ScrawnyKayaker

I'm looking for new 700c tires in the 37 to 42 mm range for road use. The most important feature would be sticky rubber for wet traction in cool weather (Pacific Northwest). I don't care if they wear faster due to a softer compound or if they're a bit more expensive. Folding or wire bead is OK. Suggestions?

Mulberry20

The only road tires that wide I can think of are Panaracer Gravel Kings. Call the BikeTiresDirect and ask the guys. They are based in Oregon. They are very helpful on the phone.

Ross520

As another mentioned, there's not really anything truly fast and sticky in those size ranges.

I would look at 32s, specifically the Continental GP5000 TL. Supple and large enough to give you a comfortable ride, while still being one of the fastest tires on the market.
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mstateglfr 

Compass / Rene Herse Barlow Pass 38mm
https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...8-barlow-pass/

Schwalbe G One Speed 38mm
https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/G-ONE_Speed


Both come in a few different versions. The lightest ones will have the least rolling resistance. Both consistently get great reviews for traction.

ScrawnyKayaker

Continental Contact Plus is one tire I'm looking at. Probably a bit more tread than is really needed. Do you not consider those "road tires?"

ScrawnyKayaker

Interesting, since those are local. Do they really make them in the PNW?

mstateglfr 

No.
Panaracer makes them on contract. They are different from Panaracer's offerings.

mstateglfr 

Wow that is a heavy tire.
That isnt something i would ever consider for road use...its overkill for me.
...but we all ride differently.

delbiker1 

I have the Contact Plus tires, 35mm, on my errands/gravel type bike Schwinn Super DBX I have ridden them on the road, gravel and easy forest trails. They are really nice tires and handle wet roads very well. I did get a puncture in both tires a couple of weeks ago, slivers of metal wiring. I am not sure how many miles I have on them now, but they are holding up very well.

SethAZ 

They're made in Japan on contract. They used to be called Compass tires but sold by Rene Herse, now they're named just Rene Herse. I've just about worn out the rear tire of my first set of these, and I'm a huge fan. I've been riding the 32mm wide versions in the extralight casing option, and I'm a huge fan. I had a nail drive through my rear tire this last week (nothing would have resisted it) and while pulling the nail and swapping the tube I noticed the central area of the tire was getting pretty thin after around 3000 miles, so I ordered a 35mm Rene Herse extralight casing (the Bon Jon Pass model) to replace it. The front still has more miles in it so that's not being replaced yet. This 35mm Bon Jon Pass tire is out for delivery as we speak, so I'll know later today whether it offers a discernible ride feel upgrade over the 32mm. I'm not expecting a huge improvement, as I'll probably only drop my pressure by 5 psi over the 32mm, but I'm hoping it's at least noticeable.

smashndash

Not quite in the 37-42mm range, sadly but:

The Pirelli Cinturato is available in 35mm. It measures true to size on VERY wide rims, unfortunately for you. Quite a sticky compound from what I’ve heard (the P Zeros I had were fantastic) and also one of the most durable tires on the market. TLR.

The 36mm Challenge Strada Biancha might be worth looking into. They have a cotton version and a vulcanized (nylon?) version. I’ve heard bad things about their TLR tires so if you really want to go with them, I’d stick to tubes. They seem to have quality problems in general, though

ScrawnyKayaker

These would be for my wife's Orbea E40 ebike, so the motor will help spin up the extra tire weight. It has 50 mm Kendas on it now. They have no model name on them, but there is a number 1172, which looks like a Kenda part number but their website won't admit this tire exists and a brief search didn't turn up a match anywhere else. I haven't taken one off to weigh it yet.

The real reason for shopping for new tires now is that the stem on the bike is just BARELY too tall to fit in her bike locker at work. If we can just get the height of the tire down a few mm, all will be well. (It uses a weird stem and the guys at the shop that sold it claim there aren't a lot of options, but if the tires don't solve the problem, we'll explore that next.)

smashndash

OK if we’re talking commuting, that disqualifies the Rene Herse tires (unless you go for the Endurance casing, which are $85 apiece) and to a lesser extent, the Challenge Strada Bianca and Gravelking. There is the Gravelking Plus if you want something a bit more reliable (700c x38).

IMO the 700x35c Pirelli Cinturato is your best bet. It’s the most reinforced tire of all the ones we’ve mentioned so far, afaik.

Pratt

Bruce Gordon tires are, I think, still available. As I understand it, he designed them, and Panaracer makes them. Someone is continuing that part of his business

ScrawnyKayaker

When I looked at their website, I was definitely thinking "endurance casing."

Thanks to all for helpful replies, BTW!

Cyclist0108

I recently bought yet more Compass/Rene Herse tires. (I've been using 38mm Barlow Pass and Steilacooms on my main on/off road bike for the last couple of years, and will never look back.) The new ones are 55mm Antelope Hill (endurance ultra-light), which is the widest they make. We've had them on my touring bike, and right now my kid has them on his cross-country mountain bike, just to see what it would be like (they don't explicitly design mountain bike tires). On road, the really wide tires are remarkably good, and don't appear to slow him or me down relative to my 38mm Barlow Pass or even my 28mm GP4000II. Off-road, they seem to handle everything but mud and very loose deep gravel on a sharp incline well.

So, I am another Compass/Rene Herse fan. Get the widest you can cram into your frame and fork.

ScrawnyKayaker

This is all making me want to put wider tires on my retro-direct. The chain tends to drop off one or both freewheels when I hit a bump. I have 25 mm tires on it now. Going up to around 40 mm and lower pressure might help quite a bit.

ScrawnyKayaker

Anyone ever tried mismatching the tire width front and rear? On my retro-direct, I could see putting a 32 or 35 mm on the front and a size or two bigger on the back for floating over the bumps that overwhelm the chain-tensioner spring. If I'm thinking about it right, that would tilt the frame forward slightly, steepening the head angle and reducing the trail a bit, so the steering would become quicker. That frame has pretty slow geometry (it's a Bridgestone 550 bought around 1988) so a slightly faster-handling setup wouldn't be a big problem.

Bill in VA

Wonderful tires. I am a big Rene Herse/Compass fan. I started with the Chinook Pass 28s (standard 248g) and moved to the Stampede Pass 32s (standard 291g), which I am now using. I really want to try the 35mm Bon Jon Pass with the Endurance casing 355g, even though the UL casing at 303g is very close to my 32s But given the tread wear so far, that may take a while.

Back to the OP about damp and cooler. I found the old Continental GP4000Sii to be great on cool damp fall roads, but the largest was 28mm. I have heard very good things about the GP5000, which now adds 32mm. My Compass 32mm tires are also good, but I have never done a back to back. I admit part of my affinity to the Rene Herse is the tan sidewall availability.

79pmooney

No help to the OP but I rode Vittoria cyclo cross clinchers on snow says for a few winters years ago that were a little narrower than he is asking but sticky! I used to joke that on dry pavement, I expected to get a chunk of pavement stuck in my fender. And no joke, on dry pavement, I used to seek out leaves, sand, gravel, - anything to lower the rolling resistance.

Found that pair on a sale bin. Green thread and long rubber "hairs". Rolling resistance got a little better as the hairs wore down but they remained sticky throughout their life..

A modern day sticky tire is the Continental ice tire, It has fine thread and is a little faster but very good on slippery surfaces. No studs so they don't "lock" into ice but grip is very good for just friction (unless there is dry snow over the ice - grip is useless there). Those tires run a narrow 38. I haven't measured but 38c Paselas are much bigger.

Ben

SethAZ 

I got my first ride in today, a fairly sort one in the evening, with the ultralight casing Bon Jon Pass on the rear of my bike. I'd been riding the Stampede Pass rear tire at 90psi, and pumped the Bon Jon Pass tire up to 85psi. The difference in pressure wasn't huge, but the difference in ride quality was very noticeable. It was plush. I rode out onto this .8 mile stretch of road that has huge cracks and is in places very fractured and worn. The improvement even over the excellent Stampede Pass 32mms on that road surface was astounding. The tire may be only 3mm wider or so (haven't measured it inflated yet, so I'm assuming it's 3mm wider) but it's also probably 3mm taller too, and it certainly looks large back there. Don't care: it's that awesome. Gonna go out on a very long ride tomorrow and am really looking forward to getting more miles on that plush tire. I can't measure how much "squish" I get when I'm on the bike, but just looking at how much tan sidewall I see squishing out around the rim when I'm riding it looks like I'm seeing less sidewall with this 35mm at 85psi than I saw with the Stampede Pass at 90. I may try 80psi and see how that feels. I'm a really heavy cyclist so I do need higher pressures than skinnier folks who might be able to ride this tire even down into the 60s or 70s.

SethAZ 

I rode for a long time on my old bike with 25mm front and 28mm rear Conti GP4KII tires. The fork wouldn't take a 28mm without rubbing, so 25mm was the largest I could go there. It was fine, zero issues. On my new bike I've been riding the 32mm Compass tires until today, when I took it out with the same 32mm front tire (not as worn as the rear was) and a new 35mm Rene Herse tire. I wasn't expecting any issues, and didn't notice any. I can't think of any reason why there would be a problem, and I've certainly never noticed one. If you think it would help your chain issue I wouldn't hesitate to try it. Btw, I'd never heard of a retro-direct until your earlier post, and I had to look it up and watch a video on it. It kind of blows my mind to be honest!

BobbyG

The Continental Top Contact II Reflex studless winter tire seem to have fans. It appears to have a compound made to stay soft in the cold, and lots of grippy siping without chunky tread.

I have no experience with them, but I am interest in this since I ride year-round. I use a dedicated snow bike with studded Suomi Nokians that stay soft and grippy in the cold, but have high-ish rolling resistance on pavement due to chunky tread (which is great in snow).

It's pretty dry here in Colorado Springs, but on those cold days when the roads are wet, it would be nice to have a smooth tire with grip.