ITT we discuss 28mm-ish 700c tires, post reviews and real world measurements, reveal our favorite yerrupean sites for purchasing obscuro balleur tires on the interwebz, argue, resort to petty name calling, etc…
My favorites:
Conti GP 4-season: awesome tire in every way except that it barely measures 27mm.
Roly Poly: Pretty good tire, measures 28mm fo’ reezy.
Conti Gatorskins: Not terrible puncture resistant tire that suffers from the fact that it measures 27.5mm or so
Ruffy Tuffy: Not bad for a puncture resistant tire that measures true 28mm.
Haven’t tried but should: All the Schwalbe dudes
Wouldn’t ever ride ever: Panaracer Pasela or Pasela TG
Gatorskins > high quality, good feel
Marathons > ditto. reflective sidewalls are nice.
Clement Strada > light, high quality, good for going fast, not much punture protection
Kenda Kwik Tendril > cheap, sturdy
Conti Super Sport > can’t tell you because I CAN’T GET THEM ON THE RIMS
Been jammin’ the 28c GP4 Seasons on wide rims since winter. Probably have 1.5-2k miles on them so far. I’ve only flatted once - piece of wire through the top of the sidewall while turning. I dig 'em.
About to try some 29mm Cerfs I grabbed recently. If I hadn’t gotten those, I’d likely be buying a set of the Ultremo ZX 28s once the GPs were worn out.
I bought some Randos in like 2004 before I knew better. Unsurprisingly they rode like ass, and yet they absolutely refused to die. Flat were relatively few and far between. They were my “oh shit” tires in the parts bin and ended up living on half a dozen bikes.
However, I bought some 32 Randos more recently when I really should have known better and the rear had a sidewall failure after relatively few miles and being run well below the rated pressure so fuck those tires.
I got Ruffy Tuffys for the Shawver but really haven’t had a chance to ride them. I think these will probably end up on the Davidson when I rebuild it.
I rode completely through the tread on my GP 4 seasons before I had the 1 and only flat, which was a staple in the road. They were pretty good for puncture protection.
yeah i wore out a gp4 season on the rear of the davidson
took a long time and had zero flats
ps bros, i just ordered some non 28mm tyres from worldclasscycles, a little pricier than the euroway but not much and i needed some stehers
got free shipping too
get me into this tyre
^ i’ll let you know when i get them
they revised them so the tread is black chili tread compound now
23mm tyre, cotton casing, used to be translucent side but now it’s black
no puncture belt, atmo 99% of the time your gonna flat whether there’s a belt there or not
270 grams, basically a tough track training tub that works awesome on the road too
butyl tube so they don’t leakdown and also a regular valvestem so you can add stans if you need. i haven’t flatted one.
also the conti basetape is uncoated so they a breeze to glue. won’t use a vittoria again coz of the latex glue on the basetape.
this is the current version
$56 at worldclasscycles
ps they ain’t no fmb but they half the price and more durable, i’d say get yr air pressure right and they’re 90% the ride of an FMB
i didn’t ride those vittoria evo SC tubs either, just sold the two i had coz glue on the basetape, dumb valvestem, and hella supple = hella fragile
love the stayers.
other day i spec’d em for a customer’s 303’s and he was so stoked
I like my 28 Gatorskin/Open Pro collabo on the mutt bike.
I hated my 28 T-Servs on the same setup.
I didn’t measure either of them because I couldn’t give a shit less how many mm I’m missing or whatever.
Diggin the 28mm gatorskins on commuter and polo bike. On rhynolite rim, they measured in at 28.4 if i recall my measurement correctly.
[quote=cookietruck]ps they ain’t no fmb but they half the price and more durable, i’d say get yr air pressure right and they’re 90% the ride of an FMB
i didn’t ride those vittoria evo SC tubs either, just sold the two i had coz glue on the basetape, dumb valvestem, and hella supple = hella fragile[/quote]
The SC tubs aren’t worth it. For that price point the Veloflex Criterium are a better tire.
Stehers or S-33 are the official tire of Alpenrose. I’d roll a set of 27c CG Pave in the road, if I had the cheddar.
i had a 24mm evo cg pave. hated it. was almost glad it flatted after a week.
been thinkin about selling it on dentist forum for hella cheap after putting some stans in it…of course full disclosure
tubular thread is that way ->
I thought Gatorskins were hated here because they’re so pokey slow. I like the ‘no flats’ part of them, but some other tires are on my list to try soon.
They’re not the fastest, but if you think they’re poky slow you should get some Rando for some perspective. Don’t really do that. Just take my word for it.
Wish Gatorskin 28s came in folding though.
There are lots of tires that are substantially shittier than Gatorskinz.
They’re also a great option for those of us that hate buying stuff online, because every bike shop in the goddamn universe carries them.
i don’t get the gatorskin hate
for the type of puncture resistance and durability there isn’t another tire that rides better/fast whatever, at least AMTO and in my experience
nb: the gatorskin has unarmored sidewalls, but i believe the “hardshell” version adds sidewall armoring
28c gatorskins rule
but i would only ride gatorskins on a fixed gear bike (for the skids) or commuter bike for the dgaf
there are way better tires for road bike use or even “training” use