Some bike tyres are expensive - but worth it!

[donnydave]

If anyone was wondering whether it was worth shelling out on fancy puncture resistant tyres like gatorskins (for some reason I was initially skeptical) I would say yes! My wife and I just rode from Cambridge to Poole for no particular reason, on a giant dash and a giant rapid with 25mm gatorskins (23mm grand prix 4000 on my wifes front wheel for an extra laugh factor). Due to poor planning we ended up bouncing for miles down stony rutted paths, wheelspinning up soaking wet gravel tracks and splashing through axle-deep muddy puddles with unknown terrors lurking at the bottom, all on our skinny road tyres.

After months of commuting being absolutely paranoid about the road surface (Hmm, that leaf looks a bit sharp - I'd better avoid it) and complaining about any road that's not like a snooker table it's acted as a well needed slap in the face to get on with it and give the tyres more credit than I have previously! Can't wait to get out again and have more adventures, although for that distance possibly something a little more forgiving on my rear end as the Rapid on those tyres is ok for my 40mins to work but after a couple of hours its hard as nails. Ahhh, n+1 strikes again....

 

[Maz]

Cambridge to Poole? Must be a good 170+ miles.
Well done, you!

 

[donnydave]

we did it in 3 days, 75mi, 80mi and 35mi via Bedford, MK (what a terrible idea that was!), Oxford, Salisbury. Chuffin wrecked now I tell you!

On Monday we do battle with south west trains and their apparently un-bookable bike spaces.

 

[J.Primus]

I've got schwalbe durano's on my bike ever since I started getting a puncture every 2 weeks on the commute in to work. I've not had a puncture since in 4-5 months. Definitely worth the extra money.

 

[numbnuts]

Cambridge to Poole WoW

 

[Drago]

Roger that re tyres. You can't totally eliminate the chances of a P but they can make a big improvement, and decent rubber is a Godsend in the wet.

 

[donnydave]

We had good fun doing “dont pedal" races on some 1in5 downhills in the wet, extremely glad of good rubber when we got to copious amounts of white paint at the bottom!

 

[Matthew_T]

We had good fun doing “dont pedal" races on some 1in5 downhills in the wet, extremely glad of good rubber when we got to copious amounts of white paint at the bottom!

We do some of those on club rides down a hill called Engine Hill. It is about 3 miles of pure downhill and you can easily get 45mph with no wind.

With regards to tyres, I have recently reached the end of the life on my Conti CityRides. They have been absolutely fantastic and an excellent buy from Halfords. They lasted me about 10,000 miles (yes that is right!) and have survived even the toughest of country roads. The did start to let in a few thorns at the end though (they were bigguns) but the tyres lasted me well. I still have the front one on my racer as it probably has about 1,000 miles left in it (so will do me until christmas). They are very grippy and I would definately buy them again.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Well done to both of you on your adventurous ride, I could feel the bumps on the trail on reading your story