Tyre reviews

Give a review of the tyres you have good experience of, so others may gain from your knowledge.

Suggested points for review, and template below:

Any Tyre You Choose

Grip ?/10

Handling ?/10

Wear ?/10

Puncture Protection ?/10

Comfort ?/10

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) ?/10

Speed (rolling resistance) ?/10

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

Price ?/10

Skidability ?/10

Overall rating / opinion ?/10

Simply copy the template into the NOTEPAD software on your PC, or equivalent on your Mac or Linux setup. When having completed your review, copy and paste from there back to this thread. The html won't bite you if done that way.

Would this not be more suitable within your tyre list thread?

I thought of that Ved, but that thread is specifically about anti-puncture tyres.

I'm hoping people could review any tyre, (tub or clincher) and tell us about it. Based on an average of reviews, I think people would consider that info in their purchases.

Continental GP (Grand Prix) 4000

Grip 10/10

Corners with confidence, the only time that they have slid was in the rain over a wet drain but as they gripped the moment that they hit the tarmac again on grip they win.

Wear** 8/10**

They wear really well, I have had two pairs now and they wear evenly and both lasted close to a year before I replaced them. They did take some scarring from riding through glass, but these didn't go through to the tube and the little tears have not grown larger at all. Used all-weather.

Puncture Protection 10/10

They are not designed to be extremely puncture resistant, but I've yet to have a single puncture on them. I suspect if I were to ride through glass in the wet this good luck would end, but as it hasn't yet I can only give it a 10 for puncture resistance.

Comfort 10/10
Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 10/10
Speed (rolling resistance) 10/10

All three (comfort, weight and speed) I put into the same category: feel. They feel wonderful because they are grippy, can be pumped to 120psi without fear, they roll along nice and lovely, they make a pleasing sound in the wet, they're not heavy and accelerate and slow easily. They feel great.

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

Solid colour strips with black sides. I like this as I like the colour hitting the road. I also like the black side walls as with a front brake in the wet this can get dirty fast and the black walls hide this so it looks slightly cleaner for longer. Not sure about the tread pattern they've put on it, I'm unconvinced it serves a purpose so 2 points off for that.

Price 6/10

They're not the cheapest out there at £30 per tyre. But if you've dropped the money for Phil Woods, nice rims, etc... why one earth would you not spend money on the bit that affects the feel the most? At this price point though, there is a hell of a lot of competition and many choices available... if they were cheaper they would be great value. I personally judge value by the fact that each pair last me a year before they're so cut up that I replace them, but I recognise that it's quite a barrier for people just wanting to try them.

Skidability 3/10

They grip nicely and have a soft compound. I don't skid much but there's no way that a tyre designed for feel, grip, lightness and only basic puncture resistance is going to offer great life if you're skidding. And if you only have a few skid spots I suspect you will go through these pretty damn quick.

Overall rating / opinion 8/10 (scores above (75/90), averaged (8.3) and rounded)

Great tyres if you're not skidding. Wonderful all rounders that come alive in the wet and dry. No punctures and a long life. The only things to note would be to avoid glass and debris in the wet, and just ride the things.

Conti 4000

What he said! Couldn't put it better so won't try.
Except for precis version: Good grip, long lasting and haven't punctured (yet!?). Highly recommend.

Specialized Armadillo All Condition

Grip 7/10
The "Armies" are notoriously skittish is the wet, and its true. They do break away from under you when cornering in the wet, or in the cold and wet. On warm dry days, its fine....but this is England. So a lower score for this sector.

Wear 9/10
These wear well. The rubber compound is hard, and therefore it lasts. In fact, and oddly, the tyres seem to improve as they wear a bit.

Puncture Protection 10/10
I do not believe that there is a tyre that has greater puncture resistance than this.

Comfort 6/10
Its not a comfortable tyre, as you can feel every pebble, and often, if pumped to full pressure, I've had to stop to check if I had a burst tyre, as I felt I was riding on the rim. This happened many times. For a tyre to give a ride as if you are riding only metal rims, tells all I think.

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 6/10
It is a heavy tyre, and feels it. Once you put on a lighter tyre, the difference is very obvious.

Speed (rolling resistance) 7/10
I don't think this is a fast tyre, though the rolling resistance is possibly less than some softer compounds, but the weight negates any benefit from hardness of compound.

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 6/10
Its a functional looking tyre; simply black with dark red sidewalls.

Price 6/10
These are about £25 each, so they're on the expensive side.

Skidability 7/10
I have not skidded tyres for a long time, but I think that these would last a few skids.

Overall rating / opinion 7/10
If you are a fair weather cyclist, and your main concern is not to get punctures, then this is possibly the best tyre for you. I would recommend this for touring cyclists and cycle couriers also. But if you want a superior overall tyre, you would need to search some more.

Evans have the Conti 4000's on offer at the moment £21.99

Evans have the Conti 4000's on offer at the moment £21.99

Well that would make them 9/10 then :)

Specialized Armadillo Pro Quick Step

Grip 8/10
Very good grip, without being a too-grippy tyre.I have not tested it in truly bad conditions, but it has been very satisfactory all the same.

Wear 8/10
Wear is very good, and that's to be expected, as the compound is hard.

Puncture Protection 8.5/10
This is better than I had hoped for. No punctures so far, and I've ridden through some fairly flinty roads. I still don't feel that it will surpass the Armadillo All Condition, or even the Maxxis ReFuse, but it is good.

Comfort 3/10
Without exaggeration, it is quite simply the hardest tyre I've ever ridden. The level of discomfort is quite extraordinary. Though, it has to be said, that it is designed as a fast tyre, not a comfy tyre.

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) **8.5/10 **
This tyre feels light and spins effortlessly.

Speed (rolling resistance) **10/10 **
Fast. Thats what this tyre is; just bloody fast. I can honestly say that I have covered more distance in less time, and with less pedalling effort than any other tyre. Worth nearly a minute or more in a half-hour journey. Its not scientific, but its my finding.

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 9/10
Though it only comes in two versions, black, or red+white, I find the latter version to be the perfect compliment to my red Capo. Others may want more options, but for me, its perfect.

Price 8/10
A pair can be had for £30. Though singles are on the expensive side, at £25 a pop.

Skidability 8/10
I have no knowledge to speak about, concerning skidding, but I the tyres are of a hard compound, so might just be up to the job. How long they would they would last, would have to be tested separately for.

Overall rating / opinion **7.5/10 **
An extremly fast tyre, but lacks any comfort at all. Good-looking though, and grips well, and is puncture protected. So, its good, but best really on smooth roads.

I've got to big up the cornering ability of the Continental GP 4000 tyres. At first I didn't have much confidence in them, as they seemed to wobble under cornering, or in swift changes of direction. But, once I've grown more accustomed to the behavioral characteristics, its the best cornering tyre I've used.

I enter into corners faster, and exit faster also. Its also quite compliant, but not as much as the Maxxis ReFuse, which itself is a remarkably comfortable tyre.

MAXXIS REFUSE

Grip 9/10
Excellent grip on this tyre, and even when pumped right to the maximum psi, it grips on all surfaces.

Wear 8/10
The Refuse wears well, but since the compund is relatively softer than some other tyres, its life may not be as long. I think wear is traded for grip, and all for the better.

Puncture Protection 10/10
Though the tyre does get more cuts and nicks than the Specialized All Condition, it still does not puncture. It is really quite amazing.

Comfort 10/10
I had a colleague ride my Cannondale Capo 5 (a very stiff framed bike) and he said he was surprised by how supple the ride was. I knew this was the Maxxis Refuse's doing, as the same bike, with different tyres, was almost a lesson in self-torture. Excellent comfort.

**Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 7.5/10 **
Rolling weight is certainly acceptable. Nothing special, but nothing negative to report also.

**Speed (rolling resistance) 7/10 **
IMO this tyre, due to its softer compund, does not ride as fast as the Quick Step, but again, I think the trade off between comfort, grip, and puncture protection, make the ride not the fastest. Speed merchants will not want this for a time trial.

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 5/10
The Refuse is supplied in other countries in 4 colours, but only black in the UK. This is a shame, as its an excellent tyre, and more choices would be more welcome. As I write this, I can confirm that I have spoken with the official importers (funnily enough, its not MAXXIS UK), and they have taken my comments under advisement. They will now consider whether to offer the Refuse in the UK in the other colours also. But this will not be now, but sometime in the future.

Price 8/10
Can be had for a quite reasonable £20, so its not bad really. A lot of ability, for a not obscene price.

Skidability ?/10
Again, I am guilty. I don't skid rubber, so I don't know how this would fare.

Overall rating / opinion 9/10
Overall, this tyre is brilliant in its functionality, and its design. For long-term commuting, and puncture-free riding, I can say that this tyre is almost impossible to beat.

Michelin Pro Race 2 (3)
Grip 7.5/10
pretty good, though bit slippy in the very wet
Wear 8/10
Excellent wear.

Puncture Protection 9/10
Didn't have a single one

Comfort 7/10
better than many for long rides

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 10/10
v low

Speed (rolling resistance) 10/10
very good, very fast

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 8/10
comes in some colours- not tried anything except black

Price 7/10
more expensive than most, but less than the GP 4000.
worth it though

Skidability 8/10

Overall rating / opinion **8/10
Very good summer tyres.

**

on this note does anyone have a review of the gran compe SS?
thinking about a purchase.

on this note does anyone have a review of the gran compe SS?
thinking about a purchase.

I doubt it would perform as well as the other mainstream tyres, after all the gran compe is popular simply because of having a different colour rubber.

Schwalbe Stelvio Plus

** Grip 7/10**
When I went to Cavendish Cycles I ask them to recommend me a tyres that should take some skidding abuse, and they point this tyres out, despite it's almost smooth rubber it grip rather well, even in the wet allowing me to skid-stop in confident without a sudden slip (a sudden slips like when you skid on some ice), I can safety assumed that this tyres will perform really well in the dry, but probably not as good as a Gatorskin.

Wear 8/10
so far since the 10th of October, there's little wear and tear despite going brakeless, the only obvious wear is simply the expected rubber softness but that all.

Puncture Protection 8/10
Insofar, no puncture but then I didn't get any puncture in the inferior Ultra Sport that is known as a magnetic for puncture, but feeling the rubber between the Gatorskin and the Stelvio Plus, the Stelvio felt noticably thicker and stronger than the Gatorskin.

Comfort 7/10
it's pretty reasonable, it's quite a stiff tyre that can go all the way up to 145psi, almost knocking on tubular territory.

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) 5/10
the tyre felt heavy when riding, probably because of the extra weight of the puncture resistance of the Plus (340g compared to the standard Stelvio which weight a mere 235g), heavy for even a folding tyres!

Speed (rolling resistance) 7/10
Despite it's heavy weight, it doesn't felt hard work to keep the bike up to an average speed, when cornering you can actually feel the rubber on the road rather than feeling like you're cornering on a very small grip area of the side wall, the rounded sidewall keep it nice and grippy in corner or not.

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) 9/10
this is purely personal preference really but I like an all-black tyres with a simple white type, also it look almost like a tubular tyres when you look at how rounded the sidewall are.

Price 7.5/10
It's not so bad, had it not been for the heavy weight of the puncture protection, it would have been a better value for money, online you can get it for £25 which is an average price for a good tyre, in shop it's about £30-35.

Skidability 9/10
fucking love it, it's hard at first as it was quite grippy but as the tyre wear a bit, it's perhaps the most controllable tyre to skid on insofar, but I'm bias as the last tyre I have use is an Ultra Sport.

Overall rating/opinion 7/10 (67.5 out of 90 overall)
It's a decent tyres that give a reasonable amount of grips yet still able to skid with ease and without worried of wearing the tyres out easily, the letdown is that you can actually felt the weight, it's not obvious but for weight weenie like Tynan, he'd probably hung the tyres up for blasphemy.

Michelin Pro-Race & Conti GP4000

These days I only roll on these, one set on each of the 2 sets of wheels I use. I have a slight preference for the Michelins' which I think are a bit grippier, the latter sustain a lot of cuts but don't seem to puncture much as a result. I think the Michelins look better too though less colour options, both are soft, pliable and fast tyres, under 300g, last about 6 - 9 months, OK for skip skidding, expensive but why scrimp on tyres, your contact with the road? I've been meaning to try out the Stelvios, I'm a bit of a rubber fetishist. I once had pair of Pariba's that were really light & fast but they punctured every kilometre. You can get Pro-Race in white now, just bought some this week, will have to chnage my bar tape to match

ondine you really should copy/paste GA2G template and fill them in, otherwise the world will be in chao.

"Chao", southern Chinese province. Famous for their clam soup and e-waste processing.

So I got me some of these ULTREMO (schwalbe) tyres.

They are shit for London street riding and not very confidence inspiring in the wet. Mine are already cut up to fuck despite only a month worth of riding.

They are great on the track and yield a nice ride with grip in dry conditions. Which is what I'll use them for.

I know Fiddy and Duncan use these too interested to know whether they agree too.

Loved my Maxxis Refuse, but they are disintegrating fast now- they seem to reach a tipping point at a certain point in their wear and then start throwing rubber off like a stripper on a deadline.

Ultremos rock, esp the Ultremo Rs, super grippy. They are the grippiest tyre around... Better and more puncture proof than Refuse IMO :D

**Bontrager HArd Case

**Grip **9/10 in the dry gets a bit slippy in the wet but so do most **
Wear **9/10 had a pair on a few of my bikes now wear rate ( without any skidding ) very good **

Puncture Protection **10/10 had a pair on my main bike and haven't yet had a puncture **

Comfort **9/10 tyres is tyres **

Weight (or perceived rolling weight) **6/10 quite heavy but then the puncture protection layer prolly causes that there is also a folding light weight version **

Speed (rolling resistance) 8**/10 **

Appearance (or Looks, if it comes in colours) **9/1o0 black on black and black with grey stripe **

Price 9**/10 £18.99 don't know how that compares **

Skidability **?/10 ?????? skids whats that then ? **

Overall rating / opinion 9**/10 no punctures thats all i need to know **

that remind me to post three more reviews of tyres I've used.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Vittoria_Open_Pave_Evo_CG_Tyre/5360035176/

Pros:

Fantastically good grip. Very confidence inspiring on wet drain lids and the like.
I've yet to puncture them (he says, cursing himself) despite finding some quite impressive chunks of glass in them at the end of a ride. The carcase seems to be extremely resilient.
Ride quality is impressively good for a 24mm tyre - they're meant for riding fast on cobbles, and it shows. Did a mile or so of gravelly Thameside path the other day in more apparent comfort than a lot of the hybridists.

Cons:

They cut up pretty easily, which is the result of the soft compound that gives the excellent grip. You pays your money...
Talking of which, they're quite pricey.
The combination of these things means that skid enthusiasts would be insane to run these (on the rear at least - might be a brilliant choice for a front).

I think between these (for all conditions and town) and Veloflex Black (for dry rides in the country on the road bike) I've found my ideal tyre choices. This inevitably means that one or the other will be discontinued, but hey ho.

Ultremos rock, esp the Ultremo Rs, super grippy. They are the grippiest tyre around... Better and more puncture proof than Refuse IMO :D

Hell no!!! Where do you ride the fucking Sahara desert!

They are SHIT in the wet.