Another one of those 'which tyre' threads.

[Kell]

I've read a fair few of the tyre threads and lots of people seem to like the Conti 4 seasons.

But, as I'm new to all this, and my road bike was cheap, I'm looking to spend as little as possible to keep me going.

What would anyone recommend on a budget of, say, £20 per tyre? Is something like this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-ultra-race-roa...

OK.

Or do I just bite the bullet and pay the extra for the 4 seasons?

[Black can man]

Think it all depends on what you want from a tyre. i go for the more puncture resistant type.

I have 3 x garorskin hardshell's & i x Schwalbe durano plus on my work & weekend bikes. , i don't get many punctures but i don't really know if these tyres are slowing me down, I just can't deal with getting too many punctures .

[Kell]

On my commuter, I'd go for puncture resistance over weight any (work) day of the week.

While I'm pretty sure that anything I buy would be better than the mismatched pair I have on currently (bike bought SH), I'd rather spend the money on something decent, than end up spending more by first buying the wrong tyres.

[littleandy0410]

I've used Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tyres for a few years now, and can highly recommend them. Only had 1 puncture with them, in thousands of miles, and that was towards the end of the rear tyre's life, when it had worn down. Fairly light weight, grippy in the wet and dry, and low rolling resistance.

Vredestein have discontinued them now, replacing them with Senso tyres, but I haven't tried these yet. You should be able to find Fortezza for about £20 a tyre. Try ribble.

[Black can man]

Kell said:

On my commuter, I'd go for puncture resistance over weight any (work) day of the week.

While I'm pretty sure that anything I buy would be better than the mismatched pair I have on currently (bike bought SH), I'd rather spend the money on something decent, than end up spending more by first buying the wrong tyres.

I can never understand the tyre weight thing , we must be talking grammes !

[littleandy0410]

These are what I was referring to: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/t...

Merlin cycles have them slightly cheaper, depending on the colour choice.

I'm currently using Michelin Pro4 Endurance 25C on my commuter, and Pro4 Service Course 23C on my best bike, but not had them long enough to give a decent review. Probably done a couple of thousand on each, so far so good!

Edited by littleandy0410 on Monday 30th March 12:47

[yellowjack]

I know you said "as little as possible" but personally, and speaking from bitter experience, tyres are NOT the place to cut costs on a bike if you have the budget to get some decent rubber. There are deals out there on GP 4Seasons if you want them, but there are plenty of other options too. Try Continental's tyre chart and compare it to the riding you do/want to do. This'll give you a start point to look at prices and reviews...

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/tyreapplic...

[S10GTA]

Wouldn't use those tyres if you paid me. Total utter crap.

(I've used them, more punctures in two rides than the rest of the year put together)

[TwistingMyMelon]

littleandy0410 said:

I've used Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tyres for a few years now, and can highly recommend them. Only had 1 puncture with them, in thousands of miles, and that was towards the end of the rear tyre's life, when it had worn down. Fairly light weight, grippy in the wet and dry, and low rolling resistance.

Vredestein have discontinued them now, replacing them with Senso tyres, but I haven't tried these yet. You should be able to find Fortezza for about £20 a tyre. Try ribble.

Another vote for the Fortezza Tricomp, 1 puncture in 4000 miles and that was a slow one due to the tyre being very worn. Good in rain,good in dry, cheap and no punctures.

Buy the old batches whilst you can

I run 4seasons on my winter bike, but wont run them through the spring/summer, as I find the top layer is very soft, which gives a great supple ride. BUT, also feels draggy on steep (+20% climbs) and my set wore very quick in warm weather/tarmac.

[MadDad]

TwistingMyMelon said:

littleandy0410 said:

I've used Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tyres for a few years now, and can highly recommend them. Only had 1 puncture with them, in thousands of miles, and that was towards the end of the rear tyre's life, when it had worn down. Fairly light weight, grippy in the wet and dry, and low rolling resistance.

Another vote for the Fortezza Tricomp, 1 puncture in 4000 miles and that was a slow one due to the tyre being very worn. Good in rain,good in dry, cheap and no punctures.

And another vote for Tricomps, excellent tyres but hard to find now (unless you don't mind some odd colours on the shoulders). I have been using the Sensos (all weather and Xtreme) - nowhere near as good as the Tricomps, seem to pickup cuts quite easily and the rubber seems to crack around the middle of the tyre after a couple of months. I have raised a warranty claim with Ribble/Vredestein and am waiting to hear if they are willing to replace a pair which fell apart over winter despite not being used. I was chatting to a guy in the LBS about the issues with the Senso's last week, he said that Vredestein swapped manufacturing plants when they launched the Senso's and have had nothing but quality issues since - not sure how true it is but seems plausible.

I have never got on with Conti's - they seem to be a real marmite type tyre, I am currently running a set of Michelin Pro3's I picked up from CRC and have to say they are excellent - fast rolling, grippy and so far no marks on the tyres despite a couple of hundred miles of flinty Chilterns roads - not sure what they will be like in the long term but so far so good.

[Kell]

Thanks all. Ordered some of those Vredstein ones.

[TheInternet]

If you don't want to run to the 4 Seasons but are set on Continental, these are a good compromise IME: Grand Prix. All depends what you want to use them for though.

ETA: Too slow... enjoy your Vreds

[okgo]

For those on Trip comps, how different are they to Fortezza Pro Tricomp? I've just got a set of the latter in tubular guise, they feel a bit flimsy.

[neenaw]

Schwalbe Durano's are pretty good, durable and from my experience don't puncture too much. I've been running them all through the winter and I've been really impressed with them.
You can get them complete with tubes for your budget.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171669497178?_trksid=p20...

[MadDad]

okgo said:

For those on Trip comps, how different are they to Fortezza Pro Tricomp? I've just got a set of the latter in tubular guise, they feel a bit flimsy.

I believe the pro's are the tub version of the open tyre, so I would assume that the construction would be the same. Be interested to know your opinion once you have ridden them for a bit. I had been using them for the last 3 years and iirc only ever picked up 3 punctures in all of that time!

[Black can man]

neenaw said:

Schwalbe Durano's are pretty good, durable and from my experience don't puncture too much. I've been running them all through the winter and I've been really impressed with them.
You can get them complete with tubes for your budget.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171669497178?_trksid=p20...

I've put one of these on my commuter bike, i'm not so sure about them & i wished i had got Hardshell's


I can't seem to get enough air into the schwalbe's

[Black can man]

neenaw said:

Schwalbe Durano's are pretty good, durable and from my experience don't puncture too much. I've been running them all through the winter and I've been really impressed with them.
You can get them complete with tubes for your budget.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171669497178?_trksid=p20...

I've put one of these on my commuter bike, i'm not so sure about them & i wished i had got Hardshell's


I can't seem to get enough air into the schwalbe's

[bakerstreet]

Black can man said:

I can never understand the tyre weight thing , we must be talking grammes !

Its not been an area that I have looked to save weight, but if you are trying to build a light weight bike, then people don't want to go for a 700c tyre that weighs 300g. Also, it adds to the rolling resistance.

You can probably get Gatorskins for £27 each, not £20 though. I ran four seasons for a few months and I didn't find the puncture protection very good at all, but thats just me. More comfortable though.

[Kell]

Great service from Merlin. They were on my desk by about 10 am yesterday.

Just need to fit them and my new cadence meter tonight ready for the weekend.

Probably wouldn't have chosen that colour way if all were available, but they'll match my bike which is mostly white with black accents.