tyres

[spokie]

I'm looking for 700 tyres that roll easily, are reasonably puncture resistance, are comfortable, and can be relied on in the wet. The bike is a 531 touring design and has mudguard clearances.
Suggestions and experiences welcomed.
Many Thanks

[dougie]

Panaracer Paesla Tourguards are very good tyres but not as puncture resistant as I would have liked. With 700c there's a good choice of widths.

[andyh2]

I like Panaracer Paselas, 32mm if road only, 37mm if there's some tracks involved. Prefer the feel to previous Marathons which I didn't really like the feel of (I thought them a bit harsh relative to the paselas).

[BSRU]

I can recommend Continental GP 4 Seasons, although the biggest they do is 28c.

[Vorpal]

I can recommend Continental GP 4 Seasons, although the biggest they do is 28c.

+1 On my road bike & p*ncture-free since.

[LollyKat]

Paselas are good but I have found the sidewalls fragile and prone to cuts. OH and I now using RibMos and are very happy with them. They are a little heavier but still roll well, and are good and grippy in the wet.

[Ant]

I asked a similar question recently, more wrt longevity. The tyres I have been using certainly fit your requirements. They are continental sport contacts. Very fast rolling and comfortable and I have punctured once only in 3000 miles of commuting through urban glass strewn pot holed roads. And the puncture appears to have been due to tube failure not the tyre...

The tyres are well worn now but still have good bit of life in them. They are pretty cheap, seem to be about £20 with free inner tubes.

That said I will probably try some other type for my next set come next spring...

Ant

[Big T]

I recently bought some Vittoria Randoneurs. They are quite wide (35-37mm) but roll well and they were cheap, I think £16 each. I rode from nottingham to Skegness on them yesterday (80 miles) over some quite rough fen roads and they smoothed out the bumps. Too early to tell about puncture resistance or longevity, but looking good so far.

[Mick F]

You don't say what width you need.

I cannot recommend Vittoria Rubino Pro highly enough. Trouble is, I think the UK importer has a problem as many sizes and colours aren't available anywhere.

These tyres are hard wearing, light, puncture proof, and come in widths up to 28mm.

[DavidT]

+1 for Paselas. Good lightweight touring type tyre. I ride 28s

[Joe.B]

+1 for Paselas. Good lightweight touring type tyre. I ride 28s

Me too, superb tyre. Very sure footed in the wet as well.

[spokie]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions - much appreciated! As for widths, well they're not going to be used for audax or anything like that, just for gentlish day rides (in a hilly area) and maybe some weekend tours of up to say 100 miles. I've actually had Paselas in the past size 28mm but found them rather uncomfortable and harsh when pumped up hard. They also seem to be narrower than they say - mine were labelled 28 but they looked like 25. So maybe 32 will look like 28's? I've reached retirement age now, and the knees are creaking a bit, hence the need for low rolling resistance!

[reohn2]

Paselas are good but I have found the sidewalls fragile and prone to cuts. OH and I now using RibMos and are very happy with them. They are a little heavier but still roll well, and are good and grippy in the wet.

+1 very good tyres IMO,as are Marathon Racers.

[CJ]

Marathon Racer in 30mm.

What width rim do you have though? A lot of tourers are sold with 19mm internal width rims (since Mavic don't make a 17mm rim anymore, which is what you want, but a lot of wheelbuilders are slaves to Mavic) and although a 28mm tyre will fit a rim that wide, it will not make a nice cushy rounded shape on it, giving an unduly harsh ride and increased rolling drag too. That would explain your dis-satisfaction when you tried this width before.

If you have 19mm rims, you don't want to fit tyres under 32mm and should preferably go wider to 35 or 37mm - if the frame will take it. Fortunately you can get some really nice 37-622 tyres, like Vittoria Randoneur Pro (the Pro is important and available only in 37mm) or Continental Top-Contact (expensive but hand-made in Germany from the best materials) as well as Marathon Racer - in 35 or 38mm actually.

Always go for the folding version when you have a choice. They weigh a lot less and I have a hunch that they are generally made a bit better than the steel-beaded version of the same tyre.

[Winkeladvokat]

What width rim do you have though? A lot of tourers are sold with 19mm internal width rims (since Mavic don't make a 17mm rim anymore, which is what you want, but a lot of wheelbuilders are slaves to Mavic) and although a 28mm tyre will fit a rim that wide, it will not make a nice cushy rounded shape on it, giving an unduly harsh ride and increased rolling drag too. That would explain your dis-satisfaction when you tried this width before.

If you have 19mm rims, you don't want to fit tyres under 32mm and should preferably go wider to 35 or 37mm - if the frame will take it.

I actualy disagree with this (and run 25mm on 19mm internal-width rims myself!). The reason - for a given bead-to-bead tyre dimension a wider rim will increase the volume of air held in the tyre. The suspension effect depends on the volume of air/pressure, not any notion of roundness. So, my 25mm's look more like 28mm on a 19mm rim, and I can run them with a correspondingly lower pressure. The overall effect on the ride is extremely favourable. This mirrors e.g. what HED and others are doing with wider road racing rims: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/wheels ... 60624.html