Another Tyre Thread: Weight v Cost v Puncture Resistance

[TheSandwichMonster]

I know it's been done before, and I've had a scan back through previous threads but (like pretty much everyone else), I'm looking for up-to-date information... I had a 'mare on the Dartmoor Classic on Sunday: Six punctures, CO2 pump broke, mini pump was underpowered (or at least I was!) and I limped around the middle section of the course.

I left my race tyres on for the event, which I know is daft, and I know that Ultremos tend to split opinion. I had 1500 miles out of my last set, but didn't take into account the fact that I've been racing more frequently on this set and so they're correspondingly more knackered. I don't think that they were at fault as I checked them thoroughly; I just think I was under-inflating the tubes with the mini pump and suffering snakebites.

Anyway, I'm looking to buy a new set of tyres to train on (and use for endurance events), whilst retaining future sets of Ultremos (or similar) for specific events. Ideally, I'm looking for something that is still reasonably grippy, spins up (relatively) fast and (hopefully) doesn't cost the earth. I've seen that the Conti GP4000's tend to get a lot of recommendations on here, but I was wondering if there was anything else worth considering? Would anyone recommend Conti Ultra Gatorskins, or Schwalbe Durano+?

 

[HLaB]

Conti 4000s's are great light and good rolling tyres, I've only had 1 p'ture on my two sets (the day of 1000 carpet tacks on the Etape Caledonia, so I got of lucky), my brother a few stone heavier saw his cut up/ p'ture a bit and he's replaced them with Schwalbe.
I borrowed a gator skin for a while and did some hard training on it and I found it great very grippy (despite some reports), rolled well and zero p'tures.
When I finally gave that back I looked for a reasonably priced replacement and settled on Mitch Kyrlion Carbons and they are great training tyres offering a good balance of wear/weight/p'ture resistance; they are a bit like hens teeth to get hold of though as they've been superseded by the Mitch 4 Pro Endurance.

 

[TheSandwichMonster]

Cheers... Currently have a couple of Gatorskins sitting in my Wiggle basket ahead of any advice to the contrary!

 

[HLaB]

Cheers... Currently have a couple of Gatorskins sitting in my Wiggle basket ahead of any advice to the contrary!

Some say they are skittish, I'd say anything but perhaps they are running at too high a pressure; if I could have afforded them, when I replaced my borrowed one I would have.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Ideally, I'm looking for something that is still reasonably grippy, spins up (relatively) fast and (hopefully) doesn't cost the earth. I've seen that the Conti GP4000's tend to get a lot of recommendations on here, but I was wondering if there was anything else worth considering? Would anyone recommend Conti Ultra Gatorskins, or Schwalbe Durano+?

Read what you will into it, but the latest major research on the subject says the Conti GP3000 (which GP4000s derive from, with better rubber I believe) and Ultra Gatorskins are amongst the slowest in their test, and significantly so. The main conclusion of the research is really about the virtues of wider tyres than many of us are using on our lousy roads though, and the discussion following the article is also interesting.

 

[HLaB]

Read what you will into it, but the latest major research on the subject says the Conti GP3000 (which GP4000s derive from, with better rubber I believe) and Ultra Gatorskins are amongst the slowest in their test, and significantly so. The main conclusion of the research is really about the virtues of wider tyres than many of us are using on our lousy roads though, and the discussion following the article is also interesting.

Interesting, I also like the thing about pressure (probably because I'd agree with it ) you don't gain much in rolling terms if anything from tyres pumped to the max; personally I feel the grip factor of lower psi tyres is more important to me as a rider.

 

[TheSandwichMonster]

Very interesting read... I've read similar in the past, but that is by far the clearest article that I've read on the subject. It still doesn't really help me come to a decision, but then, I've never been all that good on that front! The pain of it is I need some "general purpose" tyres for a sportive at the weekend and so I need to decide soon: Do I go cheap and cheerful (and hopefully not live to regret it), or is it still a case of buy cheap, buy twice?

 

[black'n'yellow]

Conti GP4000S is what I'd go for. I use my set for general riding/training duties and they also double as wet weather race tyres when I don't fancy using my carbon tubs. One of the best all round tyres out there, IMO...

 

[defy-one]

What width are you all using. I'm on 23c at the moment,and will change when they wear out

 

[TheSandwichMonster]

I use 23's at the mo, but strongly considering using 25's for training/sportive use, etc

 

[black'n'yellow]

Conti GPs come up pretty wide in a 23 - I wouldn't want (or need) to go any wider than that...

 

[zizou]

I've found Conti tyres (GP 4000s and GP4 Seasons) to be prone to punctures in the wet. Which is a shame because both tyres have excellent wet weather performance and grip.

Currently using Michelin Pro 4 Endurance, its basically like the krylion but a bit better - particularly when it comes on getting it on and off the rim, which was the main reason i stopped using krylions in the first place.