roadie tyre choice

[fatnold]

i seem to have worn out my first set of roadie tyres. ( i assume when you see large patches of canvas that the end is nigh ). on closer inspection, front and rear have a 8-10mm wide flat stripe around the periphery.
how do i go about buying roadie tyres. what do i need to consider? ( they just look like bald rubber to me) are there roadie tyres with tread? are some for wet roads/ general riding/ racing/ dirt jumping? are there 'industry standard' roadie tyres? (alla maxxis lasen etc for xc)

[tu plang]

argh seeing stitching is bad :eek: .

for training tires (ie everyday use in a range of conditions) the popolar choice these days is a dual compound tyre. nice hard rubber down the centre with some softer gear on the sides, usually with a light tread pattern.

such tires are bonty racelite and vittoria rubinos.

[aaron01]

I have been using the victoria rubinos for my day to day & find that they wear well & are easy to mount + for $35 you really can't complain. I use mine for the usual coffee rides on a Saturday mornig & on a wind trainner & they are still in good condition after a good 9months of some serious abuse.

[Home-J]

I don't know anything about road tyres but have noticed mine have no tread and are just smooth. Are they more race tyres or dry weather tyres. Coming into winter should i think about a tyre with more tread??

Sorry for taking over your thread

[Mr Pants]

I've used a set of Michelin Axial Sport which were good (dual compound, lightly treaded), now I'm using Maxxis Detonators which are the same but cheaper, 35 bucks at the Phantom. I've had 1 flat all up and very happy with their perfomance.

[ozelise]

I also use Rubino Pros (very mildly treaded) for commuting and in the wet. For racing, I use Michelin Pro 2 Race service course LE slicks. About 50gms lighter and just keeps rolling.

[Some Guy]

Rubinos are working great for me, last for ages and don't puncture much - far less than the Michelin prorace 2 tyres I was running before. Cheap too :D.

[GrubNut]

I buy vredestein fortezza SEs (http://cgi.ebay.com/TWO-FOLDABLE-VREDESTEIN-FORTEZZA-SE-BIKE-TIRES-700x23c_W0QQitemZ160095536970QQcategoryZ42334QQssP ageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). Grippy and tough.

[ScottD]

Get the Kevlar foldable Rubino Pro's. Doesnt matter how many cuts they got on them they never get a flat. Done about 8500km's on my set and never got a flat.

[rex2]

I use Michelin Pro 2 Race for all my riding now. I just use to use them for racing due to the rrp but there is a certain bike shop in North Sydney that somehow sells them for $35 each, for that price I don't bother changing between tyres.

[craign]

That NZ online shop we won't mention has kevlar beaded Vittoria Rubino Pro's cheap ($30).

[toby]

Michellin Pro Race 2 for me $35 from Probikekit.co.uk!

Although they do wear fast they are grippy grippry

[climbo]

for racing or general tooling about? In general I use cheap stuff for training/commuting and leave the good tyres for races, that way I hardly wear out my good tyres and if I need to replace training tyres, it doesn't cost as much.

There is no standard, just get a 23mm or 25mm wide tyre, some have grooves, some don't, I've not noticed much of a difference in any of them in terms of grip, wet vs dry performance etc..

[bg851]

Michellin Pro Race 2 for me $35 from Probikekit.co.uk!

Although they do wear fast they are grippy grippry

As someone else has also said on this thread, www.bikebug.com are selling them for the same price, but its a shop in North Sydney, AUSTRALIA!!! I believe there not making money on them at that price, and hoping you will buy something else from them at the same time! Yes they do sell over the net too!

[fatnold]

race / training tyres???? what's the dif? it seems my existing tyres are vittoria rubino. what dif would i notice with 'race' tyres?

sorry for the base questions....i've never really thought much about my roadie. it seems i'm warming to it.

[ozelise]

race / training tyres???? what's the dif? it seems my existing tyres are vittoria robino. what dif would i notice with 'race' tyres?

A little lighter, less resistance, rolls a little better. Probably worth a few seconds over 50km.

[ScottD]

race / training tyres???? what's the dif? it seems my existing tyres are vittoria rubino. what dif would i notice with 'race' tyres?

sorry for the base questions....i've never really thought much about my roadie. it seems i'm warming to it.

rubinos are 120 tpi. Good quality race tyres are 290 tpi. higher the tpi the more ot conforms to the road, reduces rolling resistance, ledd chance of flats, better cornering.

[spewyogrady]

Try the Bike Barn at Parramatta, usually a good source of special offers/discounts. They are spruiking the above mentioned tyres.
And they are in Western Sydney, AUSTRALIA, champ...:)

[Elbo]

Up until last week I had a Continental Ultra Sport rear tyre, and a Vittoria tyre on the front on my roadie. The Continental was a very good tyre (light, fast, good grip) cost me $50. I replaced it as it was extremely hard to fit on my campag rims. Not sure why, but it was very annoying, especially after I had 2 flats in one week and scratched the rims heaps when changing over the tyre and trying to fix the flats.

Now have Vittoria, front and rear, good grip, a little heavier than the Continental but seem equal in performance. Maybe a little softer as well. Every Vittoria I've ever fitted was very easy to get on the rim, which is a big plus.

[leitch]

Michelin Pro Race 2. where its at.

[fatnold]

thanks for all the input.

i've gone with the Rubinos again. can't beat a $30 tyre!

i'll be rockin' my new tyres tonight.:D

can't beleive i'm looking forward to riding my roadie. :eek: obviously the memory of mud sunday lingers. (even after 2 days. who says you forget stuff easily when you're old)

[tombre2]

hey didn't want to start a new thread, as you seem happy i thought it would be ok to hijack.

my Q is should i get a kevlar tyre so i never get a flat again or go a $30 tyre and run the risk.

Cheers Tom

also i got a puncture today where i could see a hole in the actual tyre, does that mean it needs replacing or just a new tube? cheers again

[n plus one]

hey didn't want to start a new thread, as you seem happy i thought it would be ok to hijack.

my Q is should i get a kevlar tyre so i never get a flat again or go a $30 tyre and run the risk.

Cheers Tom

also i got a puncture today where i could see a hole in the actual tyre, does that mean it needs replacing or just a new tube? cheers again

Umm, a "kevlar" tyre refers to the tyres' bead and doesn't affect its' puncture resistance but makes it lighter. Depends on how big the hole is, even reasonably big holes can be repaired by using patches on the inside of the tyre if you are a tight arse like me :D

[tombre2]

what i meant by kevlar was the tyres with kevlar strips in them... maybe im completely wrong,

[n plus one]

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not aware of a kevlar lined tyre to prevent punctures
(there are antipuncture tyres around though)- kevlar is not cut resistant just strong and has good abrasion characteristics. Bullet proof jackets don't stop knives (or teflon-coated bullets for that matter)...

[Dumbellina]

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not aware of a kevlar lined tyre to prevent punctures
(there are antipuncture tyres around though)- kevlar is not cut resistant just strong and has good abrasion characteristics. Bullet proof jackets don't stop knives (or teflon-coated bullets for that matter)...

Several high end tyres use kevlar belting to prevent punctures (its a lining between the tread surface and the tyre belting, typically along the centre of the tyre). They don't resist glass cuts, the kind where a small piece gets stuck in the tread or on a slick the softer compound on the side and/or edge of the tyre, and slowly slices its way through the tyre all the way to the tube.

They do seem to resist punctures from metal objects and larger pieces of glass.

[n plus one]

Several high end tyres use kevlar belting to prevent punctures (its a lining between the tread surface and the tyre belting, typically along the centre of the tyre). They don't resist glass cuts, the kind where a small piece gets stuck in the tread or on a slick the softer compound on the side and/or edge of the tyre, and slowly slices its way through the tyre all the way to the tube.

They do seem to resist punctures from metal objects and larger pieces of glass.

Yeah, you're right. I was just checking out the Du Pont website and they have developed some weaves that are 'puncture resistant', not against sharp blades/cutting etc but against 'improvised stabbing weapons' which would be similar to larger puncturing objects. Interesting.

[No Skid Marks]

Sorry for the G dig.
But how much smaller are 23/25 to straight 23? I can barely tell by eye.
I just got a Specialized Roubaix and it came with 23/25 120TPI tyres. They seem to stick real well,but they also pick up small rocks that get wedged between the tyre and brake,and I have to stop to remove them. Would straight 23s give me much more clearance,or should I just stick with the better puncture resistance of the 23/25s?
How much weight savings is to be gained by 23s? Sweet F A?
Sorry for the painful newbie Qs.

[LJohn]

Vittoria Rubino Pro slicks for training. Vittoria Corsa evo CX for racing. The pro slicks grip like mad, ride well and last. The evos are a dream.

[Ham]

for training i had vittoria rubinos and they only lasted 1000 kms before canvas showed through great tyre though.

for racing vittoria open corsa cx very sweet and for training i use maxxis detonaters, a bit heavy but tough as no flats after 1.5 years.

[ducan]

I think specialized armidillos have kevlar right around the tyre with just normal rubber top for grip ? Im pretty sure of it actually !

They would be the most puncture protective tyres ive ever heard of.

Gatorskin foldables for training and racing for me ! Over continental ultrasonic tubes. Proberly could just run normal tyres with normal tubes and chances of striking a puncture or reducing weight would be just the same....

[schacksta]

I have been using the victoria rubinos for my day to day & find that they wear well & are easy to mount + for $35 you really can't complain. I use mine for the usual coffee rides on a Saturday mornig & on a wind trainner & they are still in good condition after a good 9months of some serious abuse.

Just replaced my worn out contis with rubino pros this arvo... will be grinding away on the M4 tomorrow - here's hoping all the positive press in this thread rings true!

cheers,

schacksta
president
www.wsmtb.com