Trackr

I care first and foremost about speed, but will be riding on regular road. What do you guys recommend?

memebag

4000 s ii.

Wileyrat

This

Maelochs

The Ultrasports are a very good cheaper tire though. I am a fan. Just bought a set for $15 each for 700x28s. 180 tpi, and pretty light.

Doctor Morbius

Ultrasports are on sale at Ribble ...

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/conti...tyre/#pid=9001

Zafirros too ...

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/vitto...yre/#pid=23315

Hard to go wrong at these prices.

Trackr

So, the Ultra Sport IIs are $30 in my country.

The 4000 S IIs are $55 each, and the Grand Prix TT are $65.

You guys still think I should go for the 4000 S II? How much faster are the TTs and how much more likely are they to puncture?

dim

if you want fast, get Specialized Turbo Cotton .... the best tyres that I have used

Esthetic

Specialized Turbo Cottons are the fastest folding clinchers.

For more all around, race grade tires (durability, puncture protection) the GP 4000SII's, Vittoria Corsa G+, and Schwalbe One V-Guards are in the same playing field to one another as far as speed. Mate them to latex tubes to extract the best rolling resistance.

The best road feel tire of the three is the Vittoria Corsa G+, known for its suppleness, comfort and grip.

Ultra Sports are a solid , low cost tire that has better rolling resistance than tires costing more.

memebag

I buy the 4000 S IIs for $35 online. I look for sales and buy them before I need them.

But even if they were $50 more per pair, so what? I spend more than that going to the movies each week. Life is too short to ride on cheap tires.

dim

a bit more about the Specialized Turbo Cotton (use them with latex tubes):

mstateglfr 

Damn- thats a lot to spend on movies each week. Not everyone has such disposable income, and even those who do would struggle to find enough movies worth watching to see one each week.

Totally off topic, i know.

Agreed though- 4000SII. They are $50 more total than the Ultra Sport II tires, but i view it as $50 over the span of a couple thousand miles and however long it takes to reach that distance(or whatever distance the tires happen to last) is a small difference in cost.

memebag

Still off topic:

Last week I went to four movies. "Thor: Ragnarok", "Blade of the Immortal", "Horror Express" and "This is Spinal Tap". My theater (Alamo Drafthouse) has good beer and food, so I eat and drink there. I brought my family to two of those.

I struggle to find time to see all of the movies I want to see. Last week I missed "Sweet Smell of Success" and "Gilbert" because I didn't have time to see them.

Next week they're showing "Devil's Backbone" and my wife wants to see "Justice League".

surak

Continued Offtopic: I heard MoviePass was pretty good. Have you checked it out? $9.95 monthly subscription (for how long, who knows, it's been a promotional price) to watch one movie a day.

Maelochs

Does anybody here think the OP will be significantly faster because he buys more expensive tires?

he could probably gain as much speed by sanding all the paint off his bike.

memebag

No. Alamo has assigned seating and I pre-book all my films so I get to sit where I want. You can't do that with MoviePass.

I don't. But he asked which ones I recommend, and I really like the 4000 S IIs. So I recommended those.

SethAZ 

I guess it depends what he's coming from. If he switches to Grand Prix 4000s from Gatorskins he would probably be able to measure a speed difference for the same level of effort. It wouldn't be huge, but it would be measurable, and certainly would be noticed in addition to the much-improved road feel.

I've liked the Grand Prix 4000s as well, and have ridden them almost exclusively after having ridden Gatorskins a lot for the last few thousand miles. I just started with a pair of 32mm Compass Stampede Pass tires on my new bike, and so far I'm loving them. Haven't ridden far enough yet to know how they compare in longevity or flat resistance.

Maelochs

Well ... once again we have demonstrated that we all have different ideas and different priorities.

I like the Ultrasports because they are supple, rol well, and don't cost much.

On my "best" bike, I have Vittoria Open Corsa EVO-CX "Open Tubular" tires (never could figure out what that meant.) 290 TPI and I can run them pretty hard and they still feel great .... but I flat-spotted one in a near-death panic stop and since they cost about as much as the GP4K ... ouch.

I still like and freely recommend the Ultrasports, because at a third the price they are three-quarters of the tire as the Vittorias (IMO.)

I have never tried the GP4K---because I loaded up on the Vittorias when i found a crazy sale and have a closet full of them still. Some day i will run low, and then it depends what's "The best" on the market and what i can stumble across at ridiculous sale prices.

SethAZ 

I'm actually feeling a little wierd these days since, having tried the 32mm Compass tires on my new bike, I'm not sure I'll ever ride anything smaller than that again, and may actually try their 35mm tubeless version next go around. When we start getting 32 or 35mm versions of all of these good road tires then it'll be interesting to me again. For now I almost couldn't care less which 25mm or even 28mm popular road tire is the best.

Seattle Forrest

They don't flat. And they don't wear out. I have 6,000 miles on two pairs, they're invincible. Mine have been on every kind of gravel. I think you could roll over a bed of nails on them and not have any problems.

DynoD500_SR20-d

I have used Ultra Sports for about 1000 miles before the rear wore out then I put the front on the back and put the new one on the front. I run some thin tire liners I got for 10 bucks from my local bike shop on my rear tire. I rode another 300 miles no problems. I flatted my front on glass so I bought some GP 4000's. Damn it I was disappointed. At first ride after mounting they felt slower than my Ultra Sport II. After a few rides and the NYC 5 borough tour it felt better. (as if it broke in). Then this weekend. I am wiping the bike down and I find a bubble on the side of the rear tire. I ignored it and continued to wipe the bike down. Put it in the room when after about 10 minutes I hear this loud BANG! The sidewall blew out. WTF? I am so disappointed with the GP4000 II. I called Ribble and showed them photos of the tire and they told me it cannot be warrantied. I kept the front tire on but swapped my rear back to a UltraSport II with tire liner for protection.

canklecat

The Conti Ultra Sport 2 is a good tire for the money. Feels pretty much the same as my favorite, the Schwalbe One V-Guard. Despite lacking a puncture shield I haven't found the US2 to be anymore prone to punctures. Tread seems durable but grippy. No real complaints.

The Ultra Sport 2 was a bear to mount the first time but got easier the second. I'm guessing just enough material was scraped by the plastic tire lever and horsing the bead over the rim to ease the process. It still demands more effort to mount/remove than the Schwalbe One.

bluehills3149

I'm with DynoD500 on the Conti 4000's. Perhaps it's a New York thing as the roads here are strewn with crud & glass but mine were ripped to shreds in 6 months. Sidewalls had numerous gashes I had to patch and there were hundreds of tiny holes and gashes on the tread from glass which other tires easily deflect.
They are easily the shortest lived tire I've had and I used to commute daily in all weather so I'd go through a few tires.

Seattle Forrest

I think we need a poll thread to really be sure. But personally I'd go for the one that doesn't void my warranty.

himespau 

I've got the GP4k on my wheels now. I'm going to try the Veloflex Masters next. I hear that they don't last anywhere near as long but are among the nicest riding skinwall tires (I don't know why, but I really wanted skinwall). Helps that I got them on a super sale at aboue $20 per.

RockiesDad

x2. A value oriented tire for sure...