Road tyres yet again... Sorry!

[Wades]

Sorry I know this has been done in various forms many times before but I've never had to buy proper road bike tyres before and following a tyre knackering incident today need to replace the rear Specialized All Condition Pro II 700x25 tyre on my Secteur.

Think i'm going to stick with a 700x25 as I gather a 23 would be a bit harsher.

Any recommendations of what to go with or should I stick with a like for like replacement?

Budget's around £20ish as this seems to be what the Specialized tyre costs.

Also is there any appreciable benefit/difference between normal and folding tyres?

Ta Muchly!

 

[PaulSecteur]

Folding are usually a bit lighter as they use a carbon bead instead of wire.

I have 23mm tyres on my secteur, I didnt notice an apreciable difference in harshness... but I could get crud road racer guards t ft withut rubbing!

I have used Conti gatrskins and Michelin krylion. Happy with both.

 

[Willo]

Specialized armadillos have been great for me. Been a long time since I bought them but think they were just over 20 pounds each.

 

[twobiker]

Specialized armadillos have been great for me. Been a long time since I bought them but think they were just over 20 pounds each.

 

[Wades]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Went into my LBS and got a good deal on a Michelin Krylion and tube in 700x25 spec as I didn't want to replace the front as well.

May order some armadillos as back-ups as they look pretty indestructible! (if a little heavy)

 

[HLaB]

Specialized armadillos have been great for me. Been a long time since I bought them but think they were just over 20 pounds each.

I had a plain nimbus on the front of my sirrus and a armadillo on the rear, which was excellent wearing, but a little too hard wearing IMO and became skittish (for want of a better word) in the wet. I changed to conti 4 seasons and found them more predictable and just as p'ture free, but I'm a lightish rider and my bike handling may have improved.

 

[gaz]

Folding are usually a bit lighter as they use a Kevlar bead instead of wire.

FTFY

Kevlar also doesn't stretch as much as the steel wire beads, so they are generally harder to get on.

 

[e-rider]

cheap option --- Michelin Lithion 2 (£16)
expensive option --- Michelin Pro 3 Race (£24)


both available in 23 or 25

 

[the_mikey]

I use both 23 and 25mm tyres.

Currently I'm using 25mm wire bead continental gatorskins on heavy rims, but will soon swap to 23mm Michelin Krylions on some lighter rims for a couple of sportives coming up. Once those are done I'm back on the 25mm gatorskins.

 

[PaulSecteur]

Kevlar

I stand corrected

 

[Willo]

I had a plain nimbus on the front of my sirrus and a armadillo on the rear, which was excellent wearing, but a little too hard wearing IMO and became skittish (for want of a better word) in the wet. I changed to conti 4 seasons and found them more predictable and just as p'ture free, but I'm a lightish rider and my bike handling may have improved.

When I first put them on my Allez I was out in the rain and sensed that my rear was a little less stable on the wet compared to the totally smooth but useless mondo stock tyres. I think there was a thread at the time re any sort of thread on road tyres being pointless if not worse. Anyway, I haven't had any probs or noticed it since but again that could be just me getting used to them.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I changed to 23mm folding Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp's on my Secteur from the All Condition 25mm that were on it. I also changed wheels to Mavic Aksium's at the same time, and I could tell that the bike felt quicker and rolled better. Probably down to the tyres and the higher pressure's more than wheels. I can also feel a lot more harshness in the ride on bad surfaces but I am not that bothered about that. Really happy with the tyres, they seem to be great in the wet and look cool (just IMHO) in red with my white bike. The only downside is that they are an absolute pig to fit on Aksiums. I ruined several tubes trying to fit them. If I was to do it again I think that I would fit the tyres and remove them a few times using tyre levers with no tubes in to hopefully stretch them a little before fitting the inner tubes.

 

[Rob3rt]

FTFY

Kevlar also doesn't stretch as much as the steel wire beads, so they are generally harder to get on.

Only ever had folding tyres once and I dont know if its just Gatorskins or folding tyres in general, or maybe the tyre/wheel combo, but it took me about 40 mins to fit both tyres, my hands were killing me and there was a lot of profanity!

 

[PaulSecteur]

Since watching this vid I have not had t use levers t get a tyre on (23mm gators and krylions, and marathon plus 32mm)


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

 

[Boris Bike]

How do you decide what width tyres to get?

I've had a mountain bike and put road tyres on it (can't remember the width but they were no skinny minnies). I've now got a cyclocross with 35 width knobblies which I should really change for road tyres. I have no idea what width to go for, but I was thinking 28.

Anyone have any views?