79pmooney

+1 I see it as grip, rolling resistance, flat resistance, cost and weight (and a few other characteristics like ride feel) all being factors that could be given numbers and that the sum of the numbers equals a constant. I live where wet happens regularly 9 months of the year. I am willing to give up some flat resistance and rolling resistance for wet grip to keep my skin intact.

There is now a game-changer that raises the "number". Graphene, that magic dust that Vittoria seems to be importing by the shipload. More grip, less rolling resistance and decent flat and cut resitance on a very sweet feeling tire. No, not cheap and they haven't made a commuter version yet (and maybe never will). I hope graphene makes it to everyday tires. Life will be better.

In the meantime, my everyday tire is the Pasela. I don't get phenomenal mileage out of them, just very decent. I flat but I ride an area with the curse of the tiny wire radial tire belt "hairs" and the flats happen at a rate I can deal with. What I like - decent feel, decent grip, decent rolling resistance, few surprises. And I often ride them after riding the sweet graphene tires. Not a hardship. (Oh, and I've taken to riding big Paselas as gravel tires. Nice!)

Ben

chas58

Ja, German tires. Conti or Schwalbe. I've had the sidewalls wear out before the tread on Gatorskins (just ended up pulling that "gatorskin" off the sidewall and it was fine - it did not like the wheel being changed with tight calipers scruffing the sidewall.

Or just stop skidding.

Thickslicks have a ton of tread if that is your thing.

caloso

My go-to tires are Michelin Lithions. Inexpensive, tough, long wearing. Although currently I have a set of Gatorskins, which I got a great deal on. I had issues with Continental in the past, which put me off them for awhile, but for the price I got I was willing to give them another shot.

I also put a pair of Schwalbe Marathons on my son's school commuting bike. Bombproof and I like the reflective band, but boy are they heavy and slow.

noglider 

As much as I like Panaracer tires, I'm under the impression that, in general, Continental tires are more durable. But I don't have data for this assertion.

Reynolds 

Believe it or not, my cheap CST Traveller 700x38 were good for 28000kms front and 14000 rear (95 % of them on paved roads).

noglider 

You can get lucky with CST tires. And you can get unlucky. I've been unlucky.

EngProducts

I have been using "Schwalbe Marathon Touring Tyre - GreenGuard" 700c 32mm for 2 years. It has handled road, gravel, hard pack dirt, rocks, curbs hops, glass and looks like they're going to last for years to come.

funbuffalo24

I ride 8.2 miles round trip to work, but only 3 days a week or so, and on 3 different bikes. I've got no experience with the Scwalbe's, but replaced Vittoria Rubino 25mm with Randonneur 28's on one and I like them overall but the reflective sidewall is cosmetically not to my liking. 28 and then 32mm gatorskins on another bike, and they seem to not really ever wear down but my front tire sometimes gets a bit slick in very wet conditions with both sizes; I stepped up size for relative comfort. I've got 32mm specialized Armadillos on my third, and the only complaint I've got about them is that they actually inflate to 36-37mm, even at 80psi. I know for cars they talk about road noise from the tread which is something I dont hear about on here too often, I'd say that the conti's are the quietest, but also the stiffest tire of the three I currently run on my daily bikes. Also, the only time I've got a flat was a pinch flat on the Vittorias. In my opinion, any of the three are acceptable, all 700c.

downwinded

I've had good luck with Marathon Supreme, folding bead, 700 x 28. I'm 220 not counting gear and run 85# in the rear, 65# in the front. Good ride and good mileage.

jgwilliams

It's all about compromise. Personally I wouldn't fit the Marathon Plus on my commuter bike unless I really needed that level of puncture resistance - which I don't. My commute is on regular tarmac - admittedly some of it pretty terrible - with no gravel, trails, etc. I find the Continental GP 4 Season gives me good puncture protection with low rolling resistance. Since I'm now 62 and have a longish commute the rolling resistance is quite important to me.

A good tyre should certainly give you better life than that. I'm not sure how many miles I've done on my latest set of GP 4 Seasons as I moved them on to a new bike. However, I've done 1,750 miles on the new bike with zero punctures and I'm pretty sure they'd done about the same on the old bike, and they certainly look as if they've got as much again in them. A useful resource for both rolling resistance and puncture resistance on a wide range of popular tyres is: BicycleRollingResistance.com