Tyre reviews

And people bang on and on about how I don't know anything. ;)

Ashe, you still got spare Courier Berlins? I'm riding a road bike now so need to get hold of a pair to test. If not where do you get yours?

Max, me old coconut macaroon, I'm very sorry, but I've had to use my spare. I got a pinch flat tyre other day, and while chatting to a friend, over-inflated the tyre, probably a bit over 140psi, and she blew up. Cue a three hour walk home. No more spare.

I got mine from from Triton Cycles. Luke@TritonCycles is on here as a forumenger, and he's a really nice guy. Give him a call at the shop. They're out way past Dagenham though, so you might want him to post. It's a nice little shop too.

Thanks very much!

.

why do you need colour on your tyres?

Bontrager Race all-weather come to mind, 32c, surprisingly light, cheaper than Marathon (about £15-20 a pop) and puncture resistance, grippy as well.

Vittoria Randonneur 32c's another one.

etc. etc.

A quick slagging of Randonneurs (28s). Put some on my girl's old bike about six months ago. Took one off and put on my bike at the weekend. Not only are they horribly sluggish, but the sidewall has ruptured in one spot and bulges so I feel a gentle thump-thump-thump as I ride. Crapola.

I also cannot fathom why anyone would buy wire bead tyres. They're a fucker to get on and off, heavy, untransportable. Ugh!

They feel sluggish because they're very thick, what you felt is the rubber moving under pressure no matter how hard you pump it up (even above max inflation).

The clue is in the name after all.

Ashe, you still got spare Courier Berlins? I'm riding a road bike now so need to get hold of a pair to test. If not where do you get yours?

TokyoFixedGear sell them. They are situated on Peter Street in Soho, London. I think they were going for £22?

I just my got first puncture in my rear maxxis refuse after 6 months of 100 mile/week commuting. glass sliver too.

.

must have caught Ed on a bad day. I have never seen a dismissive or patronising response from him before :-)

Oh, and why in hell's name would you want coloured tyres for.

conti do coloured tyres, the grand prix 4000 i think.

Two years without a puncture, that includes two long tours as well. Must have extremely good luck.
Always ridden Randonneurs or Marathon Plus in London, Continental Touring Plus on my touring bike and Panaracer Pasella on road bike.

Marathon Plus I cant fault, excellent puncture resistance, grippy enough and pump up fairly high. Only drawback for me is the price.
Continental Touring Plus are a dream too, just put them on and forget about them.

The Courier Berlins are just amazing. I pump em up to to 130psi, and the sidewalls are like ROCK! I am testing out 26 Soma everwear tyre on the back, not bad tyre so far (no punctures, a few cuts from riding and skidding around east london one night, but i guess the 5mm tire threading is doing its job. The only thing is I have to ride harder than as the tyre is really slow. I pump these up to 120 psi even if they recommend 90psi. People have mentioned that they blow out quite often but I havent had any problems "yet" otherwise I ride a 29 courier berlin on the back and 24 on the front.

I am riding puncture-less for 4 weeks and two days. =)

March 2011 Update

Riding with:

Courier Berlin AP - front 24c
Soma Everwear - Rear 26c

Still no punctures.. both tyres are pumped up to 130psi and holding well!

Berlins are bombproof, still using my first one NO punctures...there is one cut on the tire but with the extra threading still works like a charm, oh oh and have been doing 80-100 miles a week in them.

Everwears are amazing, after wear in period cornering is wonderful you get a great response from them. Although I must say again the tire is actually quite on the heavy side. but if u want a skiddable tire that will last you.. these ones are perfect.

Why have you pumped a 26c tyre up to 130psi?
You'd need to be on your way to 18 stone for that to be an optimal pressure.

.........Hippy alias?

Michelin Pro race 3's

Grip 9/10 very grippy tyre, v good

Handling **9/10 **confidence inspiring handling, even seem pretty good in the wet.

Wear 2/10 Have gone through 8 of these tyres in just over a year on my 2 nice bikes (so not v high mileage) they not on commuting duties. (i got a bulk order from merlin so have used them all up before considering replacing) They cut up really easily, I have them on a geared and a singlespeed so am no fixie skidder but the tread comes away in small strips and then you get punctures nearly every ride.

Puncture Protection 3/10 OK initially but wear so quickly that punctures soon become a regular occurance and can be punctured by gravel and nearly anything else, I think if I looked at them funny they would puncture. Just had my 3rd puncture in 10 days and that was the final straw so have ditched them.

Comfort 7/10 seem fine, depends on pressures, only go up to 116psi max which doesnt seem much.

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 8/10 they are light

Speed (rolling resistance) 8/10 seem a fast rolling tyre, you get up to speed quickly and they hold speed well

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 7/10 good looking tyre, come in wide range of colours, I have tried black and blue ones and the both wear out fast.

Price 4/10 Depends, mine worked out at about 20 each which was discounted and I feel that was a bit much considering the wear, if you can get deals on them maybe they are worth it but Evans list price for them is 35 quid and they are not worth that.

Skidability 1/10 I'm no skidder and these are not skidding tyres but don't reckon they would last a month of fixie skidding round London's streets

Overall rating / opinion 5/10, MEH, really nice tyre to ride but just don't last long enough and are too fragile. Can be tight fit on some rims too.

Have just swaped them on my Mercian for some of the new Scwalbe Ultremo zx's so will keep you posted on those, first impressions are they are light and gripy and go onto the rims by hand. They seem to have more puncture protection that the Michelins but we shall see how long they last. (and they are 52.78 a pair from ribble rather than list price of 41 each)

PS-I having a bit of a bad tyre week, been using Gatorskins on my beater and though I had no complaints up to now this week a sidewall on the rear came away from the metal beading rendering them useless, it seems this has happened before but that was my first 'conti tyres are shit' moment.

My 2 years old Bontrager Racelite Hardcase has developed a tumor.
After inflating the tyres the night before the Brighton ride, in the morning I was shocked to find 2 bulges on the tread, the larger one ~3mm in height.
Where the bulges are aint particularly worn, and the casing seems intact on the inside. The bulges are soft while the tyre was still fully inflated. Took a photo of it after I took the tyre off, so it was sticking out 3 times as much.
Anyone come across things like this?! Any chance to fix that?

Tyre boot I reckon will be your best chance, it advised only as a temporary solution for a worn tyres, says a cut, but I think it'll be more than useful to keep the bulges down.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/product-images-large/park-tb2c-emergency-tyre-boot-set-of-3-7679.jpg

Vittoria Rally Tubular - Lumpy around the valve hole leading to a bumpy ride. Cuts up and punctures easliy with glass, and doesn't grip well in the wet.

Vittoria Corsa CR Tubular - As the Rally, but less heavy duty

Vittoria Corsa CX Evo CX Tubular - Absolutely sublime feel on the road, the much fabled tubular magic carpet ride even at 9-10 bar. Feels fast on the track too. However, like the Rally and CR, cuts up easily on glass and doesn't grip well in the wet. I tried commuting on these a couple of times, each tub didn't last more than a month on city streets. Have tried the clincher version too, with similar results.

Continental Sprinter Tubular - Very durable and grips well in the wet. Feels sluggish on the track though.

Continental Gatorskin Clincher (non-folding) - Durable, grips well in the wet. Heavy and not a very comfortable ride

Continental GP4000S Clincher - Again incredibly durable and grips well in the wet. The only tire I've had to bin because the rubber had worn out from 2-3 years of use. Reasonably light and the better riding Conti clincher. Probably my favourite real world tire.

In summary - I wish Vittoria would make a better rubber compound, and Conti better casings.

Thanks Ed. However the bulge is *between *the casing and the rubber. Now removed from the wheel its still here, so afraid its gonna rub crazy if i use them again.
The cause is still a mystery. It happened overnight out of nowhere! :(

Tyre boot I reckon will be your best chance, it advised only as a temporary solution for a worn tyres, says a cut, but I think it'll be more than useful to keep the bulges down.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/product-images-large/park-tb2c-emergency-tyre-boot-set-of-3-7679.jpg

the tyre is 2 years old. Fucking miracle. Buy a new one. Buy 10.

***Recent tyre reviews for 2011

Continental Gators: a bitch to get on, a bitch to get off, shit road feel, slippy in the wet, OK in the dry, work fine for about 2 months and then puncture all the fucking time. I bulk bought a whole bunch last year, thank god I've run out now. 4/10

Specialized Pro 23's: Slightly strange as they don't have a completely round profile, which made me a bit nervous of cornering initially. However, once you get used to them they provide pretty awesome grip, even in the wet and are pretty damn puncture proof. Only downside is that they have a bit more rolling resistance and weight - but as a training tyre they're great.
Recommended and also usually cheap due to being strangely unpopular. 7/10

Michelin Krylion Carbons: Good road feel, faster rolling than the Specialized, only 1 puncture in 4 months of riding 200+ miles p/w (and that was on a razor sharp cobble in Northern France), corner nicely, not too heavy. They wore down a bit faster than I expected, but unlike most tyres this didn't seem to increase the possibility of punctures. 7/10

Vitorria Open Pave Evo: Initial impressions are very very good. Only been a week on them so far, will update when I've ridden some more miles TBC

Schwalbe Ultremo R1

Very very fast, very light, and rides smooth. Give a nice round profile, and grips corners well. I have a 25mm on the back and a 23mm on the front. I estimate that they will last less time that the contents of a couple water bottles. Still, you buys race tyres, you gets race tyres.

Grip 8/10 (ED: been on a ride in the dark on wet roads. Tyres really behaved well)

Handling 9/10 (the profile is very round, and there is no transition in material/pattern. So they lean predictably)

Wear 2/10

Puncture Protection 5/10 (I've never had one, but I'm pretty good at looking after my weenie tyres)

Comfort 8/10 (Running a 25mm on the back to aviod high PSI on my carbon clinchers)

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 10/10 (188g)

Speed (rolling resistance) 10/10 (Very soft and smooth at correct PSI)

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 8/10 (comes in mad colours)

Price 6/10 (often on offer, but schwalbe are pricey)

Skidability 0/10 (never, ever, do this)

Overall rating / opinion 8/10 (for race tyres)

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp Folding.

Grip 9/10

Handling 9/10

Wear ?/10 - Not known yet, only done about 100 miles on them, and holding up fine for that.

Puncture Protection 10/10 - Not got one yet so has to be 10/10 so far....

Comfort 8/10

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 8/10

Speed (rolling resistance) 10/10

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 8/10

Price 9/10 (I got them 1/2 price in a ribble sale, so great value)

Overall rating / opinion 9/10

I'd give them a very solid 8/10, and recommend them.