Good road tires?

[ny biker]

I use Conti Ultra Gatorskin on my road bike. I only had one flat with them this year.

[MauiRockHopper]

Wow reading this thread makes me realize how limited we are on brands on Maui. Thank goodness for Ebay. I didn't realize how expensive tires are, in comparison to how cheap the tubes are. It is kind of strange because they are both rubber and essential to riding. Anyhow my Specialized Ruby Elite Triple came with Specialized All Condition tires, but after only 200 miles they were hamburger. I soon learned from the LBS I bought them from that usually the stock tires that come with a bike are crap.

I wish I paid more attention to what tires came with the bike because I had to dish out about $100 for tires and tubes already. Now I have Michelin Lithion and am gonna give them a try. Here in Hawaii they are $15.00 a piece (and tubes are $5). I don't care about speed, I just want puncture resistant for now. It sure is a b*tch to put on road tires like putting a condom on a watermelon. At the very end when I can't push the last 6" of tire over the rim, I use the tire levers very carefully like a shoe horn to lift the tire over the rim. But you have to be careful not to pinch the tube against the rim!!!

[VeloVT]

Some tires are harder to mount than others, but with practice you can get a nice rolling motion with the heels of your hands that will get most tires on. I rarely have to resort to levers anymore.

I like my Schwalbe Stelvios. But I don't have a huge frame of reference. BF has some Vredesteins (they are training tires, not super expensive) that have been fairly flat resistant and feel fast, but not as cushy as the Stelvios.

I highly recommend heading over to www.biketiresdirect.com. Good prices and good service.

[sundial]

Michelin Krylium

[Crankin]

I have the Conti GP 4000 also and only got one flat this year. They are easy to take on/off. Before that i had the Shwalbe Stelvios and those were great, too. We got the Contis very cheap on Steep and Cheap.

[ilima]

Another Schwalbe Stelvio fan.

I've had trouble with Contis being tough to get on before, so I avoid them.

[ridebikeme]

Another Schwalbe fan here... another brand that makes great tires is Maxxis. I have been using the Courcheval tires the past three seasons and love them...they are comparable with the Michelin Pro Race series... although have been able to get more mileage from the Maxxis and I like the feel of them as well.

[fidlfreek]

BTW, there is a difference between the Conti 4000 and the Conti 4000s. In theory at least the s means its their special "chili" rubber material. FYI have about 1500 miles on my Conti 4000 and no flats yet. Heard from LBS dude last week that "the conti salesman came in and said that right now the only difference between the 4000 and the 4000s is the little icon on the side of the tire". So maybe if you get fresh stock 4000 tires they will be the same as the chili aka newer more expensive model.