noglider 

The Conti GP tires don't have much puncture resistance, and I like them like that, because they sure do ride great. It's rather unbelievable, in fact. I have the GP4000S-II in 28mm on my McLean which I think is the widest tire it will take.

davei1980

Are you rolling latex inner tubes? I had them in the set of tubulars I had for a while.....

squirtdad

FWIW

I have GP5000 28mm with cont race lite tubes for my commute and other riding (mostly commute ) and have 0 flats at 500 miles but is great when i had like 7 flats on 650 miles on Corsa Gs

I have no experience with tubeless, other than reading the all the issues people have in the mechanics forum which suggests if you go that way got tubeless specific rims and match the tires to the rim. everything I read (and manufacturer specs) show they are heavier and have stiffer sidewalls, If you are a belt and suspender guy like me you would still need to carry a tube is sealant does not work and hope to reseat the tire.

surak

I had the same problem with the Corsas, beautiful tires but lasted 250 miles before my first flat. Took them off after finding out that they were notoriously weak.

I have 3 tubeless ready wheelsets factory-taped and other than initially seating the tire beads, not concerned with the rest of the mechanical work such as fixing a flat on the road, as I carry a bead jack with me anyway. I hear that sealant is messy but cleanable. Plus a lot of early road tubeless nightmare stories seem to be from people using sealant that wasn't designed for road pressure, but the newer stuff like Orange has a good rep, and I plan to run 65 psi or less.

I know from experience that there's a sweet spot of lower pressure that feels immensely more comfortable than even 10 psi higher, but I've had my share of pinch flats so always run my tubed tires at higher psi than I'd like.

ups

Great thread. Just started commuting the last couple of weeks.

Have been riding Gatorskin Hardshell 32's on a steel framed "gravelish" bike. Being Spring I notice the road chatter from broken road surface. The hard shells are noticeably less compliant than my regular 27" Gatorskins in 32mm (27x1 1/4).

This morning took my Novara Safari touring bike with 2.0" Schwalbe Big Apples. Definitely heavier wheels and tires, but better gearing on steep hills. My time was the same, but I feel much less fatigued arriving on the large tires.

On the ride today I started thinking about Schwalbe Marathon Supremes for the first bike.

ascherer 

I sure hope so!

Darth Lefty 

Postulated: ^^^ that guy deserved it for all of his affectations

noglider 

No. I feel like I might want to try them, but I notice that people who try them don't keep them because they get lots of punctures. I don't lean towards puncture resistance, but I do have limits.

RubeRad

If you're ok with the feel and protection of latex, you should try lambskin

Phil_gretz

^hipster. Nice TRP brake levers, though.

RubeRad

so judging by the spray pattern (let's get all CSI on this photo), he was standing in that position when the tire assploded. Who was pumping it? And is that the pump there behind the bike, that stainless steel thing?

Also is that a Jones fork?

ascherer 

Poll: Is Jan Heine a hipster?

Phil_gretz

That's Jan Heine? [slinks away shamefully...] Still nice levers.

davei1980

I don't think so but could be wrong, it's a truss design but doesn't look like Jeff Jones's version. The Jones model I is bigger (more pronounced curvature) and they also have "unique" hub spacing of 150 or 135mm depending on the year, so not all that common to see them on bikes with the rim/tire width pictured.

ascherer 

I don't know it as a fact but it looks mighty like the man. It's the image that comes to mind whenever the conversation veers towards tubeless.

noobinsf 

I recall that bike from the 2016 Technical Trials article in BQ -- it's the winner, the PechTregon. I don't know if that's a Jones fork or a similar design, but that's the bike, and that's Heine.

tFUnK

Fewer punctures with latex, but trickier to mount and if there's a hole in the tire the tube can creep out and puncture. Also, need to pump up before every ride so I don't use latex for commuting.

noglider 

tFUnK harder to mount how?

wphamilton

I have 28's all around, faster than the narrow 19-23 tires that I used to prefer. But mainly because they're higher quality tires. 32's when I had them were heavy, stiff slow-rolling tires unless you were willing to spend a lot on top quality tires. Maybe not so much now (I couldn't say) but it's a real downside.

wolfchild

There are no downsides to bigger tires, only advantages...Larger tires are safer, more comfortable and provide better handling over rough roads....I have 3 different bikes and I use 700x32mm, 700x45mm and 26x2.35 inch tires. I don't even worry about rough pavement, riding over curbs, pot holes and cracks in the pavement, just roll through with no problems.

SethAZ 

I've got around 1300 miles or so on a pair of Compass Stampede Pass tires, and they've still got plenty of life left in them. I got the ultralight variant, and they feel amazing compared to the various 28mm tires I used to ride (Continental GP4K and others). I've had two pinch flats due to experimenting with too-low air pressure for my weight combined with riding an exceedingly bad road with lots of large cracks. No other flats due to punctures, and no pinch flats if I ride my usual pressure (90 psi rear, 85psi front) even at full speed over very bad road.

I should note that Compass has changed their name to Rene Herse, so that's how you'd find them nowadays. Same model names for the tire, just Rene Herse Stampede Pass instead of Compass.

I'm thinking of picking up a pair of Bon Jon Pass tires (35mm vs. 32mm) from them and giving them a try. I liked the upgrade from 28mm GP4K tires to these 32mm Stampede Pass tires so much that trying the 35mm is my next logical choice, just to see if these are even better or whether the goodness peaked at 32mm.

What I noticed the most going with these 32mm tires was the ability to ride at full speed over a couple of very poor roads in my vicinity than I could with narrower tires. I used to have to slow down on a couple certain stretches of road, while now I can ride essentially at full speed over them. There's a noticeable dampening of the vibration and jarring. Comparing my Strava times from before the switch to after the switch I don't think I lost any speed at all; if anything I may have gotten slightly faster on these tires. The ultralight model of this tire gives a really plush ride.

SethAZ 

The Compass/Rene Herse tires (they changed their name recently) that I've been riding for the last 1300ish miles are the exact opposite of the heavy, stiff-rolling tires you experienced. The Compass Stampede Pass ultralight was a decided step up on my bike from Conti GP4K 28mm or 25mm tires. Not cheap, but they've worn well so far.

wphamilton

Nice. I used to have the Performance brand and Nashbar 32's which were durable and puncture resistant (and inexpensive), but slow after I became aware of better tires. Most of the 32's were like that. My takeaway there is look specifically for the easy-rolling 32 if that's what you want, because there's no generalizing it.

surak

Love reading everyone's experiences with wider tires. I've got a pair of 32mm GP5k TLs coming Wednesday. We'll see if I can get them seated and sealed with the gear I have, and how they ride if Seattle or Washington don't go into lockdown and ban non-essential travel by then. 😷

davei1980

Stay safe over there in W WA, from those of us here in E WA