Tyres 700x23

[Bealz998]

I have a carrera tdf on standard tyres and tubes and I've been told that continental gatorskins are a decent tyre to have, are there any other decent tyres out there? Plus I've brought continental race 28 tubes for my new tyres thanks

 

[ianrauk]

Save your money. Use the tyres supplied until they wear out. You will gain minimal, if any, improvement with performance.

But... seeing as you are asking. I run Vittoria Rubino's which you can get for about £25 a pair.
They last me many thousands of miles of cycling in all weathers. Good puncture protection and good grip. For the money they are very hard to beat.

 

[MikeW-71]

Agreed, run the stock tyres until they wear out, unless they have horrendously bad puncture resistance.

Otherwise, I'm running Vittoria Rubino Pro on the winter bike and Conti GP4000S on the best bike. Both have great grip, no punctures for either of them yet. The Conti's are quicker, the Vittorias are cheaper. Two excellent tyres right there.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I would agree with Ian about running on your original tyres, at least till you get used to the bike, I will bow to Ian's greater experience, but I will say I run Gatorskins, I have had one patch fail, and I hit a stone pretty hard once that gave two puncture marks rim side of the tube, so far they have done 2447 miles with only those two incidents, and look almost new

 

[Biker Joe]

I would say upgrade your tires and keep your stock tires for emergencies or spares. I did that and noticed better rolling, more comfort and they were considerably lighter than the stock tires. They also gripped better. My tires of choice would be Continental gatorskins or Gp4000s. Vittoria Rubino Pros are also good if you are strapped for cash but do not come up to the standards of the first two.

 

[HLaB]

As everyone is posting, I'd recommend wearing out your current tyres first. FWIW I rate Conti GP4000s as the best for grip/roll but whilst their tread is well p'ture protected their side wall isn't so good and I'll go for something more robust shortly gators or 4 seasons are good. Gators are more robust, 4 seasons grip/roll. My favourite and what I have used for the last few years are the slightly cheaper Mitchelin Krylion Carbons and whilst not as grippy as 4000s or 4 seasons Id rate them as better performers than the gators. Krylions have now been superseded by Mitch Pro 4 Endurance and they claim to perform better again; the one I had last winter (pture free) never disappointed.

 

[Dusty Bin]

Save your money. Use the tyres supplied until they wear out. You will gain minimal, if any, improvement with performance.

But... seeing as you are asking. I run Vittoria Rubino's which you can get for about £25 a pair.
They last me many thousands of miles of cycling in all weathers. Good puncture protection and good grip. For the money they are very hard to beat.

I'm going to agree and disagree. Agree on the Rubinos - preferably Rubino Pros. However, tyres aren't just about performance. Even a tyre like the Rubino will make a huge difference to how the bike rides and feels, compared to the stock TDF tyres. Don't wait for them to wear out - change them asap.

 

[sreten]

Hi,

The carrera TDF is not an expensive bike, and you've bought some 28mm tubes ....

For winter for £12 each delivered you could do a lot worse than a 28mm pair of these :
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/michelin-city-road-tyre/rp-prod26232
Go for the version with the reflective stripe at no extra cost.

I've got the 32mm on the front of my bike and FWIW one of these on the back.:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schwalbe-speed-cruiser-tyre/rp-prod68177

Note the City looks like the second photo, not the awful first photo.
At near half price you can't go too wrong with a tough very long lasting
tyre with puncture protection that rolls very well, but its not a lightweight.

I've no idea what the stock Kenda 23mm tyres are like, you could use
them in summer. Note that if you run the 23mm's about 100 psi you
should run 28mm's about 70 psi, the back 15% harder than the front.

rgds, sreten.

No punctures in either of the above tyres over 7 months so far.

 

[Dusty Bin]

Hi,

The carrera TDF is not an expensive bike, and you bought some 28mm tubes ....

For winter for £12 each delivered you could do a lot worse than a 28mm pair of these :
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/michelin-city-road-tyre/rp-prod26232
Go for the version with the reflective stripe at no extra cost.

I've got the 32mm on the front of my bike and FWIW one of these on the back.:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schwalbe-speed-cruiser-tyre/rp-prod68177

Note the City looks like the second photo, not the awful first photo.
At near half price you can't go too wrong with a tough very long lasting
tyre with puncture protection that rolls very well, but its not a lightweight.

I've no idea what the stock Kenda 23mm tyres are like, you could use
them in summer. Note that if you run the 23mm's about 100 psi you
should run 28mm's about 70 psi, the back harder than the front.

rgds, sreten.

I doubt if the TDF has enough clearance for either of those tyres...

 

[Nigelnaturist]

In hindsight I had Kenda on the Viking as stock and compared with the gatorskins were c***

 

[sreten]

I doubt if the TDF has enough clearance for either of those tyres...

Hi,

Well if that is true its a pretty pretentious limitation of a budget road bike.
My very budget road bike takes 30mm rear, 32mm front and mudguards.

A budget road bike should be able to accommodate 28mm tyres,
(presumably the case as the OP has bought some 28mm tubes).
If mudguards are not an option then 30mm may not fit, fair enough.

rgds, sreten.

 

[User6179]

Hi,

Well if that is true its a pretty pretentious limitation of a budget road bike.
My budget road bike takes 30mm rear, 32mm front and mudguards.

rgds, sreten.

Most road bikes take 25mm max , I can get a 28mm on the front of one of my road bikes, a lot of bikes can only take 23mm if you also want mudguards.

 

[Roadrider48]

I changed the stock Kenda's on my TDF after a month to Specialized all weather (around £30ish each) because in that first month I had 3 punctures in quick succession. Sound as a pound 5 months on, riding every day in all weathers. They were a bit expensive though!

 

[Roadrider48]

32mm....LOL!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

My Kenda were pretty puncture resistant but just naff on the road