Best Commuter Tires?

So my Bontrager Hardcases sorta died tonight, not really sure why cuz they maybe have 1000 miles on them. There was a big rain storm today and apparently they was something lurking in some of those puddles. I have actually like these tires until tonight when I realized it is nearly impossible to get them off my rims :eek: Good think the BF was able to come get me but that just not going to work because he isn't always able to come bail me out. I REALLY need to be able to get the tires off the rim!!!

Any suggestions on what has worked well for you?

I've got Vittoria Randonneur reflective sidewalls on two of my bikes. (28mm on one, 32mm on the other)

I'm quite happy with them. They handle rain very well. The low pressure (75 pounds or so) makes them cope nicely with bits of crud I ride over. The reflective sidewalls are surprisingly effective.

Although they are a bit expensive, I would recommend the Schwalbe Marathons... very long lasting and reflective piping around the circumference of the tire. They are also a tire that will last for quite some time AND most people generally don't tend to have a whole lot of flats with them... a big bonus. There's a link somewhere on TE about these tires if interested...



http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

My Schwalbes are hard to get on & off. Practice in your home (or better yet at your bike shop).

Having said that, I need to do some practicing. On the other hand I haven't had any flats on the road.

They lasted about 8000 miles for me. This last time, I knew they were getting worn but I didn't realize quite how worn. I was amazed, with how flaky they were, that I hadn't had any flats.

I have experience 'hard' to get a tire on and off the rim and I can deal with them being tight but these Bontragers I can't even get a tire lever in around the edge of the rim! My BF tried and he couldn't either. It's almost as if they are glued! :eek: Have any of you experienced such a thing???

I was seriously thinking about the Marathons but I had looked at those Randonner's before too. Knotted how are those to get on and off the rims?

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Originally Posted by WindingRoad

I was seriously thinking about the Marathons but I had looked at those Randonner's before too. Knotted how are those to get on and off the rims?

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The 32mm are loose enough that they come on and off easily. The 28mm were a struggle for me when I bought them 5 years ago. I got one on, but had to take the other to the shop for help. Shop dude popped it into place with his thumb in half a second. :rolleyes: The tubes in the 28mm are probably getting old now and I should probably think about changing them out.

I have an assortment of tire levers now (including a quik-stik) and I think I could manage the 28mm on my own. I hope...

ETA: The 28mm Vittoria Randonneurs are on Campy rims. Shop dude told me Campy rims are difficult sometimes with tires. Maybe he just said that to make me feel better. But I vividly remember what a pain in the @$$ it was, and if I get a flat with that bike and can't budge the tires I'm not wasting any time - I'll head straight back to Shop dude.

Well to complicate things it looks like the rim tape it too wide for my rim which was causing the "glued" appearance. A friend helped me get it loose, apparently he must lift cars with his thumbs :-) I need to very carefully trim the tape back with scissors before I mount anything on the rims, grumble grumble grumble. Had to drive to work today, ick!

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

ETA: The 28mm Vittoria Randonneurs are on Campy rims. Shop dude told me Campy rims are difficult sometimes with tires. Maybe he just said that to make me feel better. But I vividly remember what a pain in the @$$ it was, and if I get a flat with that bike and can't budge the tires I'm not wasting any time - I'll head straight back to Shop dude.

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My shop dude says that some tires are not meant for some rims. We have some 28's for my DH that the shop dudes won't put on his kinlin rims (he bought them to ride in the winter - switched them out for the summer). They are an appropriate width for the rim - just a bad combo.

I have installed the marathons on several different rims, and haven't had any problems. Although I also do this for a living, so perhaps I've had some practice.:p


I will admit though that many of the rim and tire combinations are difficult, then again that's where I always win "beer when somone comes into the shop complaining that they can't get tires on their rims... of course they also think that a woman can't possible mount tires that they couldn't.:rolleyes:

Love my Schwable Marathon Supremes. I've had one flat in about 6000 miles, including 2200 miles of loaded touring. The one flat that I did have was caused by a 1/2 inch nail - it would have flatted a car tire.

Those tires were a bear to get on the first time, but when I had to deal with my flat the tire came off and went back on totally fine. I think they have to get stretched out a bit.

Still can't quite believe I've never had a flat on tour. Fire ants, broken cable and various other equipment screwups, but no flats.

I have gatorskins on the bikes with 28s and love them. I rode over all kinds of goatheads in the SW, and they've been good with glass/road debris in Philly.

The main commuter has 32s at the moment, and I listened to the bike shop guy and put Panasonic RibMo's on it--I had never gone above 28s so wasn't sure what my options were, and I was fed up with the stock tires and not willing to wait on marathons. BAD IDEA. This shop is staffed by a couple great mechanics and a bunch of college kids.....I'd had issues with the non-mechanic guys before and I should've gone with my gut and waited on marathons.

The RibMo's are horrendous on anything other than clean pavement, <1" of fairly compact sand/flood debris on the MUP was not good and I've had a few other interesting moments. Thankfully they're also not wearing very well, I've got maybe 3000 miles on them and I've gotten a couple flats lately that are related to tread wear in the middle of the tire, so my springtime treat will be a new set of marathons (after the marathon winters come off...).

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Originally Posted by carlotta

The RibMo's are horrendous on anything other than clean pavement, <1" of fairly compact sand/flood debris on the MUP was not good and I've had a few other interesting moments. .

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Interesting. In spring, my commuter had Panaracer's Urban Max. They had replaced a set of Urban max that lasted forever. However, I flatted the front 3 times in a week (on my commute, the streets are paved with glass -- a casino and way too many bars). All on the same tire.

I replaced the Urban Max with a RiBMo and nary a flat in 4K+ miles. People seem to either find the tough Panaracers either bullet proof or quick to flat. I wonder if it is a quality control issue? Except for that one Urban Max, my Panaracers (Urban Max and RiBMo, knock on wood) have been without fault. And, really, glass is an everyday occurrence.

This winter I'm going Schwalbe Marathon Winter. I've heard good things about the Marathon line.

To clarify, I haven't really have flat issues with the RibMo's. The bigger complaint I have is that they are really squirrely on any amount of sand/dirt/mud that washes onto the MUP and pretty poor handling on fairly packed dirt/gravel that I ride routinely on 28's and sometimes on 23's just fine. Something about the profile of the tire (the ridge down the middle, I think) makes them handle worse on non-pavement (for me) than narrower tires which is a bummer.

The flats I have had are recent and at least one was due to me not noticing a little piece of glass until it worked its way through the tire and into the tube. They haven't worn very well, but neither the bike, myself, or my usual load are anything approaching lightweight, so that may be some of it....

Hopefully we both enjoy the marathon winters in the next few months.....I've never ridden anything other than homemade studs so I'm interested to see how they pan out :)

Another suggestion, I put Nashbar Streetwise tires on my bike when I replaced my old tires, and they're great. Cheap, too. ;)

Very easy to install, and they have Kevlar for flat protection. Knock wood, I haven't had a flat with them (and I've ridden through some gnarly road debris).

Sizes seem quite limited now than when I ordered mine, though. Mine are 700x35; they have that plus 26x1.25 and 26x1.5. Don't know if those sizes are of any use to you.

Nashbar Streetwise Tires

On my SS I have Vittoria Rubino Pros, but then my bike is a child's track bike with 650c wheels, cos I'm a titch :D. I wish Schwalbe made Marathon Plus' for 650c wheels, I'd use them on the SS in a shot. Still, I have them on my 'runaround' bike which has 700c wheels, so I should be fine for the winter.

So does anyone have any experience with the Continental Touring Plus tires? I am looking at the 700 x 32's with the reflex sidewall? Any idea how they stack up to the Schwalbe Marathons?

Bump. Gonna order tires in the next week so I wanted as many ideas as I can get. I'd love to get the Gatorskin Ultra with extra flat protection but apparently they are backordered. Was thinking about regular gatorskins, Carletta seemed to like them AND she is in Philly and I will be again soon too. I like the fact that the gatorskins aren't uber heavy like some of the others I've been contemplating. These ARE for a commuter bike though so I'm not basing my decision on weight.

Any input on snow tires? I don't have disc brakes so the zip-tie trick won't work. I'm thinking about getting studded tires.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

Any input on snow tires? I don't have disc brakes so the zip-tie trick won't work. I'm thinking about getting studded tires.

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Everything you wanted (and, maybe didn't) want to know and then some....

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp

I'm currently riding Kenda Klondike while waiting for my Schwalbe (I ride mountain bike). Very heavy. Very sluggish. But, they don't slip on the ice.

So after much thought I opted to go with the Vittoria Randonneur Hyper's in a 700 x 35 with reflective sidewalls. Surprisingly these are considerably lighter than my current Bontragers which are 700 x 32's and they are WAY lighter than the Schwalbe Marathons. I'm hoping they play well with my rims in case I do have a flat. Thanks Knotted for reminding me about these.;)

Just finished mounting those new Vittorias and they seem to play well with my rims :-) They look great too! Love the reflective sidewalls.

WindingRoad-
Been looking at tires myself, keep us posted on those HYPERS. Part of me just wants them, as they are half the weight of the 35c regular Randonneurs I am riding. But my worry is how flat resistant they are. Do they feel really thin like a wide version of a lightweight road tire?? I could drop a pound for the cost of two tires, which is really tempting, but patching flats is not so tempting... Do they feel substantial?

Tzvia - They seem very beefy on the bead, more so than the hard cases I was running before. The hardcases were OK but these seem really nice too. Time will tell I guess. I did have a small area of my front tire slip off the rim this morning while riding? I saw it happening so I just stopped and popped it back in. No problems after that. I think I didn't quite have the tire all the way in the bead. My rims are a little finicky I'm discovering. I bought the 35's and they are VERY plush, I'm quite pleased with the ride quality.

Well I just have to post a follow up. I had ordered the Vittoria Randonneur Hyper's online after an unsuccessful search of the lBSs and have been riding on them for about a month.

OMG. They are 35c like the regular Randos the bike came with, but they were 300gr less weight each. And they are wider. They look more like 40c. The ride quality is excellent. I've been running them pumped to 85 and they really roll smoothly and help with the chatter over our crappy roads. These are impressive tires. In back, I used a slime-light tube; they are not very heavy and can help seal the goatheads I always seem to get stuck in the tires.

Losing 1.3 lbs with just a tire swap and having them turn out to be really good riding tires without breaking the bank is a home-run!

That's funny I noticed they seemed wider than a typical 35 too :) In fact I have 45 mm fenders and I have only a small gap of clearance on each side. Super happy they fit though.

I went zooming down a hill today about 35 MPH on them and ducked into a sharp turn at the bottom, with bags, and they corner sooooo nice. I just love those tires, I hope they don't find glass or metal anytime soon. The weight savings was impressive I agree :D:D:D

WR, you've seen my Continental Travel Contact tires, what do you think of them as commuting tires? They are fantastic for my country roads with gravely intersections. As you know BGI is having their sale this weekend so I am putting together a list. They seem quite robust, but you are more familiar with the condition of the roads between my area and downtown than I am at this point...

I wouldn't change those at all, those are great tires. If you are commuting, chances are they are gonna take some hard hits, like metal and glass. Not always the best to put on brand spanking new tires just to abuse them like that. If they have a really good deal at BGI on tires you 'might' want to invest in a replacement set but again you may want to see how you like commuting first? The grip on the edges of your tires I think you'll really appreciate and you can take it down the towpath and really blow through it fast (which is fun :)).

One other thing I just thought of though, if you do end up using the Towpath consistently get into the habit of getting that grit out of your gears when you get home. It will eat up your drivetrain if you don't clean it. Ask the guys in service at BGI how they know when someone commutes on the Towpath, they will likely grin from ear to ear.