ridinginjeans

Really love my Vittoria Corsa. Very good quality, easy to mount.

gofish44

Vittoria Corsa for pure comfort. Check out https://granfondo-cycling.com/the-best-road-bike-tire. I personally disagree with their characterization of the Continental GP5000's as hard, but that could be because they tested 25 mm at higher pressures than I would run them and because I landed on 28 mm or 32 mm tires as best suited for my particular applications. Shane Miller (GP Llama) long term review of the GP 5000's: although he focuses more on durability, rather than comfort.

Bad Lag

So, I re-read this thread and your collective responses to a similar question I posted a while back.

I have a few thoughts.

1. Inflation is very important in rider perception of a tire.
2. People recommend only what they have.
3. Few people have ridden multiple tires on the same bike/roads to compare.
4. Tire prices vary over a HUGE range (10:1).

Lastly, and NOT leastly,...

5. You pays your money and takes your choices.

Buy the best you can afford and see if you like them. I don't think there are any dangerous tires on the market.

I wonder if a better way to get info is to the question in the negative - are there any tires to stay away from and why; why wouldn't I chose XYZ tire over the ABC tire?

In my case, I am very happy with my Challenge Paris-Roubaix's, so why would I not buy replacements?

What do you think?

Bad Lag

Did OP ever define his budget?

ridinginjeans

it’s certainly true that tire pressure makes a big difference. To this day most people tend to overinflate. I’ve been doing 60 psi with my 28s and am toying with the idea of going lower.

i have Vittoria Corsas.

BFisher

Kenda K40, K35, etc. They totally suck. Sorry, they just do. I'd go with any budget offering from Schwalbe, Michelin, Panaracer, Continental, etc. before those every time.

Bad Lag

Yes, however, when you quote an inflation pressure you have to also give us your weight (rider+bike) and your road type & conditions or it is meaningless. If I rode 60 psi in my 28 mm rear tire, I would flat out in the first mile.

A quantitative characteristic of the tire is its weight. It's true, IMO, lighter tires have totally different feel to them than heavier tires. You can look at a tire's weight as one important characteristic.

I think thread count is also important in terms of how a tire feels. Higher counts are better - more supple, lighter.


This is why it is so difficult to get good info on "the best" tire.

ridinginjeans

Okay, I weigh 165. 170 if I’ve been eating too much pizza. When I raced cyclocross, i ran 28/26 in my Vittoria tires. Never got a flat.

Bad Lag

Sorry about having to divulge personal info but it is important to set context. I'm probably 210-220 + bike, so probably ~250 lb with water and tools aboard. I should go weigh myself.

I ride on old, relatively smooth blacktop roads and concrete bikeways - no pot holes, no loose gravel. When I rode on old, high desert blacktop covered in a lot of loose gravel from the decomposing ashpalt, the road ended up destroying a tire - a case rupture from the gravel. So, the road conditions are also important.

clubman 

Guess I'm old.. Every 28 mm tires is supple if you remember riding fast clinchers in the late 80's and 90's. 23 mm was normal for most but I rode many 18 - 20's at high pressures on Open 4CDs. Was over 220 lbs as well.
Not many flats and it was fast fun.

retroshifter

I really liked the Clement Strada 120 tpi 28 mm. Supple, easy to mount, light, and was very puncture resistant for me (150 lbs) on my commute bike. Measures a full 28mm on my rims. Around $35 each.

easyupbug 

Reading through this I conclude and agree that almost every 28 from major companies are smooth and don't find latex tubes are worth the trouble. I moved to 28s everywhere they will fit a few years ago, otherwise 25s. My southern AZ bikes, where everything has thorns, have been gatorskins or hardshells until recently as I have gotten good service from GP5000s. For latex I have tried on my Portland and WY bikes I can't get past price, more fiddly to install, and I can't patch. I don't care about inflating every ride as I rotated through bikes so have to anyway, don't care about saving 100g or the watts saved and am not at all sure I get a meaningfully better ride with latex. That said from my reading I suspect I am very lucky to have much better roads than most of you.

noglider 

All good points!

Tires to stay away from? I like supple tires, and I don't need puncture protection, so I don't like cheap tires or tires with puncture protection that makes the ride stiffer. I've seen a few defective Cheng Shin (CST) and Kenda tires. I generally prefer tires made by the big brands.

jrg1244

Recently installed a new set of Vittoria Corsa Control 700x30c tires and I have been incredibly impressed with the comfort and ride, far superior ride to the GP5000 tires that I'm used to riding. The Vittorias were a B!%CH to get mounted, but the ride makes them worth it. Fingers crossed that I avoid flats for awhile at least! BTW - I got 2 tires for $98 on ebay and it looks like the deal is still available.

https://www.vittoria.com/us/en/tires.../corsa-control

ZudeJammer

Vittoria Corsa G+ are awesome....but no flat protection. I'm riding 2 gator hardshell now after the Corsa's both popped with not even 500mi on them. One of the Corsa's survived but the other got a major cut on the thin sidewall. Hardshell are terrible but it beats walking after you run over some sharp glass or metal.

1989Pre 

For velo or vintage, I almost always go IRC. Not just because of price, but they have a solid reputation and my personal experience with them has been good.
Look for High Racer, High Pressure or Roadlite. The company is still in business, but you can find N.O.S. gumwalls from the 70's-80's online.
I have 700x28's on my Manufrance Hirondelle; (Roadlite front, Roadtour rear). They are great.

1989Pre 

How did you like those Michelins, Randy?

noglider 

I remember those tires very well. They were the best value back in the day. But riding 40-year-old tires sounds suicidal. Not only that, modern tires are better in every measure.

bark_eater 

I'm trying to thread the needle between profit and the public good:
I have an un ridden Continental GP4000 700x28 that I would pass on for the $40 net it cost me.