Originally Posted by
adventurepdx
Everyone's experience is going to be different. I've ridden my Col de la Vies on plenty of rough surfaces with no worry. I haven't had instances of debris working their way into tread, but I suppose it could happen. It'll happen eventually with any tire. I used to run Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, which are indeed great tires, but towards the end I was getting lots of flats due to glass and things embedding themselves even in the thickest part of the tread.
The roads here are pretty bad when it comes to bicycles, or even motorcycles. They've been slowly getting rid of the oil and stone type paving but its still fairly common. Over the past 40 years they also have taken away the road shoulder area. Outside the white lines the road ends abruptly and you have a mix of old stone pavement or sand. Smaller roads are usually potholed and covered in sand and debris. I gave up on road bikes because it got to the point where every ride, even short rides around the neighborhood resulted in a flat regardless of the tire style.
I wish the Col de la Vie had a bit thicker tread or some sort of flat protection, or maybe if it were designed to run a higher pressure.
The K184 has been a good cheaper option. Although its not super wide, it keeps the rim further off the road. The fairly hard compound makes it wear well, resist flats, and the higher 65 psi pressure prevents pinch flats.
Its a 'safe' tire rim wise for most bikes, but lately its not always been cheaper. I've been able to find blackwall Michelin tires cheaper than any of the Kenda tires when they're available, even with overseas shipping. The problem is they're not always available in large enough quantities to get them cheap enough.
I generally also strongly prefer a black tire, I'm not a fan of a white, gum, or tan sidewall.