Commuting on race tyres

[belgiangoth]

Honestly I want a new bike (okay, honestly I want a new DF, a 'bent and a 'bent trike) but can't logic the cost or the space. So, for enjoyment I'm thinking of changing the tyres on my commuter to lighter more springy options. I currently run Marathon+s (28 front, 25 rear). I'm thinking of moving to Durano+, Conti top contact, Marathon race, GP4s or even Ultremos.

A Marathon Race, Durano + combo would cut half a kilo from my wheels and I would still feel very confident with the puncture resistance, I have never tried proper race tyres though, so can't guess as to whether GP4's claim of being puncture proof is spin or reality. Obviously GP4s would cut weight by even more - 850g, while an Ultremo pairing (though whether I could find them in the right size anywhere other than Schwalbe's site) would drop the weight by almost a kilo.

At them moment I do enjoy mostly puncture-free commuting with my marathons, but with the summer coming I'm thinking that I'm willing to see infrequent punctures in return for better pace and ride.

[Si]

I think that the GP4s are more p*nct*re resistant than the GP3000 that they replaced (I'd never use the latter for commuting - gave up on mine after I was getting a p*nct*re every other week). But they are not going to be as good as the M+s.

I did use older conti GPs for commuting across the city centre, including various bits of bike track. These were faster than M+s and had acceptable p*nct*re resistance, but weren't as light as the new modern breed of race tyres. My new Blizzards (more of a faster training tyre than an all out race tyre) appear similar.

As well as more likelihood of p*nct*res with race tyres used on a commute, you'll also find that you need to replace the tyres much more often. Perhaps fast training tyres would be better for you? However, please note that I've not tried M-races or Duranos so can't vouch for how good they are.

[willem jongman]

Marathon Plusses are desperately slow and uncomfortable. Unless your commute takes you past a lot of broken glass etc I would think you could afford to take some more risks. We use the much faster ordinary Marathons on nearly all our commuter bikes, and I can say that with the four of us commuting and touring we only have one puncture every couple of years. The next step faster and still pretty puncture resistent would be a Marathon Racer, but the narrowest size is a 30 mm. I am not sure if you have clearance for such wider tyres, but if so I would use that clearance. A flexible wider tyre would be much faster than a near solid narrow one such as the Marathon Plus. If you don't I would consider the Panaracer Pasela TG. It is more flexible and faster again, and less puncture proof, but you may find it good enough. Comparable in speed and puncture resiatnce would be the Conti Ultragatorskin (28 mm max). Unfortunately neither the Pasela nor the Ultragatorskin has reflective sidewalls, which I personally find very important on a commuter bike (and rightly mandatory in the Netherlands). For a commuter bike I would never go any faster/puncture prone than this. You want to be in time for work.
Willem

[Si]

Marathon Plusses are desperately slow and uncomfortable.

I'd disagree witht that, especially the latter. Mine are quite acceptable in the comfort stakes....indeed they are preferable to what I had on before. Of course, as they come in different sizes it may be the case that whatever size you have is less comfortable than the 'opposition'. Likewise, although I'd agree that they are not the fastest of tyres, I've never found their 'speed', or lack there of, to be a hinderance; this might be due to us using them in different ways - I'm normally not that bothered about going fast, although when I first used them on a hilly audax I did come home first (would have been beaten by a chap on a 'fast bike' but I passed him near the end when he stopped to fix a p*nct*re).

I did try Paselas - they were a bit faster than M+s but no more comfortable, and were more prone to p*nct*res, including one nasty one when the trye deflated instantly. Nonetheless, I've been happy enough with them when moved to the tandem.

[crimble]

I commute on 23mm gator skins. I have a fairly glass strewn urban route and run the tyres at 100psi. Every now and again I get punctures, but can go for months without, but, I would recommend changing them every year. I ended my very unglamourous time trialling "career" on these tyres too as I found the michelin pro races I used could be cut to ribbons by glass very quickly [the record was one ride to destroy a tyre!!]

[Ugly]

Important factors in avoiding punctures are: checking your tyres each week and removing any small flints and shards of glass that will eventually work through the cover. Ride at the correct pressure, check weekly. replace tyres when they show excessive amounts of cuts.
When I used to commute solely by bike, always using fairly light tyres, I don't think I ever wore a tyre out they were always replaced because of the amount of cuts. The expenditure was negligible compared with fares.
I think that a good semi slick road tyre, eg. a gatorskin, at 100psi is less likely to puncture and, on tarmac, has as good roadholding as a roadster type tyre with a heavy tread and is alot easier to propel. How ever muddy tracks and snow and ice present a different story.

[frank9755]

I find that the difference in puncture rates between my tourer and racing bike is around a factor of ten!
- Tourer has 32/37mm Marathons or Continental Contacts, at 85/75 psi
- My racing bike has 23mm Continental Sport Contacts at 120/100 psi

This is on similar roads and is after taking more care to check the racing bike tyres and dig out lumps of glass on a regular basis.

[Mick F]

What sort of terrain are you commuting on?

My "race" tyres are Vittoria Rubino Pro
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... ITTTYRF550
Superb, puncture proof, fast, light - what more do you want?

I don't do off road or canal tow-paths - but on road they are fantastic!

[belgiangoth]

New job will be mostly on-road, though with a cut-through the park in summer.

Thanks for all the advice!

[531colin]

Does anybody use tyresavers/flint catchers/thorn catchers these days? basically a bit of wire arranged 1mm. above the tyre to flick off glass etc. before multiple wheel revolutions hammer it home into the tube. No good off-road!

[minkie]

I do a 26 mile round trip commute 3-4 days a week (I don't always go into the office). That breaks down into 8 miles of typical suburbia, 2 miles of farm track and 16 of rural lanes. I also get out most weekends.
My records show a 25 gatorskin puncture roughly once every 6 months. I switched to 23 gp4000s last July just for the fun of it (and they are fun).
I've not had a puncture yet and they're miles off being worn out. I think they are excellent - not much cop on the farm track but that's a price well worth paying.

I'd be happy to agree that I've been lucky, but I keep the tyres hard and believe this helps.

[EdinburghFixed]

Interestingly I went from GP4000s on my fixed-wheel to Marathon+ for one winter, then back to GP4000s. I too found M+ to be desperately bad tyres to ride (in the 700x25 size) but they certainly did the job puncture-wise!

You can read quite a detailed long-term review about Marathon Pluses where I concluded that I'd rather have punctures than use them. The GP4000s-es, compared with Marathon Pluses, are like buying a new bike. 800g per M+ and 250g per GP4000s means you're saving around a kilo of rotational weight, which is very noticeable.

However the winners so far are my latest Schwalbe Kojaks - 35mm slicks with a wide tolerance of pressure (I've had mine at 95psi but run the rear of my lowracer at just 40psi). They combine speed, comfort and apparent puncture resistance like nothing else I've tried. Most bikes probably don't have clearance for this style of tyre unfortunately, but if you do, they're the best thing I've tried so far.

[belgiangoth]

Cheers for that EBF, I was thinking that over time if I get used to fixing punctures I would end up faster with infrequent punctures, but not regular punctures. The best middle ground for me is the Marathon races, but they are too wide for my open pros on the rear - so I may well go with the GP4s front and back...

[willem jongman]

Panaracer Pasela's TG are quite similar to Marathon Racers. Perhaps a bit faster, and perhaps a bit more puncture prone, but statistics are hard on tyres that are so similar.
Willem

[Freddie]

However the winners so far are my latest Schwalbe Kojaks - 35mm slicks with a wide tolerance of pressure (I've had mine at 95psi but run the rear of my lowracer at just 40psi). They combine speed, comfort and apparent puncture resistance like nothing else I've tried. Most bikes probably don't have clearance for this style of tyre unfortunately, but if you do, they're the best thing I've tried so far.

Why on Dog's green earth would you run a 35mm tyre at 95PSI, what a waste!. Width isn't the primary factor in comfort, it's pressure, more width allows for lower pressure. I'd imagine around 50 PSI would see you noticing a dramatic improvement in comfort (may feel slower due to less vibration), if you have a speedometer it'd be nice if you could debunk the more pressure = more speed thing for future communal reference.

BTW, the Kojak's certainly look quite nice. It'd be even better if they could come out with a version without extraneous puncture protection, supple sidewalls and in 32,35 and 42mm.