Best tyres for commuting?

[warthog1]

The only tubular wheels I have are 85mm deep carbon tokens and a rear disc.
I'm happy with clinchers for commuting and training, I'll save the tubulars for a race day lift.
I agree they ride better but as you say, are more expensive and for me, a pita to fit.

[Thoglette]

I have a few bikes I use to commute and one has tubulars. I carry a preglued spare (and usually a bottle of sealant).

Main workhorse (literally) runs 32mm clinchers (ok 27 x1 1/4) as i have a stock of them.

Good, cheap tubs can be had from Yellow Jersey in the USA (3 fo $50USD + p&h) but only in 21mm - fine for the "boy's toy"

[warthog1]

Fitted the 25c randonneur from Cell for the run in tonight. First impressions are it's not a race tyre, but not too dead feeling, certainly better than the SMP it replaced and similar to the marathon green guard. The green guard remained flat free in the 3k km it lasted, hopefully the rando does the same but lasts a bit better. It sizes up fairly small and is significantly narrower and lower in profile than the smp, to look at, there is more clearance on the guard.

Interestingly it lists the min pressure as 100psi and the max as 130. It put about 95 in it and it felt a pretty hard ride. I'll leave it slowly lose pressure and pump it up in a few weeks time when it starts to feel a bit soft and I'll check what pressure that is.

Grip wise I cant tell until it rains. The greenguard was OK but the SMP I found a bit sketchy, I had a couple of minor unexpected slides on the rear in the wet but nothing huge, it just wasn't confidence inspiring I guess. I'm not going to be backing it in Marc Marquez style but I'll see how it feels when it rains.
Reasonably happy so far anyway for a hopefully puncture resistant fit and forget tyre, touch wood

[mitchy_]

i apologise if it's been mentioned, but 18 pages was too much for my eyes to scan through.

i'm after a tyre in the 30-35mm range to put on my disc CX for daily usage, as my CX tyres are getting chopped up quickly on the bitumen. i'm not too concerned with punctures (i dont get many, even on Ultremo ZX's ridden daily *touch wood*) so ideally i want something lightish and reasonable fast.

i was eyeing off the Vittoria Randonneur, however in 700x32 the 580g weight was scaring me off a little.
i did find Schwalbe Kojak's in 700x35 at a low 330g... but i cant actually find any for sale. i'm going to assume discontinued.

that is the sort of area i'm looking at though.. if someone can offer some advice, i'd be greatly appreciative.

[Drizt]

32 or 35 marathon supreme would work well

[jasonc]

32 or 35 marathon supreme would work well

the 32mm looks like it'd suit nicely

[mitchy_]

actually i did look at those... the price is just a little offensive when my CX tyres go for $30/pop!

might be my only choice, cheers.

[skydance]

Continental Gatorskins, ~2.000 km old - sidewall trashed.
Picture:
http://forum.ixbt.com/post.cgi?id=attac ... 1702:1.jpg

Is is a common thing? I'm wondering if I should look for another GatorSkin, or get a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Endurance (recommended by another active cyclist).

[jasonc]

Continental Gatorskins, ~2.000 km old - sidewall trashed.
Picture:
http://forum.ixbt.com/post.cgi?id=attac ... 1702:1.jpg

Is is a common thing? I'm wondering if I should look for another GatorSkin, or get a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Endurance (recommended by another active cyclist).

very common with contiental gatorskin/gp 4000 tyres

[skydance]

That's sad. Before today, there was not a single fault. No punctures at all, in all 2.000km.

[singlespeedscott]

i apologise if it's been mentioned, but 18 pages was too much for my eyes to scan through.

i'm after a tyre in the 30-35mm range to put on my disc CX for daily usage, as my CX tyres are getting chopped up quickly on the bitumen. i'm not too concerned with punctures (i dont get many, even on Ultremo ZX's ridden daily *touch wood*) so ideally i want something lightish and reasonable fast.

i was eyeing off the Vittoria Randonneur, however in 700x32 the 580g weight was scaring me off a little.
i did find Schwalbe Kojak's in 700x35 at a low 330g... but i cant actually find any for sale. i'm going to assume discontinued.

that is the sort of area i'm looking at though.. if someone can offer some advice, i'd be greatly appreciative.

I've read and heard some pretty good things about these -

http://www.compasscycle.com/tires_comp_700_32.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.compasscycle.com/tires_comp_700_38.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Something a little narrower that I have been using for the last 500km on the road and dirt -

http://store.fairweather.cc/store/p17/F ... RACER.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Loving them. Almost as nice as Challenge Parigi Roubaix, but with the advantage of a vulcanised tread.

[softy]

Challenge bianca strada. 30mm cotton, open tubular double puncture protection.

[singlespeedscott]

Challenge bianca strada. 30mm cotton, open tubular double puncture protection.

The only problem is the glued on tread. It makes them really lovely to ride but it's easy to tear chunks off the tread.

[warthog1]

Continental Gatorskins, ~2.000 km old - sidewall trashed.
Picture:
http://forum.ixbt.com/post.cgi?id=attac ... 1702:1.jpg

Is is a common thing? I'm wondering if I should look for another GatorSkin, or get a pair of Michelin Pro 4 Endurance (recommended by another active cyclist).

Just luck of the draw. I lost a SMP to a slahed sidewall a couple of weeks back. Apparently they are the toughest tyre around and ride like concrete.
Never lost a sidewall on a GP4000S in 10s of thousands of ks running them

[skydance]

Never lost a sidewall on a GP4000S in 10s of thousands of ks running them

Since I had no luck finding Michelin Endurance (any Michelin in fact - are they supplied to Australia at all?) I opted for GP 4000S2. Let's see how it goes. Can't say for longevity, but that beast has fantastic grip even on wet (ish) roads.

[warthog1]

Since I had no luck finding Michelin Endurance

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... ichtyrf221

http://www.this link is broken/au/e ... prod119817

http://www.this link is broken/michelin-pro4-e ... road-tyre/

I have one on the back of the S5 at the moment. Happy so far touch wood. It sizes a bit smaller than a conti in a 23.
I haven't tried a GP4000S2 yet.

[skydance]

I needed one quick (read: locally) - that hole in sidewall was through. No way I'd ride that down North Sydney hills.

[softy]

I needed one quick (read: locally) - that hole in sidewall was through. No way I'd ride that down North Sydney hills.

You need to keep stock, for tyre failures

[jasonc]

I needed one quick (read: locally) - that hole in sidewall was through. No way I'd ride that down North Sydney hills.

You need to keep stock, for tyre failures

+1
spare wheels
spare tyres
spare tubes
spare chains
spare cassettes
spare BBs
spare brake pads
spare cables

[queequeg]

I needed one quick (read: locally) - that hole in sidewall was through. No way I'd ride that down North Sydney hills.

You need to keep stock, for tyre failures

+1
spare wheels
spare tyres
spare tubes
spare chains
spare cassettes
spare BBs
spare brake pads
spare cables

+1 to all that!!

[warthog1]

and a couple of spare bikes

[jasonc]

and a couple of spare bikes

I thought that was a given

[warthog1]

It is but don't tell my wife that

[skydance]

You need to keep stock, for tyre failures

I kind of do... I have a spare wheelset

[caneye]

With our commuting rear tyres wearing out a lot faster than the front, and requiring more frequent replacement - do you guys mix and match
- types of tyres - eg SMP Front & Gatorskin Rear, etc ...
- width of tyres - eg 28c Front/32c Rear, etc .. ?

Or is more advisable to keep them all identical?

(commuting newbie)