Vittoria Zaffiro for $16 each

unless you ride in a city w/ glass, garbage debris all over the roads.
not sure how they hold up to tons of skids yet.
i've had a set since august, and after 30mi+ a week, they still seem new and haven't had a flat yet.

make sure you always have good pressure as everyone has mentioned.

Thanks for the info. :9: I just read about 50 reviews on this tire and it sounds like the right one for me. I'm pretty pumped cause it will be my first "non stock" tire. Thanks again for the suggestion.

Agreed. Ride quality can encompass quite a few factors. But friend, I must disagree with you on the issue of tires affecting ride quality. Like you said, ride quality is determined by several factors such as frame build, geometry, frame material, fork material and guess what...TIRES TOO.

"Bumps are transmitted from the rear tire patch, through the tire, the wheel, the seatstays, the seatpost, the saddle frame, and the saddle top. All these parts deflect to a greater or lesser extent when you hit a bump, but not to an equal extent." - Sheldon Brown.

My interpretation of that statement would be, tires have a role in the process of going over a bump.
Perhaps a specific tire might not necessarily improve ride quality, but a factor such as the size of the tire might.

But before we go on and on arguing. We do need the OP to clarify his needs.

For me, I just switched to 35s on my Iro Mark V. And the "ride quality" compared to my Conti Ultra 23s is definitely improved. A lot less road vibration and better performance in the snow that apparently does not want to stop falling but hey, im loving it. My mark V is winterized xD

ohh... two great tires.

vittoria randonneurs and if you can afford it the Conti 400grandprixs :D

go for it. you might be able to find a deal. They were selling for about $60 a pair a while back if i remember correctly

If you are having flats, check out your rim strips and make certain that they are performing and if not, replace with Velox or similar. You might be having issues with the backside of the nipples contacting the tubes and puncturing them.

Also, lower than recommended pressure can lead to pinch flats, so check for that as well.

Tubes and tires should last a lot longer than yours seem to. I have purchased several vintage bikes that had original tires on them that were 30 years old and still functional. I said functional, nothing I would want to go 40 mph downhill on, but wouldn't hesitate to ride all day long on typical roads. Some had tubes that I'll bet were original also, or close to it. Some of that probably has to do with the fact that the older tubes and tires might not have been pressurized past around 60 p.s.i.

Anyways, check the rim strips and see what they look like. That's a start.

Dear (nearly) everyone:
Tire sizing only contains one "c" - after the 700. There is not two C's there. There is not a C after the width. Just a single "c", to be only married with the 700.

700C refers to overall diameter: 622 mm, as supposed to A (642), or B (635). It means nothing, other than it not being A or B. The width is just a nominal measurement in mm - thus, no C. Or CC.

Love,
Drunken Enim.

After using some different brands, Continentals win my vote!

Continental Gatorskins ( nuff said, might be lil harsh, but very good puncture protection and fast rolling)

Continentals GP4000s (if you don't skid because thses are more of an entry road racing tire that is more than $50. good grip, good ride qty, good rolling resistance, only heard good things about them)

This was my reasoning too until i experienced it for myself.

For bikes or those who are not TOTALLY! all about performance
I Can't Recommend continental Contacts enough! They last simply for ever, flats are unheard of even with 25psi in the tires. which seems to be what your looking for. they are a bit heavy but you get over it. the ride isn't too bad either

if you want a performance tire your spoiled for choice

pro3race, gp4000, Rubino, Ulthremo, cadence

I like Pro3race and Rubinos myself.

I get most of my tires free, and conti's are they only one i've been compelled to buy with my own $ more than once.

There are in fact tires that will improve the ride quality overall. The tires are what send the shocks and vibrations of the road to the rider so the smaller the tire you're riding in, say 23c, and the higher operating PSI for that particular tire will affect how hard it is when making contact. Some 23s require being aired up to 160+PSI, you think maybe a tire that stiff won't affect ride quality compared to another more supple one in the same size that will run at 100 PSI?

Perhaps it's not about brands but tire construction but one easy way to improve ride quality and get rid of that road buzz you get from narrow high PSI tires is to move up in size. Even then you run into the same issue of tire construction. I had the $20 Panaracer tires from Performance in 32c and they are in no way comparable to my Paselas in the same size. The sidewall of the Panaracers was like a stone yet the Paselas is like silk, you don't think those two factors affect ride quality?

If you don't then I'm sorry but you need to get out there and ride some more cause it seems like someone has been feeding you some BS on tires that you have yet to test out on your own.

you know, i ran gp4k for a while (one set of 3, F + 2x R) and i found that i really disliked them. they wore like bricks, lasted forever...that's the good. but they rode like bricks as well, and i found the hard compound to not be particularly grippy. they were the 'chili' compound, and yes, i had them at reasonable pressures (~110psi @ 180lbs, 23mm carcass).

tried pro2/pro3 and they were so frickin hard to mount that i abandoned them. then the original ultremo...which had some (warrantied) QC issues to start, and then was a very nice tire...if a bit fragile. light, sticky, comfortable. i'm curious about the newer revisions.

finally settled on the open corsa cx (and now cx2). super easy to mount, very grippy, and absolutely the most sublime ride quality. i have a vintage bike with a set of 25c hand-sewn tubulars on it, so i have what i consider to be a pretty good reference. the vittorias, in combination with latex tubes, is awfully close as a clincher. over 5ish years, several bikes, and 10s of thousands of miles, i have not found reports of poor durability to be true. not as tough as the gp4k, but oh so much nicer in every way.

pricey. best bet is the UK mail order places where they hover around $35. domestically, $60 per is not unheard of. on par with any other premium race clincher, however.

link to the $35 open corsas? been waiting for some gp4000s but no good deals lately. probikekit where you at? it's been a while since they had any good deals.

I'm a cheap bastard so I roll with Vittoria Zaffiros, the cheapest available at my LBS. I've got them on two of my bikes and they seem to hold up quite well. Granted, I don't skid like crazy. The guy at the shop said to be wary of running them on low PSI though, apparently the sidewalls aren't very strong.

oh, hey...did the euro/pound improve? i bought a pile of tires last summer and haven't needed any lately. wiggle/ribble/probike were the sites i used.

wow thanks for the ribble site. never knew of it. picked up some 4000s for 31.47 bucks a piece! came out to 35 a piece after shipping to us. score! saved 12 bucks over probikekit. hope it doesnt take months to get here though lol

well done, I bought my GPs from Ribble too, took 2 weeks to get here. I've heard tales of folks getting them in 5 days though