SOTA Hiker

What's your favorite tire recommendation? I do all my riding on roads. Use 700x40 tires.
I've been looking at the Bontrager H2 hard case lite, Schwalbe marathons, and Kenda Kwick Journey.

My previous tire was a Kenda that came on the bike when i puchased it. Had a blowout.

SebWGer

I settled on the Continental Ride Tour in various sizes. Winter mode is with 47s, summer mode mostly 38 or 40. I haven't had much luck with Kenda.

Clyde1820

~700x40, exclusively on asphalt roads ... Assuming you don't need to worry about frosty morning surfaces and much more than a bit of occasional rain, perhaps consider the ReneHerse tires.

I've got the ReneHerse Rat Rap Pass 26x2.3" and love them. At 500g each, they're light and fairly fast. At 2.3" width, they're give a cushy and smooth ride. RH makes 700c variations on the theme: click. Perhaps the Hatcher Pass in 700x48, Snoqualmie Pass in 700x44, or Barlow Pass in 700x38. Nice tires. Somewhat expensive, but you'll love how they ride. Good enough grip for rougher roads, even mild gravel and hard-packed dirt. I wouldn't prefer them for an icy, frosty morning, or during heavy rains; for that, my own preference would be for something with a bit of "rain" type tread and something known to handle colder weather. But the RH tires are stellar. About the only downside is that the lightness has only mild anti-puncture guards. Though you get a fast, comfortable, tough tire that's got far more grip than it looks like it might offer.

I've used the Vittoria Randonneur tire (here, and here). It's a pretty good one. Mild tread, for a bit of water and rougher roads and highways. 800g each. Isn't a speed demon, but it rolls well and handles most any city street.

I've also used the Continental Ride Tour tire. It's a good tire with decent puncture protection and a bit more grip for varying conditions. Comes in 700x45 (47-622), 700x40 (42-622), and 700x35 (37-622). They've also got the Continental Contact, which is similar to the Ride Tour with a similar build but with slightly less, faster tread. Good, grippy tires for basic urban and highway surfaces.

I would recommend any of these.

pdlamb

First things first. Your picture shows the bead separated from the rest of the tire. It's a good bet that was caused by a mis-adjusted brake rubbing against the tire. Fix the brake first, and you can prevent a repeat on an $80 Rene Herse or a $15 Kenda tire.

I like the Panaracer Pasela (fill in the blank) tires, but I think they top out at 38s. You probably won't notice the difference from 40s. Continental Top Tour or Top Contact are pretty decent; kind of heavy, but that also means less likely to puncture.

Trueblood

I started using Michelin Protek Cross tires. So far about 2500 miles on them, all on city streets. They have been completely reliable so far, no flats.

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...ross-700c-tire

timdow

I value puncture resistance over all else, so I run the Marathon Plus tires. They also last a very long time, and have low rolling resistance. The negative of this tire are that they are heavy, and some say they are stiff and not comfortable.

SOTA Hiker

No, wasn't the brakes. I have disc brakes. The bead was starting to stretch on the tire and I tried to get another ride out of it. Stupid me.

Leisesturm

I had Bontrager H2 in 26 x 2.0 on the commuter and they lasted for years and only got a few flats towards the end of their life. I don't see those tires around. I've looked. So I got some Marathon Plus with great trepidation because of their bad press for being heavy and slow. I've had them on for a couple of months and find them much faster than the Bonties were. If this is slow, I'm ok with that. Add my recommendation to the previous one.

SOTA Hiker

Thanks everyone. Think I will give the Schwable Marathons a shot.

Darth Lefty 

Bontrager Chupacabra tires have way less rolling resistance than Maxxis Assegai...

...is the jokey answer.

The real answer is nothing really beats regular Marathons (or their direct imitators/competitors) on all categories for a tubed tire. They take a thick-armor rather than hard-armor design to its best advantage.

Since my bike is tubeless, I chose the armored version of the Gravelking. It's better than the knobby Teravail the bike came with by leaps and bounds. But I'm not convinced it's much different than any other tubeless slick.

bikemig 

I like the Schwalbe marathons a lot for a commuter. They come in different versions with different levels of flat protection. You will want to spend some time on Schwable's website and do a bit of reading on this. I opted for Marathon Greenguard for my commuter. You may like that or you may want a version with more or less flat protection.

SOTA Hiker

I went with the regular Marathons. HS-420

LeeG

Marathon Supreme, Panaracer Protite, Marathon Almotion

CliffordK

I'm a bit old school. However, I still l like my 700c x 25mm Continental Gator Hardshell tires. Pretty good wear out of them. Generally good flat protection.

Classtime 

We’ll let me say the best commuter tire is a Continental GP4(5)000. Keep ‘em clean and occasionally pick out slivers of whatever.

Cdubs

I have been really happy with my EVO tires. I have them on my vintage 10 speed and my commuter. They have not given me a lick of trouble and the grip has been good.

campfire

Add in another vote for regular GreenGuard Marathons (HS-420). Between these and Continental RideTours I have accumulated thousands of commuter miles without any punctures. Three years ago I bought a set of each for two different bikes as a comparison test. They're both holding up well. I used to get regular punctures from living next to a scrap yard. With these tires I still get sharp objects stuck in the tread. But so far none of them have worked their way through to the inside.

The Continental is cheaper and has slightly better traction in loose gravel, but they're pretty similar tires overall.

zacster

I've used Gatorskins in a 26x1 1/4 size for commuting in NYC and they were the best for me. Relatively light, decent flat protection, and dare I say it, fast. Last year I was planning on using this bike to ride the Empire State Trail from Buffalo to NYC so I put on the pair of Schwalbe Marathons that I had in a 26x1.75 size. I did some test rides with them with loaded bags and figured they'd be fine. I never did that ride, and this year they were still on the bike and I was taking it on short trips and it always felt like a slog. The other day I put the Gatorskins back on and the difference was night and day. I could get the bike moving again without a huge effort. I ride with an HRM and computer (bought for my road bike, but I also use on this) and my HR is way down now.

I compared the weights of the two tires, a Marathon is 740 grams while a Gatorskin is 320 grams, almost a full pound different. That's a lot of extra rotating weight. If I ever do the trail I'll keep the gatorskins on and carry an extra, that's still a lot less weight than the Marathons.

Don't let anybody tell you fat tires are just as fast as skinny ones.

Darth Lefty 

right, that is the thick-armor vs hard-armor difference.

It also matters which Marathon because there are a lot. The Green Guard is about par for rolling losses with a Gatorskin, but the Plus (extra thick) is a real pig and the Efficiency (replaced the Supreme) is faster and lighter and not cheap

zandoval 

Continental Tour Ride is my favorite. I especially like their flat resistance and that raised bead in the center for riding on the asphalt. Another tire worth looking at is the Kenda 184. I think ya can still get um on ebay. I have used those on my ravel bike (torn up asphalt bike) over the past four years and they are working well.

arupaka

Michelin Protek Cross 700x35 ftw. They get to 37mm width with 17mm rims and it's just the sweet spot for me.

zacster

I was just checking the weights and even the lightest Marathons are 50% heavier than a Gatorskin. They have their uses, and I'm not knocking them, but they just aren't for me. When I ride my bike with the fat knobbies on it that's a different use altogether than street riding to get places. The bike with the gators on it I use as a substitute for my road bike with the GP5000s on it.

prairiepedaler

I use a Marathon for the front, and the Marathon Plus for rear.

rumrunn6

Specialized Armadillo

Derailed

Just last week I replaced the tires on my commuter to Continental Contact Plus (700x32). I made the switch because I lost confidence in the original tires (WTB Slick, also 700x32) after a couple of flats over a year or so (i.e., not that many, really, and may have occurred with any tires). In any event, after the flats I decided to prioritize flat protection a bit over weight. I was torn between the Schwalbe Marathon Plus and the Contact Contact Plus, but ultimately went with the Contact Plus because they were a little cheaper and lighter, yet still seemed to be well-reviewed in terms of flat protection. I don't notice a huge difference in the feel on the bike, but I feel less worried about flats. Whether that really means I'll be less prone to flats is less clear, but I'm enjoying the improved peace of mind.