyperRevue - the Conti Sport1000 should be $15 or less depending on where you get it. In my experience, it's a pretty crap tire - Conti's bottom of the line. I blew out the sidewalls twice, once on a sharp edge of a brick that was tire level and another time when my plastic tire level slipped and cut it. Ugh.

Anyhow - I'm all about the Fortezza's and Vredestein. I do however, mix and match. I have a Gatorskin on the rear for flat protection and a Fortezza up front for road feel since that's where you "feel" the tire, through your arms and such.

That Road one that Performance is offering is interesting. I've typically bought the SE ones that Performance/Supergo carry exclusively but this time I bought a regular Fortezza ($40 - but got it on sale) because I wanted an all black tire.

It feels no different than the SE, even though it's more expensive and apparently has more "features".

Seeing that Fortezza Road for that price and in black, I'd pick some up in a jiffy. In fact, I will.

On another note - I'm also running a Hutchison Carbon Comp on the other bike in front and I wouldn't do that again. It's not bad but it only goes to 125 and it feels too squishy - like how Michelin's sometime feel.

Yeah, but Armadillos do pick up small bits of metal. I've had two flats in the past two months with my new commute past a metal dump. Though, that direction is also broken-glass-land, and I've never gotten a flat that way. Anyway, can any tires resist pointy bits of metal?

When I lived in DC I got a Fortezza on sale from Nashbar. The label looks different than the one on Performance, so I don't know if this helps you, dolface. But I stupidly put it on the back rather than the front. It was *zippy*, but then it got sliced going over one of those hydrolic, metal, traffic barrier things that lay flat at the base of Capital Hill--never happened with any other tire--and then, about 2 weeks later, the sidewall mysteriously blew out from some random pavement thing. I liked the feel, but they weren't reliable. Maybe if I put it on the front wheel I'd still be on it?

I rock some Panaracers T servs on my fixed gear in 25c. I have some Transworld Citys on my touring bike in 32 those are nice too. I also have had good luck with the Avenir/Cycle Pro house tires which are nice and cheap.