taken67

Word, I think that's what my girl rides. I live in reservoir hill, whitelock and madison, so mine definitely need to be armor plated or something.

Smorgasgeorge

I run a belted gatorskin in the back and schwalbe stelvio in the front.


Hold up pretty well and corner better than armadillos.

nexus6

Schwalbe Blizzards - have a kevlar band for puncture resistance. Got em 1/2 price on ebay.

JWalton215

Vredstein Ricorso MK2 700x23 / 125 psi?

andre nickatina

Yeah my friend has some and they feel super nice and smooth, but man, they don't handle skids well at all.

trons

these didn't hold up very well for me.

deathintransit

32c Continental Contacts on my Steamroller.

Run the with the pressure somewhere between 55 and 70 and the snow ain't sh*t.

veganwar

Armadillos are great pretty much all the time. I never get flats with them and there is tons of glass and other **** on the streets. The other night, I was taking a turn in the rain and ran over what must have been a rather large chicken bone and I just crushed the thing and kept riding. The tires are grippy and sometimes that is problematic, like after the rain or riding on wet streets, you can start to feel that they are almost sticking to the pavement. Some people don't like the stiffness of them as they sidwalls are pretty hard.

I had ****tly luck with a pair of Rubinos I bought but am willing to give them a second chance. They got slits across the tread or from the sidewall onto the tread. I actually had a small bone fragment pierce the tire and go through the tube in two spots.They are popular in NYC so I assume everyone else doesnt' have the same problems.

My next set of tires are going to be Schwable Stevlios. Keblar belt and supposed to be a nice ride. Not really sure how skipping and skidding on them will be. I don't wear through tires that fast despite a good amount of skipping and skidding. A friend rides them and says he gets about 6 weeks out of a rear tire.

queerpunk

i liked a schwalbe marathon i had once.
i was unimpressed by aradillos. felt flatproof in exchange for barely feeling like i was riding on a tire. plus, i skidded through it way too fast. admittedly, i was under the impression that it would hold up, and it didn't.
riding vittoria rubino pro's right now. they feel great but they wear a lot from skidding; i try not to do it too much. the tires have very good flat protection. i get lots of glass imbedded, and no puncture flats.

a dude (eddiebrannan) who rides michelin pro race 2s swears by them, and it caught my attention. he said he rode on a set for over a year, maybe close to two, with very good flat protection, and really significant durability. maybe i'll keep my eyes peeled for a set on sale and go for them next.

Landgolier

Can we close this thread out when 25 different tire types are mentioned? I think we're at about 18 now.

ryand

I don't think I'd call Armadillos grippy. Or sticky. I feel like I'm gonna slip out when I ride them, they feel like they are made of plastic.

I ride Rubino Pros. I've hit glass and haven't had it puncture (there is a puncture resistant belt). Sometimes I get pinch flats, but when I get them, its usually a pinch flat that I think would happen regardless of what tire I was riding. (ie- missing a hop up a curb to hitting really hard on the corner with my rear wheel.)

edit: its all personal preferance. don't take my word for the plastic feeling of armadillos, try it out for yourself.

andypants

I'll add Serfas Secas. They're were about 20 bucks each and haven't had any major issues. Only one flat but it was a roofing tack, so I'm pretty sure it was inevitable.

I also think Pananracer stradius sucked.

.:Jimbo:.

Im in the same boat, i hated the feel of the armadillo's, and needed a cheap set to get off of the specialized as soon as possible, and ended up with a pair of rubino's. They have fair protection, i've had a flat or two on them, but have put a good amount of miles on them. However, I've since upgrade to the pro races, and they feel nice. The lack a heavy Kevlar bead, yet still have not yet been punctured. So far, quite impressed with them, but it's too soon to know if I'll swear by 'em.

Also, i forgot about one more tire, strangely enough, i had a pair of race tires, vreadstein's fortezza tricomps, in a cool orange color nonetheless, and despite putting a few thousands of miles, not a single flat, strangely i ran them low as 80 at times, others as high as 145-150psi. So that goes to show, not everyone needs a heavy, clunky, harsh-riding tire to stay on top of the crap in the streets.

And a little disclaimer that might have an impact on my tire's results, i weight in at a mere 145lbs, which I suppose classifies me as a lightweight rider.

wroomwroomoops

Maybe it's my poor english again, but what does the bead material have to do with puncture resistance? I though having kevlar/aramid beads actually makes the tire lighter - compared to the traditional steel bead. Neither has any function in protecting the tire itself.

Am I missunderstanding something here? I am never 100% sure, not being a native english speaker.

lymbzero

Any Specialized tire is going to be decent, at least in my exp.

I ride the "All-Conditions" non armadilo.. decent tire. decent flat protection.

Armadilo's are a bit heavier.

fatbat

I really liked the 1.25X26" slicks that specialized sells, but i've had some flat problems with their flack jacket road tires- i don't thing the belt extends far enough up the tire, where they have some tread which picks up glass & other sharp stuff. I kept getting punctures on the margin of the tread.

I cheered when i finally wore out a pair of amadillos and could take them off my bike. They rode that badly. No punctures though.

max-a-mill

i think the michelin pro2's are great tires; but not for fixed gear rear wheels.

they are so freakin thin... after about 1.5 months i replaced mine cause i got the second piece of glass in it and i just couldn't understand how a tire that thin should hold up.

still have one on the front though, they roll like magic.

i am in the market for one of them everwears in back when i wear out my current gatorskin. my last gatorskin died prematurely due to an ugly cut. we'll see how dis one does.

mander

I think he was using "bead" and "heavy" very loosely. "bead" in this case means "protective belt", and "heavy" means "resistant to puncture".

wroomwroomoops

You're right about this one, he must have meant the kevlar belt.


I don't think jimbo had this in mind. I think he deliberately used "heavy" to mean "heavy", because he gives it a negative connotation.

1fluffhead

Man... You guys kill me and you all must watch too much of The Wire because the streets I ride are not nearly as bad as you make them out to be. I also stay out of alleys so that could be it too. I live in CharlesVillage and ride to Catonsville (through West Bmore) via N. Ave to Fulton and yeah I see the crack viles and needles, but I also see hookers. I am not trying to ride over them so why would I want to ride over the other crap in the street? I am rolling on Panaracers with great luck. Maybe it is just me.

feefifofum

My experience: +1 for the 'dillos. -1 for the Conti products.

For commuting, love the reflective sidewalls on the dillos.

ffff

marqueemoon

I'm running Randonneurs AND Mr. Tuffy liners on my commuter right now. Mr. Tuffys are the ****. Run dem tires until they're bald (and then some) and throw the liners in a new set. I'll gladly sacifice a little suppleness for reliability, at least for getting to work.

The Everwears are nice - pretty supple for such a thick tire. All that rubber makes em' pretty tall so be careful if your bike has tight clearances.

Fixxxie

Great for traction and lightweight and they ride great too. They SUCK at being tough though since they are straight up race tires.

Armadillo all the way for city riding. I dont care as much for the way the new style ones ride and corner but they are indestructable.
I used them for years and thousands of miles and never got one flat.
The old style armadillos were much better for ride and handling but you can't find them anywhere anymore.

Hocam

I had a nasty flat once with gatorskins (big ole piece of glass) so I beefed up the rear wheel with some Mr Tuffies.

Mr Tuffies + ultra gatorskins = armored personal carrier of bicycles

brokenrobot

Yes, you're right. People often get mixed up between "kevlar bead", which generally just means "folding tire", and "kevlar belt", which indicates a layer of kevlar under the contact area, which is supposed to reduce punctures.

Er. Just like everyone else has already said. Oh well.