Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

For discussions about bikes and equipment.
rapidfire72
Posts: 545
Joined: 18 Dec 2008, 11:43am

Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by rapidfire72 »

Getting rid of the hybrid bike, to down grade my number of bikes to three, need room. So, going to use the road bike for work, that bit faster and looks good.

At the moment, I have blizzard sports on, 700x23. I would like to upgrade to 700x25 with some good thread. Any suggestions for tyres.
Brucey
Posts: 44454
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Brucey »

I bought some Michelin Speedium 2s a while back. In 700 x 25c size they come up a fraction smaller than 25mm when mounted on a narrow rim.

They roll well for a 'training tyre' but obviously don't have any fancy puncture protection; they claim 'reinforced carcass' whatever that means...( if it wasn't 'reinforced' it wouldn't be a carcass.... :roll: )

Wet grip is OK, but my tyres are black, like they should be. Other colours may work differently in the wet.

I bought these because they were cheap (on sale) and I needed tyres. I think they are working out OK for me, but I don't ride places where there are lots of puncture hazards; mainly just small flints during and after heavy rain. I don't think these tyres would survive the 'urban assault course' conditions some folk have to put up with.

You can buy similar tyres for double or more what I paid for these; and I don't think that they would be twice as good. I don't think they would suit everyone but they are good value for what they are.

cheers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vorpal
Moderator
Posts: 20697
Joined: 19 Jan 2009, 3:34pm
Location: Not there ;)

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Vorpal »

What are your requirements?

Long-lasting? Puncture-resistance? Grippy? Good in the rain? Okay for occasional off-road use? Inexpensive?

One can buy anything from a racing tyre to a tourer in that size.

I like conti 4 seasons. I orginally bought them because I wasn't happy with the wet performance of the previous tyres I used on my road bike (mainly used for commuting). They aren't cheap. A friend recommended them, and I was originally a bit dubious about spending that much on a tyre, TBH. They aren't the longest lasting tyre out there, but I've been really happy with their performance in a variety of weather and riding conditions, and will replace them with the same or similar when I need new ones.

As Brucey implied in his post, one doesn't get a 50% improvement in performance for a 50% increase in price. It tends to be more like a 10% increase in performance, and the amount of improvement diminishes as they get more expensive.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
pete75
Posts: 16356
Joined: 24 Jul 2007, 2:37pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by pete75 »

For commuting Vittoria Randonneur . Hard wearing, fairly puncture resistant, reasonable amount of tread, not overly expensive and they make them in 700 x 25.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
zaccy
Posts: 24
Joined: 28 Apr 2012, 11:50pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by zaccy »

.
Last edited by zaccy on 14 Sep 2012, 3:25am, edited 1 time in total.
rapidfire72
Posts: 545
Joined: 18 Dec 2008, 11:43am

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by rapidfire72 »

Just wondering, if the Blizzard Sport, would be okay for damp/wet conditions on-road/cycle-path. I will see how they fair in the next week or so, but ideally, looking for a tyre, with some thread on, mainly for the winter months.
Vorpal
Moderator
Posts: 20697
Joined: 19 Jan 2009, 3:34pm
Location: Not there ;)

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Vorpal »

If you want some tread, you're better off with the Vittoria Randonneur recommended above.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Ayesha
Posts: 4192
Joined: 30 Jan 2010, 9:54am

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Ayesha »

Good ol' Sheldon...

Tread for on-road use

Bicycle tyres for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread features; in fact, the best road tyres are perfectly smooth, with no tread at all!

Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth tyre will be slippery, so this type of tyre is difficult to sell to unsophisticated cyclists. Most tyre makers cater to this by putting a very fine pattern on their tyres, mainly for cosmetic and marketing reasons. If you examine a section of asphalt or concrete, you'll see that the texture of the road itself is much "knobbier" than the tread features of a good-quality road tyre. Since the tyre is flexible, even a slick tyre deforms as it comes into contact with the pavement, acquiring the shape of the pavement texture, only while in contact with the road.

People ask, "But don't slick tyres get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tyres with tread. All tyres are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

----------------

Your present tyres will be applicable.
pete75
Posts: 16356
Joined: 24 Jul 2007, 2:37pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by pete75 »

You'd be right if the surfaces cycled on never had any mud, snow, leaves etc on them . In the real world these things are not uncommon and then a bit of tread makes a lot of difference.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
Brucey
Posts: 44454
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Brucey »

^ I agree.

cheers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mig
Posts: 2695
Joined: 19 Oct 2011, 9:39pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by mig »

pete75 wrote:You'd be right if the surfaces cycled on never had any mud, snow, leaves etc on them . In the real world these things are not uncommon and then a bit of tread makes a lot of difference.


exactly! have always thought that explanation of a slick applies only in a laboratory.
Tonyf33
Posts: 3926
Joined: 17 Nov 2007, 3:31pm
Location: Letchworth N.Herts

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Tonyf33 »

pete75 wrote:You'd be right if the surfaces cycled on never had any mud, snow, leaves etc on them . In the real world these things are not uncommon and then a bit of tread makes a lot of difference.

WHY?
Given the downside of riding with treaded tyres for road cycling versus the minute amount of time/distance you would encounter over a year over snow, mud, leaves etc there is no real upside to having treaded tyres. Of course if you cycle in those situations for the most part that is different, however I've ridden in snow, over rotting leaf mulch on uneven paths and through mud (on roads) without incident over the years and I never use anything but slicks...
Brucey
Posts: 44454
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by Brucey »

perhaps UK Sport should be told. The last I heard, our MTB Olympic contenders were planning to use knobbly tyres, the fools...

:shock:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pete75
Posts: 16356
Joined: 24 Jul 2007, 2:37pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by pete75 »

Tonyf33 wrote:
pete75 wrote:You'd be right if the surfaces cycled on never had any mud, snow, leaves etc on them . In the real world these things are not uncommon and then a bit of tread makes a lot of difference.

WHY?
Given the downside of riding with treaded tyres for road cycling versus the minute amount of time/distance you would encounter over a year over snow, mud, leaves etc there is no real upside to having treaded tyres. Of course if you cycle in those situations for the most part that is different, however I've ridden in snow, over rotting leaf mulch on uneven paths and through mud (on roads) without incident over the years and I never use anything but slicks...


Who makes slick tyres other than for track use? Even my Conti Sprinter tubs aren't slick - they have file pattern tread.
What is the downside of treaded tyres on the road? Are Schwalbe, Conti, Vittoria et al totally wrong to put tread on their road tyres?
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
barney
Posts: 19
Joined: 19 Aug 2007, 8:03pm

Re: Ideal Tyre for Road Bike

Post by barney »

I thought the function of tread on road tyres was to displace water and stop aquaplaning? Since bicycles do not go fast enough to aquaplane there is no need for tread? That`s what Sheldon said.
Mountain bikes on rough tracks presumably need knobblies for a different reason.
Post Reply