Sorry about this....but tyre advise please

[Vocal Minority]

I have had a bunch of front punctures recently, all in pretty quick succession and it is starting to get annoying.

I ride mostly commuting and for fitness enjoyment (road bike)- almost always on my tod, nothing competitive. I like to go quickly and improve etc, but not looking for the nth degree of performance.

The bike is currently shod on Continental Ultra Sports, are these usually ok, and I am just unlucky/not looking where I am going enough?

If not, any recommendations? I am after durable, reasonably inexpensive (not a blydi fortune anyway).

Appreciate the advice

[itsnotarace]

Take the tyre off and have a real good check round the inside for something sticking through. Tiny bits of wire or shards of glass are usually the culprit so be careful when running fingers round

[Rob_T]

i commute every day and use schwalbe marathon plus. never had a puncture in 2 years - 16 miles a day on road, bridle way and stoney paths / sustrans routes. before then i had continental speed kings and at one point had 4 punctures in about 2 weeks! front and rear!

[MysteryLemon]

Rob_T said:

schwalbe marathon plus.

Can't recommend these highly enough.

Lovely tyres but likely to set you back around £45 a pair. Need to get a pair sorted for my Slicker. Used to run the 26" version on my MTB for road use.

Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 11th July 15:03

[944fan]

I had a similar thread running on this recently. Okgo (I think) recommended me rubino pros. £30 from wiggle, no punctures in 600 miles and they seem much faster and grippier.

[Disco You]

Vocal Minority said:

I have had a bunch of front punctures recently, all in pretty quick succession and it is starting to get annoying.

I ride mostly commuting and for fitness enjoyment (road bike)- almost always on my tod, nothing competitive. I like to go quickly and improve etc, but not looking for the nth degree of performance.

The bike is currently shod on Continental Ultra Sports, are these usually ok, and I am just unlucky/not looking where I am going enough?

If not, any recommendations? I am after durable, reasonably inexpensive (not a blydi fortune anyway).

Appreciate the advice

How many miles have you done on them? Have they just worn out? Tyres get thinner over time and you get more prone to punctures.

MysteryLemon said:

Rob_T said:

schwalbe marathon plus.

Can't recommend these highly enough.

Lovely tyres but likely to set you back around £45 a pair.

Yes, great tyres if your one concern is absolutely never to get a puncture. But they are very very heavy.

Personally, I'll recommend Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp Folding Tyres. £41.52 a pair from Ribble.

[Rob_T]

Disco You said:

But they are very very heavy.

oh come on....

[JEA1K]

I ride in an area with a lot of flint on the roads and I had some very worn Conti GP4000s which had probably done 1500 - 2000 miles ... was getting punctures all the time. When I looked closer, the tyres had actually worn very flat meaning the protection must have been severely compromised.

Bought a new pair and not one puncture since ... total neglect on my behalf.

[Vocal Minority]

The rear is the original, so has probably done 8-900 miles (relatively new bike - and I don't ride as much as I would like/should) but I have a blow out on the front (blydi big hole in the side of it)so that is maybe only half the age.

Thanks for the advice, I shall check it all out.

[Disco You]

Rob_T said:

Disco You said:

But they are very very heavy.

oh come on....

They're wide, heavy and slow. They aren't what you want for leisure rides.

[Rob_T]

Disco You said:

Rob_T said:

Disco You said:

But they are very very heavy.

oh come on....

They're wide, heavy and slow. They aren't what you want for leisure rides.

utter utter tosh. they are perfectly usable for leisure rides as they can take a variety of terrain as they are grippy and resilient yet smooth and fast enough. i have for example cycled the thames path from st pauls to marlow (approx 70 miles) with no problem. i have also cycled to yeovil (120 miles on road) with them. they are perfectly acceptable speed wise - i can easily maintain 20 - 22 mph on the flat quite happily with little effort (assuming no massive headwind!). i also use them daily for my commute and further pleasure / leisure rides upto 30 / 40 miles as i feel the need. i think you are totally missing the point on OP's requirements (and facts).

[Disco You]

Rob_T said:

Disco You said:

Rob_T said:

Disco You said:

But they are very very heavy.

oh come on....

They're wide, heavy and slow. They aren't what you want for leisure rides.

utter utter tosh. they are perfectly usable for leisure rides as they can take a variety of terrain as they are grippy and resilient yet smooth and fast enough. i have for example cycled the thames path from st pauls to marlow (approx 70 miles) with no problem. i have also cycled to yeovil (120 miles on road) with them. they are perfectly acceptable speed wise - i can easily maintain 20 - 22 mph on the flat quite happily with little effort (assuming no massive headwind!). i also use them daily for my commute and further pleasure / leisure rides upto 30 / 40 miles as i feel the need. i think you are totally missing the point on OP's requirements (and facts).

The narrowest marathon plus they do are 25x700c and weigh 590g a piece! In comparison to the Vredesteins I mentioned which weigh 240g. That's 700g more rotational mass over the two tyres... That is a lot. People spend small fortunes to shed even half that weight off their wheels.

I think you are missing his requirements. He didn't ask for an utterly bombproof, cross continents, don't stop to fix a puncture because you might get stabbed, tyre. Simply, he is getting punctures because the tyres he has aren't great and wear out pretty quickly (I have experience of them), and he'd be really happy with a pair of Vredesteins.

[walm]

700g??? Outrageous.

That's nearly as much as taking a healthy dump before hopping on your bike.
Or not taking a second bidon.
Or not drinking a venti cappuccino earlier in the day.
Or the difference from wearing lycra rather than baggy shorts.
Or actually using the drops rather than sitting bolt upright like a honeymooner's dick.


Seriously, the day 700g makes any kind of difference to my cycling, is the day I hit <65kgs and I am riding £3k+ of carbon TT bike.

And as a 90kg+ MAMIL with an 8 year old single-speed that cost less than my road tax that equals NEVER.

And yes - I know rotational weight is more important than static but once again - we are talking rounding error.

[Bobley]

700g of chassis mass I could live with but 700g of rotating mass I cannot. I had a couple of Schwalbe Marathon Smart guards for a few weeks. Cost me £56 and the mrs had a puncture on her second ride. These bad boys were 26" x 1.75" and 995g a piece. I gave them away! She uses Furious Freds now with a Stans conversion, not stopped her once.

Meanwhile my lads CX runs GP4000 in 20mm and he's had 2 punctures but on his old Schwalbe Ultremo ZLX he only punctured once in a crash and they weigh 160g (but he only weighs 36kg!)

I use stocker Vittoria Zaffiro on my Boardman and so far (2 months) at 70 miles a week I've survived...touch wood.

[rory]

I used get a ridiculous number of punctures with Continental Ultra Race. Now using Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons and I have not had one puncture (700ish miles).

Cheers
Rory

[muthaducka]

Give the chap a break. Choice of two tyres,one half the weight of the other, assuming they are matched on all other stats then I know which I'd choose.

[Bobley]

[quote=rory]I used get a ridiculous number of punctures with Continental Ultra Race. Now using Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons and I have not had one puncture (700ish miles).

I was going to mention those but got distracted, they seam to be the goto tyre for all round workhorses.... I'll be getting some soon once I've got a few miles out of my stock tyres.

[Kell]

I've just bought (but not yet fitted) Schwalbe City Jets. They were on offer and only about £11 each. They've got a protective layer, and feels sticky to the touch so I'm hoping for good grip too.

[Viperzs]

A great all rounder would be something like a Michelin Pro 4 Endurance. They have great performance for both speed and longevity and they're also very tough!

I use the Pro 4 Service Course which is 'weaker' (very relative term here) than the Endurance and I have never seen a puncture yet.

[Vocal Minority]

After giving the old carcass a damn good clean, de-shrapnel etc I gave it one last go with yet another inner-tube - did 40 miles on Thursday, and when I looked at my tyre on Friday it was as flat as a witches tit.

So by way of an update I have plumped for some Vitorria Rubino Pros Slick. My logic is that it is summer, and the cuts on road tyres will provide only minimal water clearance and the contact patch is so narrow anyway it doesn't matter.

I will let you know if I arrive at work on Thursday morning with bloodied legs, and more importantly a full compliment of air in my tyres.