bvhara

I'm commuting on a Kona Rove 2017, 50km round trip on mixed quality pavement and road, some sections of heavy industry, but would like a wider, more comfy tyre than the 700x32 Gatorkskins I'm currently using. I replaced the OEM gravel tyres with Conti speed contact 700 x 36 soon after buying the bike. They gave a really great ride - perfect balance for me of speed and comfort - but after a while, repeated punctures made me switch to the Gatorskins and I've had no punctures since two years. Now that I'm switching to a flat bar set up (Velo Orange Crazy bars) I thought I'd look around for a wider punture proof tyre that offers the same balance of speed and comfort as the speed contacts. LBS suggested Schwalbe Marathons 700x38, which look great but are 3x heavier than the gatorskins. Will that make much of a difference to the feel of the bike, how it rides and it's speed? (I'm no racer, but I'm already pushing to keep up with my commuter buddy who rides Audax and wouldn't want to slow him down.) Anyone with experience of these tyres? I'd appreciate any suggestions, including for other tyres that might fit my needs. Thanks.

Ps, Maybe the speed contacts just wore out or I just got unlucky with a string of punctures (3 in 3 weeks). I'd consider going back to them but they're out of stock atm.

pdlamb

How long had you had the Contacts before they started flatting? Three flats in three weeks sounds like you either didn't get what was causing the flats out, or it was worn out. Frequent flatting, after all, is one of the signs of a worn tire.

jonathanf2

I'm a big fan of Panaracer GravelKing SS tires. They come in regular and plus tires which has slightly better puncture resistance at the cost of a few extra grams. They roll fast and provide excellent grip. They're my all-arounders for both road and light trails.

SlowJoeCrow

Panaracer Pasela or Gravel King come in wider sizes with reinforced tread and are reasonably priced. I have run Paselas as my road tires for several years now as well as occasional gravel and dirt use

squirtdad

I have pasela 27 1 1/4 on one bike, they seem a lot bigger and sure are not fast, actually feel sluggish, but it is on a city go get a beer bike so no problem

I have 28mm gravel kings and are so far really good balance of handlng, speed and puncture resistance

In general you do don't get fast, good ride and puncture resistance in one tire....it is a balance (but at risk of raising the ire of the flat gods, have gotten 1500 miles on conti gp5000 with no flats (with conti racelite tubes) but they max out at 32mm

darrellc

Pirelli Cinturato Velo 700x35

I hate the feel of Gatorskins and I cannot believe how sketchy they are on wet surfaces. I live in Seattle and had to pull them off last winter as they were dangerous on wet roads.

The pirelli is a good blend of puncture resistance and rolling resistance and I’ve been happy running mine tubeless around 55 psi or so at about 215-220 lbs rider+bike+stuff

thook

i picked up some continental ride tour "extra" in 700x42. they actually measure out to 37mm or so. i haven't had a chance to ride them, but i have ridden the same tire on a friend's bike (when they were labeled "tour ride" by the company). i really like them when i did and looking forward to these.
anyway, the ride tours are thick!! but, they don't ride heavy at all, which surprised me (on my friend's bike). very fast and smooth, and he never got a flat that i recall when we rode together. it was always me....lol

Leisesturm

This right here peeps. Surely it didn't need to be said. But I guess it did. How so many can expect a >32mm tire to be as fast (faster), more comfortable, and as light as something around 28mm ... ... I just don't understand. Key is the degree of flat proofing desired. You CANNOT find an ultra flameproof tire that is lighter than a 'speed' model tire. There is simply no 'free lunch'. We'd all be on that tire if so.

More often than not, the bike itself becomes the dealbreaker. Roves come stock with 36mm which these days seems kind of small but is a truly large section tire compared to back in the day. I doubt you could get anything bigger in there and have fenders. I'd want fenders. But that's me. We're all completely losing our minds about tire sizes these days. Bottom line, bigger tires are heavier and slower but more comfortable. One comfort secret many overlook is tire pressure. Chances are good a tire in 36mm could be run right down to 50 or 60psi! You'd lose some speed (no free lunch) but the ride would be much better. In a LOT of the current urge to scrap OEM wheels and/or tires, a lot of money and time could be saved by simply lowering the usual pressure in the tires by 20psi vs buying all new wheels/tires and/or foregoing fenders.

Leisesturm

Personally, I don't expect ANY tire to have outstanding traction (security) in wet weather. I've never used Gatorskins but I know I could. Only thing I ask from a tire is that I don't get flats more than once or twice a year. Bontrager Hardcase tires do that for me. I have no idea how 'sketchy' or not they might be compared to other tires I have used because, seriously, they all seem to behave about the same. I don't go down any more in the rain than at any other time because regardless of what brand of tire I am using I ride like an arthritic septuagenarian with diagnosed osteoporosis when it's wet out.

thook

i had some WTB pathway tires in 700x40c years ago. those tires had great traction in the rain. not only because of the rubber compound, i presume, but the close chevron pattern really cut through the wet gripping the pavement. they were pretty darn slow, though

LeeG

My commuting tires in 700c were 35 mm Panaracer T-Serv in the front and 35 mm Schwalbe Marathon Supreme on the rear. Mabe one flat in two years daily commuting ten miles a day through rain and sleet. There are heavier and more durable tires but these had the best combo at the time for me. No reason to have the same tire front and rear. I have Panaracer Gravelkings SK for a mountain bike and second the suggestion to look at the SS version.

Reread the op, I haven’t ridden the standard Marathon in 14 yrs but I’d pick other tires and different combos front and rear than that tire if ride quality matters as much as durability.

I had the precursor to the Speed Contact and although it rode nicely and had areasonably thick tread The Panaracer T-Serv was consistently more puncture resistant over time than the Continental slick.

SquishyBiker

I've been eyeing up some Maxxis Re-Fuse tires in 700x40.
You could also try the recently released Conti Urban TaraxaGum 700x35

SoSmellyAir

I have the grippier Grand Prix Urban tires (which only comes in 700c x 35 mm) on my Trek FX 2, which is my ride casually with my son or go get coffee bike.

Grand Prix Urban (continental-tires.com)

They are superior in every way to the Bontrager H2 they replace, but I have too little mileage to comment on puncture resistance. However, they do not have the Duraskin layer that the Gatorskins have.

canopus 

I am not found of gatorskins myself. For flat resistance and pretty good grip when I was in the rain I like the Panaracer RibMo's (i think 700x35 is the largest). I am moving back towards comfort so I am going to try some Soma's Supple Vitesse EX's and Rene Hearse's.
For flats, you need to make sure you don't ride over glass. If you use tubes, use tire talc in the tire and on the tube. Or go tubeless.

zandoval 

I switched out to Continental Ride Tour tires years ago, 27 1-14 on 19mm rims. I did so because I was getting flats and although I preferred Pasella's, I was not getting much millage out of them. The Contentment Ride Tour was a heavier tire with a stiff center bead and some beef on the edges for light gravel grip. I though they were going to be slow tires but I was surprised how little they effected my speed. They definitely effected my confidence and proprioception in a positive way for ridding. I won't put the MoJo on by telling you how effective they were against flats (especially that dreaded Texas Goat Sticker).

Another good tire I am trying out is the Kenda K184 1-3/8 again on 27 1-1/4 19mm rims.I have been very satisfied with them so far but have only used them on light gravel, and torn up asphalt for the past few months.

bvhara

Thanks heaps for all the posts/ tyre recommendations and thougths and advice re my query. I didn't see the last few til now as I've been away researching and purchasing, so apologies for not considered these recommendations. Next time.

Because there's only 2km of my ride on gravel (and that's slow speed due to it being shared by walkers and I kind of enjoy the feeling of sliding around on it, sharpening my handling skills) I don't need gravel tyres so I only considered the road/ commuter tyres. I aimed to find a sweet spot between comfort, low rolling resistance and puncture resistance, which is I guess a compromise we all weigh to suit our personal preferences.

80% of my ride is on pavement, but the sections that pass through industry are poorly maintained - 5 cms lips in the concrete or bitumen, due to tree roots, etc are common, as is industrial debris. Then there's the oversized gutters to negotiate (+30cm; the cyclepath designers don't seem to have considered that cyclists might need to transition from one section to another.) I prefer to hop up them rather than dismount, but with the 32c gatorskins, running at 30-60 psi (I pump them up once a month I'm constantly worried about getting a pinch flat or damaging the rim if I miss time it. So far so good. I've only ever broken spokes, but that was launching off one of the gutters with insufficient speed to clear a pothole! I figure fatter tyres are going to give me a bit more comfort and tolerance for this kind of bruising riding.

So I justified buying the bargain priced 38c Schalbe Marathons as a rock solid tyre... for my partner who's just started commuting on an old Apollo cross bike. I found the bike curbside during a council clean-up, never riden, original condition, including perishing gum wall tyres, so the Marathons will be a excellent upgrade for her 20km round trips. It remains to be seen how the rusty spoked wheels will hold up.

I wanted something a little more nimble for myself so ended up purchasing the Panaracer Pasella ProTite 700x38 and the Pirelli Cinturato VELO TLR Road Tyre, 700x35 (nice to have spares to compare) based on your recommendations, online reviews and availabiltity. I probably would've bought the Continental Contact Speed 700 x 42, as I'd previously used and liked this tyre in a 36c, but it was out of stock (as were many other tyres I looked at; some, too, were outrageously priced, eg Continental Contact Plus Reflex 700 x 42, $136!). I mentioned that in the end I got too many flats on the Contact Speeds and I'm still not sure if I wore them out or I just got unlucky (I had them on for more than a year) but I'd be willing to give them another go.

Re the bike: There's heaps of room to fit a 42c on the front but I'm not sure about the rear. The 38c Pasella should give me a better indication of how fat I can go there. I never use mudguards and enjoy getting wet!. Fortunately, there're showers at work. Kona designed the model after mine with much wider chainstays to accomodatet the trend for fatter tyres.

Thanks again everyone. I'll update with a review once I put a few kilometers on the new tyres.

Ps, I've radically changed the bike by coverting it to a flat bar with Velo Orange Crazy bars, It rides completely differently now (more like a penny farthing, as I wrote in my review in another thread) but I'll be on the gatorskins for at least another week so I should be able to do some kind of comparison with the new tyres.

bvhara

Fyi, these are the tyres I researched, with links to prices and online reviews (AU$):

Pirelli Cinturato VELO TLR Road Tyre, 700x35

[img]data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAFCSURBVDhPnZNRTsMwDIbtthJ7Gx XjmXECxibedwN2A8oN9hoJCU1C9BrrDcYN4BkV6A32DlPHG0htgx2yqEm7afBJUX4ntePELuziIx5GPLTZiqfnbUQgcap1K6jnBv ndxaDyq1fWXumdhzfPb2rDYWsG5GxOrmsXfI9HY60tUMICEbqspYRPiTBRGw64ikdzmq9+zT+TqDf4Z5DkSKSRegMWvMB6H+hKmf dVqHexqrBPJuzsfxfjcJat2W6UcXU/XADipTYtXGemWUZEs9kA5bruzFgZ5Ldnh+VBsNyUrw0PitNQZEtt2hmUHX/iOnMPaKmoZGA1lRWAmsc0iwT5xKf5WAwoyoNepnX6P2qYK3D6VSfI1Ykopz3xwhUxcMfSx3MaJxT8erNvMuD0aUrolfuuM3Ms0se eSPskZwio2x/gBxXHd1j10YF/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC[/img] Wiggle $89 bought 12/11/2021

Reviews: Roadcc 8/10, Rolling Resistance 5/5



Schwalbe Marathon HS 420 700x38c Green Guard Road Tyre

[img]data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAFCSURBVDhPnZNRTsMwDIbtthJ7Gx XjmXECxibedwN2A8oN9hoJCU1C9BrrDcYN4BkV6A32DlPHG0htgx2yqEm7afBJUX4ntePELuziIx5GPLTZiqfnbUQgcap1K6jnBv ndxaDyq1fWXumdhzfPb2rDYWsG5GxOrmsXfI9HY60tUMICEbqspYRPiTBRGw64ikdzmq9+zT+TqDf4Z5DkSKSRegMWvMB6H+hKmf dVqHexqrBPJuzsfxfjcJat2W6UcXU/XADipTYtXGemWUZEs9kA5bruzFgZ5Ldnh+VBsNyUrw0PitNQZEtt2hmUHX/iOnMPaKmoZGA1lRWAmsc0iwT5xKf5WAwoyoNepnX6P2qYK3D6VSfI1Ykopz3xwhUxcMfSx3MaJxT8erNvMuD0aUrolfuuM3Ms0se eSPskZwio2x/gBxXHd1j10YF/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC[/img] Pushy's $45 bought 12/11/2021

99 Bikes $54



Panaracer Pasela ProTite Kevlar, 700 x 38 gum wall

[img]data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAFCSURBVDhPnZNRTsMwDIbtthJ7Gx XjmXECxibedwN2A8oN9hoJCU1C9BrrDcYN4BkV6A32DlPHG0htgx2yqEm7afBJUX4ntePELuziIx5GPLTZiqfnbUQgcap1K6jnBv ndxaDyq1fWXumdhzfPb2rDYWsG5GxOrmsXfI9HY60tUMICEbqspYRPiTBRGw64ikdzmq9+zT+TqDf4Z5DkSKSRegMWvMB6H+hKmf dVqHexqrBPJuzsfxfjcJat2W6UcXU/XADipTYtXGemWUZEs9kA5bruzFgZ5Ldnh+VBsNyUrw0PitNQZEtt2hmUHX/iOnMPaKmoZGA1lRWAmsc0iwT5xKf5WAwoyoNepnX6P2qYK3D6VSfI1Ykopz3xwhUxcMfSx3MaJxT8erNvMuD0aUrolfuuM3Ms0se eSPskZwio2x/gBxXHd1j10YF/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC[/img] ProBikeKit bought $50 12/11/2021

Wiggle $54 out of stock;

Commuter Cycles $80

Epic Cycles $80

Review - very supple but thread thickness and gum wall strenth are an issue



Continental Contact Speed Tyre 700 x 42

[img]data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAFCSURBVDhPnZNRTsMwDIbtthJ7Gx XjmXECxibedwN2A8oN9hoJCU1C9BrrDcYN4BkV6A32DlPHG0htgx2yqEm7afBJUX4ntePELuziIx5GPLTZiqfnbUQgcap1K6jnBv ndxaDyq1fWXumdhzfPb2rDYWsG5GxOrmsXfI9HY60tUMICEbqspYRPiTBRGw64ikdzmq9+zT+TqDf4Z5DkSKSRegMWvMB6H+hKmf dVqHexqrBPJuzsfxfjcJat2W6UcXU/XADipTYtXGemWUZEs9kA5bruzFgZ5Ldnh+VBsNyUrw0PitNQZEtt2hmUHX/iOnMPaKmoZGA1lRWAmsc0iwT5xKf5WAwoyoNepnX6P2qYK3D6VSfI1Ykopz3xwhUxcMfSx3MaJxT8erNvMuD0aUrolfuuM3Ms0se eSPskZwio2x/gBxXHd1j10YF/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC[/img] Amazon $84 Out of stock



Continental Sport Contact II

Reviews: Rolling resistance 4/5



Continental Contact Plus Reflex Tyre

[img]data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAFCSURBVDhPnZNRTsMwDIbtthJ7Gx XjmXECxibedwN2A8oN9hoJCU1C9BrrDcYN4BkV6A32DlPHG0htgx2yqEm7afBJUX4ntePELuziIx5GPLTZiqfnbUQgcap1K6jnBv ndxaDyq1fWXumdhzfPb2rDYWsG5GxOrmsXfI9HY60tUMICEbqspYRPiTBRGw64ikdzmq9+zT+TqDf4Z5DkSKSRegMWvMB6H+hKmf dVqHexqrBPJuzsfxfjcJat2W6UcXU/XADipTYtXGemWUZEs9kA5bruzFgZ5Ldnh+VBsNyUrw0PitNQZEtt2hmUHX/iOnMPaKmoZGA1lRWAmsc0iwT5xKf5WAwoyoNepnX6P2qYK3D6VSfI1Ykopz3xwhUxcMfSx3MaJxT8erNvMuD0aUrolfuuM3Ms0se eSPskZwio2x/gBxXHd1j10YF/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC[/img] 700 x 37

Amazon $50 + $20 delivery

700x35c

Pushys $55 Out of stock

[img]data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAFCSURBVDhPnZNRTsMwDIbtthJ7Gx XjmXECxibedwN2A8oN9hoJCU1C9BrrDcYN4BkV6A32DlPHG0htgx2yqEm7afBJUX4ntePELuziIx5GPLTZiqfnbUQgcap1K6jnBv ndxaDyq1fWXumdhzfPb2rDYWsG5GxOrmsXfI9HY60tUMICEbqspYRPiTBRGw64ikdzmq9+zT+TqDf4Z5DkSKSRegMWvMB6H+hKmf dVqHexqrBPJuzsfxfjcJat2W6UcXU/XADipTYtXGemWUZEs9kA5bruzFgZ5Ldnh+VBsNyUrw0PitNQZEtt2hmUHX/iOnMPaKmoZGA1lRWAmsc0iwT5xKf5WAwoyoNepnX6P2qYK3D6VSfI1Ykopz3xwhUxcMfSx3MaJxT8erNvMuD0aUrolfuuM3Ms0se eSPskZwio2x/gBxXHd1j10YF/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC[/img] 700 x 42

Wiggle $136!

Review: Road.cc 8/10



Continental Tour Ride 700 x 42

Amazon $59 (pair) + $95 delivery!

Reviews: Road.cc 7/10



Panaracer Gravelking Slick 700 x 38

Commuter Cycles $80-90



Panaracer Gravel King Colour Edition TLC Tyre 700 x 38

Wiggle $81



Panaracer Gravel King SS+ 700x38c Tyre Black

Pushys $115

bvhara

Apologies for the above post: didn't realise the forum would mangle the links.