greatbasin

I'm aware of this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-thread-7.html

I want to replace and upgrade the tires I currently ride on which are Continental Ultra Sport III's. They've worked fine, but seem to be getting more vulnerable to flats. I don't record my mileage, but they have more than 1000 miles on them and I've had two flats lately, whereas the first thousand or so went without a flat at all. I don't think the tires are worn out with as few miles on them as I have, but that they're not new anymore is all.

I have another bike with the 27" Schwalbe Marathons. Those things are tough. I've never had a flat since I put them on in 2014. They're also pretty heavy. Maybe I don't care, or maybe I can get something better.

The bike I'm looking to put new tires on is a late-70's Super Galaxy with a TA triple and Suntour Cyclone GT. It runs a little over 30 pounds with Brooks Brick Lane panniers for a toolkit, spares, and my personal items. I add no more than about 140 pounds to it.

Other 27's I've tried are the Kenda, Cheng Shin, and Zaffiro -- all junk in my experience. The Vittoria is the only one I paid for and regretted it. The others came with bikes and I threw them away, but not before trying them and finding them lacking.

The Gator Hardshell tires are supposed to be tough, but from what I've read, that is the only thing people are happy about with them. Maybe they're only comparing them to GP5000's.

The Panaracer Pasela Protite folders might be the thing. They can't be as tough as the Marathons, but they're probably half the weight. Are they an upgrade in any way from the Ultra Sport III? or just a different color?

abdon 

Good luck getting a satisfactory answer, everybody has their favorite that they would swear over in lieu of a bible.

I'm currently running Panaracer Pasela but I'm a big fan of Continental tires. With just about any tire how much weight you put on is only a factor on inflation, whether you have to run them high or if you can get yourself a bit of cushion from a lower pressure.

pastorbobnlnh 

These are nice if you desire a larger tire which can be run at lower pressures:

SwiftTire 27″ x 1 3/8″ Tan Tire – Made by Panaracer

The 27" Panaracer tires are about your best bet at this time for a lighter weight and supple tire in this wheel diameter.

Kabuki12

I agree with pastorbob about Panaracer. I run them on all my 27” wheels and most of my 700’s . I have not tried the SwiftTire that he recommended and I usually run a narrow tire , like 1”. I also agree that Kenda is not a tire that I would buy, once was enough for me. As was said , tires seem to be a personal choice . I get flats on all my bikes , usually it involves goat head thorns that seem to be quite prolific in my area. I ride a lot and it just comes with the territory.

bikemig 

If you're worried about flats, 27 inch Schwalbe marathon greenguard tires are excellent. 27 inch Continental gatorskins are good for flats as well but I don't think they handle as well as the Schwalbes. 27 inch Panaracer Pasela PTs strike a nice balance, IMO, between light weight and flat protection.

oneclick 

Flat-protection, ride-quality, price - pick one.

greatbasin

I get it. I'm willing to pay a premium -- hence the title. I know the Schwalbe have the flat protection and I've heard the hardshell do but don't have personal experience. So what tire(s) offer the ride-quality?

greatbasin

I think that's maybe why I started getting flats with the Ultra Sport III. I might have been running them at higher pressure before and they were fine. But the winter really tore up the roads and I dropped pressure to somewhere between 60 and 65 psi in the rear. The front is about 5 psi lower but not where the weight or flats have been. I have velox tape in the rim, but the last one was a pinch flat. Maybe the penultimate flat was also, but it was on the road side. It was very tiny and I didn't find anything in the tire. So I'm thinking the Ultra Sport III's might just need higher pressure, but that's going to be pretty harsh.

So I guess my deliberation is between the Marathons or giving the Pasela a try.

Sedgemop 

Try the Paselas. They may not be great at any one thing, but are at least pretty good for all your qualifiers. I've tried almost all the tires mentioned above and will buy Paselas again. I'd buy the Marathons again too if flat protection was the main consideration. May not be 27" tires we would consider "premium." Several are good enough, though.

ZudeJammer

i recommend 32mmx27" gatorskins. I've used the swift tire, protite and regular panaracer. I do like the panaracers they tend to roll over small pebbles while the gatorskins shoot them out, but I do like the gatorskins and have used them extensively on dirt and gravel and they hold up great, only one flat with them from a tiny staple that made its way in.

abdon 

If you are running low and don't check your tire pressure on a regular basis you can be on the danger zone more often than not. No amount of Kevlar can protect you from pinching a flat because those have nothing to do with the tire getting punctured.

repechage

Trouble with 27” is that not many rims in that size have a hook bead, so you are limited to about 75 psi.

if there is clearance, the “swifts” are pretty good but you might be limited with the pressure range.

SurferRosa

poidh

Road Fan

The Panaracers and the Ultra Sports are not related, except in sizing and the fact of some black stuff called "rubber."

Do you need tires with wired beads or can you use folding beads? This is mainly a factor of the rim - beaded or not beaded. It's best to have a correct match, but sometimes we get away with it. Other times we have tires blowing off of rims, ruining tubes and possibly other aspects of the wheel. I would go for the Protites first, but if they fold, they are not wire beaded. I would check your rims for what kind of beads they need the tire to have. Maybe the LBS or a bike co-op can help you sort that out quickly. I have seen wire-beaded tires Protites or other Paselas. I think the ride quality of the Paselas will be the best of the choices you're running into.

1989Pre 

True enough. I hold out for N.O.S. IRC gumwalls. When they do come up, the price is usually reasonable, and I have had good luck with them since 1981. If you can get a set from the late 80's and up, they run around 250-300g and 90-100 psi, which is decent for a wire-bead tire.
From 1987:

greatbasin

The rims are Weinmann A129. They're not hooked or anodized. The Marathons are on Weinmann 416 rims. Those are hooked and anodized and came with the Schwinn. I wasn't aware that any rim was either compatible with folding or wire-beaded tires and not both. I just thought the one had kevlar bead cords and the other steel wire. Should I wonder if the folding Protites will work on the A129 rims?

repechage

kevlar or aramid bead core- I would only use on a hooked rim.
earlier style rim, wire only.

at least you do not have to concern yourself with tubeless.

bark_eater 

I've assumed that tires have some sort of expiration date, especially gum side walls. And at one point walked away from wall of almost free vintage tires.....

greatbasin

I'm not that low for my weight, but the potholes are brutal. I'm riding in traffic with no bike lane (just AFRAP), so I sometimes have to take what I get. With the roads the way they are, I wish for some 50mm 650B, but I like this bike and don't foresee getting another. Maybe if I pumped them up to 70 or 75 psi, I could take whatever line I have to, but the rear tire only has about 95 pounds on it. The Silca calculator says I should be running 50 to 55 psi, not more than 60. Again, I'm 60 to 65 on the rear. I put 65 in it so that if I don't check it or top it off one day, it won't be too low.

I see your point. Puncture protection won't stop pinch flats.

1989Pre 

I think it really depends on what kind of conditions the tire was stored in. I just bought some N.O.S. made in England Michelin whitewalls (26-inch) that were probably from the 60's or 70's, and I noticed how much more plush they felt than the worn-out tires that had probably been on my Rudge for decades when I bought it 3 years ago. It seems to me that it would be pretty obvious if a tire was degraded by heat or dampness.
I also have some 27" wire-bead IRC gumwalls that max out at 100 psi, and that's what I'm running them at on my Super Champion Modele 58's. They were on my Grubb before that, so I've been using them for about 5 summers (short summers up here).

RiddleOfSteel

Tan wall stuff comes into play if you want to change the look of the bike or make it more period correct looking or just more stylish. That doesn't seem to be a priority for you, which allows you to consider everything. Paselas are good, and I have Swift Sand Canyon 1 3/8" tan walls on my Voyageur. Beautiful, well-made tire. Good ride quality. 350g officially vs 430g for the Contis and 660g for the Marathons.

The more I look around and find things out, there's basically no free lunch, try as I might. Your riding scenario throws the tires to the wolves, so a bear (the Marathons) is a great choice. I like your pressures at 60 and 65 for the rider+cargo weight. It's close enough to my own of 200ish (just me) and those are the pressures I'll ride at on a similar 30-32mm wide tire. I am also not a fan of harsh ride qualities, so I've taken pages from the Compass/Rene Herse/St. Heine playbook and have reaped the benefits.

Depending on your power output (in relative, organically-assessed terms, not electronically-measured), road crumminess, and desire to get out of the saddle to accelerate or climb (especially spiritedly), a light and supple tire may be a nice change of pace. I've run a lot of larger and supple tires (Compass stuff mainly, bought used which is how I could afford/afford to justify them) and am continually amazed at how well they avoid flats, even in Seattle or semi-rural Oregon with TONS of debris in the "bike lanes." 35mm tires at 50/56 PSI, 40mm tires at 35/40 PSI, 48mm tires at 25/30 PSI. I think their ability to conform to whatever they're rolling over (due to the lower pressure) helps a lot. It's like trying to pierce a fresh grape with a fork vs an old/overripe grape.

Though...and here we go again...I normally avoid battle wagon tires like Marathons because I don't like heavy and harsh-riding tires that make a slug out of a frame/riding experience, plus I like to get out of the saddle and punch up a hill. That and I like tan walls on my stuff now. I've run 900g tires before. Just recently, I put some (used, bought for $10 each) Donnelly X'Plor MSO 700x40 gravel tires I'd had for a long time onto some solid 2000g wheels (Ultegra 6500 hubs, straight gauge 14 ga/2.0mm spokes, H+Son TB14 rims), mounting it all to my '85 Trek 620 tourer. The Donnelly tires are a hefty 532g each. On paper, I should not like any of this, especially when I have a Trek 720 (same long wheelbase) with a light-yet-traditional wheelset and Compass 35mm tires that is a superb rider. Well, I really like the ride of the 620 with the beefy wheel and tire setup! I also like the look, but the ride is the make-or-break for me. Sure, the weight is felt, but at 35/40 PSI, they roll well, exhibit good out-of-saddle characteristics, and are not harsh.

So I guess that's a really long way of answering your question by saying: no, there are no premium/ultra-premium 27" tires out there. There only exists a continuum on which things are gained or given up in fairly equal measure. The light stuff is great if what you like and how you ride complements that. Rolling heavy, while not race-winning, is not a bad way to go if you get discernable benefits from it.

tcs

Continental Super Sport Plus. Surely the lowest rolling resistance @ 27". Handmade in Germany.

tcs

Old school: air 'em up to 105% of sidewall pressure.

Modern thinking:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bicy...hrome&ie=UTF-8

rustystrings61 

I am very firmly in the Pasela camp, running 27 x 1 1/4 - 622x32mm on one bike, 622x28s on two others, and about to run 622x32 on a fourth bike when I finally get it running.

I like your thinking regarding tire pressure, and in case you haven't seen it, there's this guide that has helped me a LOT!

I noticed Compass being mentioned earlier, and it is my understanding that informal inquiry in another forum indicated insufficient interest in the vintage bike world to warrant producing really nice boutique-y tires in 630/27-in. It's a pity, really, as the slightly larger diameter tire (in theory) will roll more smoothly, but I can understand the desire to reduce the number of distinct rim sizes to keep in stock, and 27-in was always overwhelmingly an Anglophone thing.

repechage

I don’t think they are concerned about non hook rims and tires. Fully a test, don’t guess situation.