tire experiences?
 

I ride in the crappy streets of Philadelphia, and so far I've managed to destroy a Panaracer Stradius Sport in 2 days and a Vittoria Rubino Pro in under 3 weeks, neither as a result of skidding and such. Who has good praise of their tires? Any pricy tires you don't recommend at all? I know it totally depends on the rider and where you're at, but I'm really curious to see what comes up anyway. I can't decide what tire I want next, and I can't keep buying them constantly. I've been recommended the Panaracer T-serv and the Continental _______. Thanks for input!

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp, like them a lot. Variety of colors if that matters.

You should praise those "crappy" streets. The streets in Philly are actually in good shape compared to some of the streets on the east coast. Obviously they don't compare to goin on a ride through smalltown nowheresville where they redo the streets once a year out of lack of better things to do, but your streets are lit and paved decently. Did you check out armadillos yet?

Also, how are you ruining tires that fast if its not from skidding? What part of philly do you live in?

i've ha good luck with my conti ultra gatorskins on the glass littered streets of a college town. I've been running them for about 9 months now and the rear is showing a mild amount of use. I rarely skid, skip sometimes, but usually just use my legs. so I suppose I'm pretty easy on them.

conti toptouring 2000 hardly light small or sexy (28 is the smallest they make them) but man are they bomber.

i been riding one in back for over a year now with no problems (commuting 25+ miles a day). it replaced another that had been going strong for over a year....

i do get the occasional flat but the tire is never worse for wear.

Been running All Condition Armadillo Tire (700x25) for about 6 months now on my fixed. They had a slight seam along the center. They are finally worn down. My downtube paint shows the scars of road debris I've gone through in the areas in and around Houston,TX. No flats yet... knock on wood.

streets in bridgeport, ct are the worstest, and i found myself pleased with the performance of a schwalbe blizzard, which cost me about 20bucks and has a kevlar belt. lasted me 3-4 months of skidding too much (albeit at only about 100 mi/week). i've since put my brake back on and skid a whole lot less.

+1 for Gatorskins! They are tough and wear very well. The roads on my commute are terrible, littered with cracks, potholes, gravel, glass, ruts, etc., and these tires take the daily beatings. And I went from multiple flats per month to no flats in months. Get them.

I'm real small and super-light, but the Conti Gatorskins have
been great for me. Three months in and the only flat came
from a vicious sewer grate that ate the whole front wheel.
I ride brakeless and skid somewhat frequently, and they're
only beginning to show signs of serious wear.

i have tried All Condition Armadillo Tire, hated them. constantly felt like i was going to slide out, and in the rain, felt like i was riding on ice ever manhole cover. really harsh ride.

I like the michelin speedium despite being a expensive for what is listed as lower end/recreational tire. still like the ride / grip.

also currently using Vredestein Fortezza SE usually around $25 (retail is $50 but they always seem to be on sale), 130psi max, basically performance house brand. only seem to be in blue and 700x23

*does not account for skidding

armadillos for skidding and fortezzas for not skidding

I"ve never had any problems with Maxxis Re-fuse's. I regularly pick pieces of glass out of them without incident. They last forever, even with daily skidding/skipping. Added bonus is they sound really cool when skidding (before the diamond tread wears down). They corner great, work well in the rain, and i've never gotten a flat in over 9 months of use. knocking on wood....

-Robb

edit: they are like the Fuse, but have a kevlar layers for flat protection...

+1 on tricomps. they resist punctures really well. they dislike excessive skidding though.

bontrager hardcases are doing well by me. skip a whole lot, and no problems yet. it's only been about a month and i'm really light (tipping the scales at an even 100 pounds), but i like em.

I live in west philly and ride to grays ferry waste facility (where i work) every morning through the worst section...it's a trash dump so there's just crap everywhere onsite and offsite as the trucks going in and especially out drag debris, glass, syringes and razorwire everywhere, kind of like tracking mud through a house. I ride about 15-20 miles a day, but the main factor is definitely my morning commute to the dump.

Whatever Chucksbike has on closeout.

I commute to the dump each morning too.

Sorry, had to say it. Back on topic now.

That'd do it. Gray's Ferry is an awesome neighborhood, but some of the things around there are just ****ed. And you do see some gnarly shiv on the ground there too. I'm coming up to Philly for the weekend and probably plan on running through that area. It's an awesome ride as long as your tire doesn't blow out. Right now I have a Rubino Pro on the back and its holding up well in the pothole and crack infested streets of DC. I do my best not to skid on it though, I don't want to eat this tire to shiv when I have a perfectly crap tire on my front. (The Hypersonic tires they put on an IRO arent that great at all. I had a lot of flats and ended up skidding the shiv out of them.)

I was gonna pick up Armadillos because everybody said how tough they were, but when i was at the shop they felt weird. Like they have a plastic feel to them. I felt like I would just slide around and not grip the road very well. Good luck finding a tire that can hold up to that, let me know what you find.

I am having slow leaks and out-and-out flats every few hundred miles with my Nimbus Armadillo tires. Not what I expected. As I have a very tight commuting schedule trying to catch the last bus of the evening on a certain run I may just put in some Tuffies.:(

I have tried everything, finally got the dillo's....they are harsh and ride like crap but not one flat in 2 years......so I give up the comfort for the no flats, in fact I quit carrying spare tubes and tire tools

I have also just tried the bontrager hard cases and a better ride and so far no flats

I second Robb's recommendation for the Maxxis ReFuse tires. At $25 each they're very affordable, and have held up extremely well to daily fixed gear use (although I don't skid much). Added bonus, the 25c size rides nicely.

Something else to check out is the (now discontinued) Michelin Carbon tire. I picked up a pair from Performance when they were on closeout for my road bike, and completely love the ride. Very smooth, excellent cornering, and they last forever to boot. Michelin has replaced the Carbon with the Krylion, about which I know nothing.

Unrelated - Robb, glad to see you made it back from Lebanon. I was curious there for a while ;)

mine lasted fine for a couple of weeks, but skid patches are showing now...dollar bills in the tire, fo sho'.

i like the feel waaay better than armadillos, though, and my tire might have had a disadvantage because it was a front tire for about 8 or 9 months before i put it in back.

i think it's great, just not sure about its skid/skip-ability. i do plenty of that to control speed on downhills and such.

I ride in Philly too and I've gotten more punctures in Conti Gatorskins than I would wish on my worst enemy. All sorts of holes in the sidewalls too. And I ride pretty dang carefully. I'll never buy those tires again.

fortezzas are absolute junk for skidding. it's kind of a tricky deal with tires on a brakeless fixed gear , because, the soft tires and give for a really smooth ride are the ones that are going to be totally slaughtered by skipping, skidding, and road debris.

Tubulars = flats all the time (vittoria training tubes and some hutchinsons), Michelin Speedium2 clincher lasted all of 70km(snakebite in the rear on a dirt path), Vittoria Randonneurs are still going strong after 3000km of mixed riding, still look kind of new and have some of the little injection-thingies left on the sides.