bfloyd

I'm looking for a good 700 x 28 (or 32?) tire that can be used for general urban use and also be able to handle fire roads as well. Yes, I'm asking alot here; looking for lightning fast street use and still take a dirt road beating. Thanks.

baxtefer

any cyclocross tire meant for hardpack - i.e. no big knobs

vittoria randonneur cross pro
michelin jet
ritchey speedmax

dutret

Do you skid? Do you want to ride on anything looser then gravel?

YY:
sokmething with inverted tread like a mxxis overdrive is not ideal but the best you can do.

NY:
any cross tire choose one with the correct amount of tread for your off road needs.

YN, NN:
Anything more of less slick...

Black Shuck

Nokian Rollspeed 32's, Vittoria Randonneurs(28s are actually 26). The Randonneurs will eat anything you throw at them, but the ride suffers from it. They are ridiculously stiff.

Landgolier

Go check out the tires rivendell offers, they like stuff that can be ridden the way you want to ride.

bfloyd

Thanks for the starting tips!

matthavener

I pulled thorns out of my 700x28 Continental Gatorskins yesterday. Curbs, dirt roads, glass: nothing seems to flat them

Rattlebag

+1 on the gatorskins

Hocam

Same, only flat I got was when a huge peice of glass got jammed in the left side of the kevlar belt.

After than I run gatorskins + mr. tuffies for uber flat protection, didn't get any flats since but pulled stuff out of my tire pretty often.

bfloyd

I'll look into the Conti Gators.

hunterrb

panaracer t-servs if you want all weather traction/big tire options/great flat protection

maxxis re-fuse: only had one flat in over a year of riding them everyday. durable, pretty sticky, and cheap. I pull glass out of them all the time.

sp115

Add me to the list of supporters. And if it matters: when I was tired of fixing the pinch flats on the 23's I had on my roadbike, they squeezed into my fork when other 28's would jam solid, though I'm not sure if this is specific to the gatorskins or Conti's in general.

schnee

Gatorskins rock, I have 28mms on my fixed. They're awesome for flat resistance, have excellent grip on the street. Should be OK on dirt, but definitely skew towards concrete.

chipcom 

If you want to go off the pavement, but still roll well on pavement, try the Conti Contacts. They run thin, so the 32s look about as wide as a 28.

bfloyd

Thanks. Which Contacts do you use? I looked on their site and seen a few different versions of the Contact; they showed a Contact, a Sport Contact, a City Contact, a Security Contact, a Top Contact, a Travel Contact, and even a handmade in Germany Contact.

https://www.conti-online.com/generato...folder_en.html

riderx

Sometimes hard to find, but the Avocet Cross II tires are bomb proof on the road, roll fairly smooth on pavement and perform surprisingly well in the dirt. They are inverted tread, which is probably the best type of tire for what you are asking it to do. No matter what tire you choose you are going to compromise somewhere. If you lean more toward dirt than pavement, the Ritchey Crossmax is a good choice. I've used both of these tires for similar things you describe.

darkmother

I like my Panaracer pasela 32c's. They big, fat, slick, and roll fast. Smoooooth like a cadillac on a toll road. No tread to speak of for offroad, but honestly, the big tire volume helps a lot here. I'd ride hardpack dirt on them in a second.

familytrain

echo Avocet Cross recommendation, but are getting hard to find (yes? twas for me, anyway). now using Schwalbe Marathons which have been okey dokey (little bit of slippage on the firetrails). the reflective sidewall took a little getting used to. no, I hate the reflective sidewall. it's a good idea, though, the reflective sidewall. tires.

bfloyd

The TourRide and Zeta look good too.

bfloyd

Anyone try the WTB All-Terrainasaurus? Too aggressive for road?

https://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=30521

FridgeRobot

Panaracer Urbab Max... just got them a couple of weeks ago and they decimate all (well as far as price to quality ratio goes) i've heard stories of them lasting well more than a year depending on how much you skid, plus the liner is pretty bomb proof too.

patrick07

I'm using them on my Castro Valley but I have less than 60 miles on them. I like them as a nice all-around commuting and adventure (i.e. glass, potholes, curbs, dirt paths, gravel roads) tire but there are two drawbacks. They are not fast. I feel like I lose about two mph when compared to my other bikes with slick tires. I do find, however, that road noise is not as bad as I expected. The second drawback is the closeness of the knobs. I rode in snow today and felt that, if the snow were any deeper, I would have been in trouble.

Given a second chance or more money to blow, I think I would like to try either the Michelin Cyclocross Jet or Mud 2 tires.

marqueemoon

The Vittoria Randonneurs are decent for cheap. The ride is pretty unremarkable but I have gotten a lot of life out of mine.

chipcom 

The plain old Contact is a good all around tire that I use on my xcross bike. I believe the Top Contact is the replacement for the Top Touring 2000, which was an extremely good touring tire that I run on my touring bike and is also a good choice.

mander

Schwalbe Marathon non-slick 28's are pretty good tires for what you want to do. Lots of people in the know ride them around here. The tread is good for up to slightly hairy trail riding (can't do much more with a 28) and theyre fuggin hard to flat.