11/21/14 2:39 PM

Does anybody successfully ride "nice" tires year-round?

I'm thinking of switching tires for my winter bike, which also logs significant time as a trainer (KK fluid) bike.

I'm tire-d of riding durable but heavy and dead-feeling rubber for the times that I do ride outside in the winter (not raining, but wet roads and roadside debris).

With nice tires running at around $30 a pop from the UK, I am OK with increased wear. So my needs are a 25c tire, slick tread (for trainer), supple/high TPI, with good wet performance and better than average tire durability, preferably not more than 240 grams. No Contis please.

Currently running Michelin Lithion 2 (durable but heavy). My default choice would be Michelin Pro4 SC. Any other recommendations? I was looking at Vredestein Fortezza Senso All Weather but there are barely any reviews. And Vittoria Open Corsa all have a tread.

Thanks.

11/21/14 2:47 PM

Probably the best candidate as far as what has gone though here would be the non-slick treaded version of the Vittoria Rubino Pro folding 25C.

Additional good things being excellent ride and flat resistance [so far] and reasonable weight. For $40+ on sale the GranPrix All Seasons in a 28C which is really a 25-6 in real life grip better all around IMO.
Very flat resistant for us over a few seasons.

We paid 18.00 each for the Rubinos from PBK on a sale at some point, plus a few dollars the CC tacked on for an exchange charge, but free shipping etc.

Last edited by Sparky on 11/21/14 3:16 PM; edited 1 time in total

11/21/14 3:13 PM

Hmm, drilling down the Vittoria list, the Diamante Pro might be a good candidate. Higher TPI than the Rubino Pro but I don't know about durability on the rear.

I run the Diamante Pro Light as a front tire on my good bike, and it's a very nice tire.

11/22/14 12:41 PM

I always ride my nice tires year round. And that is riding on less desirable roads than many others of you ride in other parts of the country. For instance, I replace my tires well before the cords show because once the tire become sufficiently worn, I experience repeated flats to to bits of glass and other puncture prone debris. That's when I know to retire the tire.

11/22/14 12:45 PM

Where is 'south of heaven' ??

11/22/14 6:51 PM

Her quads? ;)

11/23/14 12:19 PM

It's located in roughly a million, maybe two million.. mp3, CD, and audio-cassette players (just like Jesus Saves )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_of_Heaven

- JS
(ode to '80s thrash metal)

P.S. Erik: good one. Thanks 4 the laugh.

P.P.S. Just say no to paper thin tires and cold winter riding.

11/23/14 12:24 PM

I actually meant where in (on) the world your tire rolled year round applied to geographically as to south of heaven.

Last edited by Sparky on 11/23/14 1:20 PM; edited 1 time in total

11/23/14 12:42 PM

NYC proper.

So if a tire survives that, it'll go well anywhere else.

On the other hand, how much a rider weight and how they ride has a lot to do with tire wear too. My tires last many more miles longer than the norm, despite riding on the worst roads in the country, because I'm relatively light. I also don't "jump on the pedal" when starting nor break at the last possible moment.

11/23/14 1:27 PM

+1 April's comments.

11/23/14 1:33 PM

Is the NJ area that much better than the NYC area? I got 10s of Ks of miles from Bergen County and don't recall particularly bad road conditions in the Bergen Rockland area in the late 90s riding I enjoyed. And I ran tires like Supersonics and Axial Pros mostly.

11/23/14 2:21 PM

Well, if you don't remember the roads in Bergen county not being particularly bad compare to where you're now, I suspect it's much better than NYC proper!

If you ride a lot within NYC proper, you WILL remember the road condition being BAD!


(I'm watching this thread with interest. As I NEED to replace at least 3 of the 4 tires on my 2 primary sets of wheels.

While I don't ride in winter, nor do I ride frequently in NYC, I do occasionally venture back to NYC area, plus I more frequently venture off the paved version of roads. So durability of tire is of interest to me. )

11/23/14 7:05 PM

Slayer, nah not my thing. I am more a laid back kind of guy. DMB, OAR, and Mraz are more my speed. Along with U2 and Coldplay for big name bands.

As far as tires go, just get some Vitt Corsas and role with it.

11/24/14 2:00 PM

Listening to Slayer is excellent for indoor trainer sessions, and definitely not recommended for driving (I prefer classical). For winter riding outdoors, I use the same tires year round, Michelin Pros. While Billy Joel may be right that get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers (for your bike wheels), life is too short to fore go enjoyment from cycling on heavy, high rolling resistance tires.

11/24/14 4:49 PM

quote:

---

Listening to Slayer is excellent for indoor trainer sessions,

---

11/24/14 4:53 PM

Just pulled the trigger on a set of Vittoria Diamante Pro 25c tires.

Although super durable, I can't wait to pull off the heavy Lithion 2 tires I have on now.

Agree completely that life is too short to not ride on light (to a point), supple tires.

Same goes for tubes. Latex on the good bike, light butyl tubes on the winter bike. Too bad Ribble did not have the Vittoria Evo 55 tubes I like. Mine have lasted for many kms.

Last edited by sanrensho on 11/24/14 11:22 PM; edited 1 time in total

11/24/14 5:24 PM

I insist only the lightest most supple winter tires. Nokian Hakka W240s, 40 mm, 240 carbide studs, 910 g, $100 a pop. Worth their weight in gold.

Life is too short!

11/24/14 7:30 PM

I am hearing Nanook Rubs it in my mind's ear...

11/24/14 7:38 PM

Life is too short to deal with frequent flats.

So I want the lightest and most flat resistant and longest lasting tires! ;-)

11/25/14 1:31 AM

I use Schwalbe Ultremo ZX on my 700c bikes. They roll and feel ok, are quite light, seem pretty durable, and you can get them for around $35 from places such as ChainReaction and ProBikeKit. I use the 28s, which measure a true 28mm on my rims.

11/25/14 6:29 AM

I've been very happy with the 4000S 25s that I've been running on 2 road bikes. I'm sure that there are lighter and/or more supple tires on the market, but the 4000S is a great combination of grip, durability, light weight and smooth rolling.

As for flats, we're back to one word: sealant

I'm beginning to think that sealant for bikes is like snow tires for cars; people have no idea how much of a difference it makes until they try it.

11/25/14 6:47 AM

I got some Schwalbe One 25s for my road bike next year. Haven't mounted them yet, but how can you beat this endorsement (scroll down)?

http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/racing_tires/ONE

Based on Brian's recommendations I think I'll try some goop this year, at least on one bike (one advantage of having a few bikes is lots of room to experiment).

11/25/14 12:26 PM

I agree on the GP4KS. I have a stock of the Black Chili in 25C I got from PBK for 35.00 each. They are mainly on the Scott, my go fastest bike if you will. Although it has a 23C on the front. There are 10 of these here in boxes and on bikes.

I have to say I have been favoring the Paves since I got them. Maybe a component of end of season temps/weather riding. Although it was still nice out when I put them on to check out the ride qualities.
I was supposed to wait for bad weather to use them, but found myself leaning towards that little extra niceness of ride quality. Also from PBK, but 53.00ish after exchange adjustment in the CCard.

The 27mm pave and the 25mm GP4s sit about the same mounted, and the Paves ARE heavier by a decent amount. Thus in the vein of comments about life being too short to not run nice light tires et al. I agree they are that tire.

I do not find they ride as 'not nice' as most of the internet reads/reviews on them. But I feel MOST riders use too much air which makes ride quality suffer pretty much. Add that to the propensity the industry seems to have gotten of making stiff to the extreme bikes/frames...

11/25/14 12:45 PM

Anyone using these? Apologize if I've missed past comments. Not sure of Brian's system with his sealant.

I am not up on them at all, but I noticed on the Schwalbe description of their high end tires, they say tubies and conventional clinchers are great, but tubeless is the future. Apparently their pro teams use them, to some extent anyway. Don't know how much of this is marketing hype, but IMHO both tubes and tubies are a bit of a pain in the butt. I am pretty sure my Campy rims will accommodate tubeless, may give some a try. Comments welcome.

11/25/14 1:01 PM

I ran tubeless Hutch Atoms on the Dura Ace wheels because I had to see for myself. So a narrow range of experience. But led me to not go that direction more. [anymore?]

My reasoning;

-Too high a difference in pressure from Atmosphere to tire, unlike MTN at low low pressures.
-Thus by the time it gets sealed it looses too high a percentage of total pressure.
-Also, if it does not seal and you need to put a tube in it to get home, it is a pretty big mess to accomplish this.
-Tires are heavy, sealant has mass. No benefit weight wise really.
-Cost, which is getting better

Pros, higher pressure ride nicer than with tubes, negated for me by bigger tires and lower pressures with either setup. But some rider love that hard tire feel and just run 120lb period.

But a layer of PITA akin to tubular flats on the road, although not nearly, close IMO.

These comments only express my own conclusions.