The need: 26" road tires for 1300km tour

The competitors (which I have quick access to):
- Ritchey Tom Slick 1.4
- Vittoria Randonneur Pro 1.5
- Conti SportContact II 1.6

Which ones should I choose?

TY

As long as you're not gonna be in major thorn country or something, I say go for the lowest rolling resistance of the bunch. In my experience, that also comes with nicer, more supple ride quality. There's no need to push around tank treads on your bike for the sake of saving a couple flats. I would probably rank them in the order which you posted them, Ritchey Pro version if possible. Also, not a huge deal, but manufacturer site links are nice so that people don't have to search out the tires in order to offer advice.

I've been very pleased with Geax Street Runners.
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...et-runner-tire

I'm using the 1.25" size. Very smooth and fast. ~3k miles. Streets only.

Conti Travel Contact & Schwalbe Marathon Plus. I run 559-47.

Vittoria Randonneur Pro 1.5

but I have not ridden the Ritchey Tom Slicks to compare, the conti's weren't bad but did flat a little more frequently for me.

Edit: don't make too much of my experience, could have been just where I was riding at the time and the chaotic order of the universe

I used the Schwalbe Marathon (with greenguard) for a tour, it worked very well, had a wire bead. Was labeled as 1.5 wide but the tire listed width at 559X40mm.

I bought the Vittoria to carry as a spare since it folds, but I have not mounted it on a bike yet. That was also listed at 40mm wide.

Both of these had impressive high pressure ratings. Of the two the Vittoria appeared to be more supple so it might roll a bit better.

I have no experience with the others you cite.

I picked these up for a steel rigid frame MTB that I refurbished and sold last week because they were on sale at nashbar. After riding on them, I almost switched em out so I could keep them for a future build of my own! I was concerned the 1.25" would look goofy narrow, but they blended in fine and rolled great.
I don't see them mentioned, really ever, when tire recommendations come up.

I really like the Vittoria Randonneurs. I have ridden the Contis, but haven't tried the Ritcheys. The Vittorias are supple and ride well. They feel fast, corner well, perform admirably in dirt (where I thought they wouldn't), and gennerally ride like a good racing tire, even though they are so much bigger. I don't think they wear as well as the Contis, but the ride is so good it is worth it to me. They are the best touring tire I have tried.

I've been happy with the offerings of Compass. We got over 4500 miles on a tandem with a set of the 26X1.5" and would have gotten even more from the 1.75" but we rolled over some very large pieces of glass in the dark that put some small cuts in the cords at 4000 miles. (Tire integrity is more critical on a tandem than a half-bike, so those got retired at that point.)

They're on the heavy side, but are amazingly supple and offer significantly reduced rolling resistance compared to other tires we have used.

They can be shipped USPS Priority, which gets to most places in the US from Seattle in two days, if that qualifies as quick access.

I have a set of Vittoria Randonneur II tires on a bike and love em.
The pros you are looking at are I think more supple, lighter, and folding. Pretty sure.

The only negative is they were brutal to mount.

Kelley's cruising on her Marathons, 1.9. Fat!