28mm winter slicks?

[MC Bodge]

I commute year-round on a mix of suburban and rural, major and minor, lit and unlit, roads and tracks of varying surface quality. I generally use a cyclocross bike.

In past winters I have used 35mm Land Cruisers (tough, but hefty) and 28mm Gator Skins (tough, fairly quick, but sketchy at times in slippy conditions).

The Conti 4 seasons always get a good write-up, but cost a lot. Are there any similarly good, but cheaper puncture resistant, grippy and fast 28mm alternatives?

[S10GTA]

Schwalbe Duranos

Run these on 23s on my single speed and 32s on my cross bike in road spec. Great tyre.

Edited by S10GTA on Tuesday 8th September 11:29

[counterofbeans]

Vittoria Randonneur (cheap) or Hyper Voyager (not so cheap)

[MC Bodge]

Cheers

[mie1972]

Got vittoria Randonneur pro's on my CX and then run well' much faster than the originals.
Pro's are a bit lighter than the standard Randonneurs.

Were about £18 a tyre.

Be aware the 32s are actually 29 though, 35s are confusingly 32 width.

[neenaw]

I've been running Durano's in 25mm on the roadbike since the start of last winter and only had one puncture. I'd guess that the 28's are just as good.

I've got a set of Specialized Roubaix Pro's on my Diverge and they're managing to avoid punctures well so far and seem to handle the potholed roads pretty well.

[Barchettaman]

Vittoria Zaffiro, I have always had reliable service commuting and training on this tyre.

[2volvos]

Not slicks as such but my Schwalbe Delta Marathons have been brilliant in all weathers (bar snow and ice!). Shame they are attached to the chrome finished wheels on my old Peugeot which renders me brakeless in the wet...

[Dammit]

Vittoria Pave is a great tyre and available in 27 section, more of a race tyre than a trainer but should last a winter.

[Black can man]

Another thumbs up for the Schwalbe's here

[Dammit]

Not sure if you can get them anymore, but Maxxis ReFuse in a (genuine) 28 are great winter training tyres, I've got 6,000 Km on a pair and the rear now needs replacing, but the front should be good for another few thousand.

[Jorrocks]

Dammit said:

Vittoria Pave is a great tyre and available in 27 section, more of a race tyre than a trainer but should last a winter.

+1 on these, really confidence inspiring. Pretty heavy rate of wear though, but well worth it. Currently £29.99 at Sigma.

[MC Bodge]

S10GTA said:

Schwalbe Duranos

I bought a set of 28mm Duranos and used them for the first time today.

It was raining this morning and dry this afternoon.

The ride (at 90psi, and with heavy rear panniers) felt smooth with road noise filtered out.
Wet grip felt good.

Dry grip felt good, with handling and confidence inspiring, even on rough tarmac.

On a pot-holed track the bumps were absorbed very well.

It wasn't really the day for speed (and I hadn't re-set my speedo for the bigger tyres), but they didn't feel draggy.

Cheers

[S10GTA]

No probs. Rode my 32s for the first time in ages this evening. Forgot how comfy they were.

[cirian75]

done about 500 on my Durano's

zero punctures till I smashed a kerb, but thats 101% my fault.