Commuting road tyre options

[Zippy]

Hi All,

Please can you give me options for a set of 700c (x25 I reckons, but 28 also fine) tyres for commuting. I'm fed up with my hutchinson intensive2 tubeless tyres.
Tubeless or tubed is fine - marathon plus weights are a bit much for me (more from a handling perspective than anything else) but after puncture resistance and half decent rolling + longevity...price not so much a factor if they do the mileage.

The backstory is:

Typically used Schwalbe Durano Plus with inner tubes, seemed to be the best at the time, tries conti gatorskins for a bit but I didn't like they way they gripped and they didn't puncture any less than the durano plus.

So kept with them, tried to run them tubeless - but couldn't get them to work comfortably.

After killing some old wheels, got some superstar jobbies with the alexrims that are tubeless compatible and after the last set of durano plus' wore out I have been trying out the hutchinson intensive 2 road tubeless.

134 (14-05-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
They're quite light and ride well - and meant to be the "tough" tyre - perfect for commuting, and coupled with tubeless I thought I'd be onto a winner...well they're an arse to get on tubeless (I have to have the valve core out to get enough air into the rim for them to pop on - and then whack the valve core back in before they deflate, otherwise they pop off the rim - I wouldn't care if I needed to use the compressor with the valve core out to pop them on and they remained popped on.... anyway that normally wastes a fair bit of sealant as I can never manage this first attempt). And they also seem to be quite weak, I've had a couple of holes seal up with tubeless, and a couple which didn't + a tubeless plug that later failed and had to use a tube due to timescale ...yadayadayada, they're not particularly tough tyres! They're pretty cut up already, and they've only been on for 3.5 months now, over the summer months.

Anyway, not happy with these hutchinson tyres really, and winter is coming. What tyres do people suggest? Am I going back to Durano Plus', or are there any other new tyres out there I should try out - I'm thinking with tubeless on road becoming a bit more prevalent, I might have missed something recently.

Commuter setup is kinesis crosslight pro6 with flat bars (didn't have hydraulic discs for drop bars when I built it); it mostly rides on roads - but odd bit of gravel thrown in, and I do use the rougher end of the spectrum type roads.


163 (12-06-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr


Cheers

[voodoo_simon]

Bontrager for tubeless setup, use them on my mountain bike nd they go up first time without faff (Mavic non-tubeless rim with Bonty Flash charger)

Bontrager do All Weather road tyres, worth a look at

[ctznsmith]

I'd probably go back to Durano plus with a tube.

I stuck some stans inside the tubes on the commuter for added protection. Extra weight not a big issue as it's only 6 miles each way.

[Asposium]

I use conti gatorskin hardshell (or something like that)
Sure I saw them in wide sizes.
Have had few punctures with mine.

[Chew]

Have you thought about solid tyres?

Someone I know is testing them out on his commute (30 miles a day) and is liking them. No messing with punctures on the way to work or in the rain.
Bit of a different ride and need to see how they work over winter.

[slugwash]

I was running Durano 25s on my commute bike til last winter. I transfered them to my road bike as I'd worn out the tyres on that, and replaced the commute bike tyres with Lifeline 28s. Great value, not too wooden, and fine for gravel and green lanes. I also noticed that the 3 extra mms took some of the still-half-asleep-unexpected-pothole-encounter shock out of my pre dawn commute. I'd probably use the Lifeline tyres for a drop bar bike-packing trip also but am currently too busy to even take a day trip to Paignton. Oh, and I've yet to have a p#*@***e
on them
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-essent ... road-tyre/

[Zippy]

Thanks all for the suggestions, keep them coming.

I'd probably go back to Durano plus with a tube.

I stuck some stans inside the tubes on the commuter for added protection.

I did try this - I found the stans didn't really work in the tube - accelerated stanimals were made and didn't seal the tube - I have also tried slime...they still punctured!

Have you thought about solid tyres?

Someone I know is testing them out on his commute (30 miles a day) and is liking them. No messing with punctures on the way to work or in the rain.
Bit of a different ride and need to see how they work over winter.

Interesting - my initial thoughts are I can't see them being light, or compliant - I'd almost put up with a couple of punctures a year if there's a huge performance difference. I'm doing 25 miles each way, and I was half erring towards some schwalbe marathon plus as they seem to do them in road sizes now - but they weigh 800g each...that's like double the durano plus - and they're fairly heavy (I don't mind this level of weight), but almost an additional half a kilo of rolling weight per wheel is not insignificant! That said, if they're in the region of 450g each, I'd certainly consider them.

I know there's not a perfect answer, and it's deciding which set of compromises to roll with - so keep the suggestions/experiences rolling in.

I think after numerous attempts and experiences, tubeless at road pressures is nowhere near as good as tubeless at MTB pressures.

[ianfitz]

I'm pleased with some G-ones. They are 35mm though. Work nicely tubeless at 50psi still fast on road and surprisingly capable of road. Yet to see how they cope with winter and muddy conditions

[surlywoman]

schwalbe marathon plus.... super heavy but I have never (watch it happen tomorrow now) had a puncture on them and that's cycling on gravel and then Manchesters glass strewn roads. Don't mind a bit of extra weight on a commuter and I've never noticed tbh.

[whitestone]

For a commuter I'd go with the schwalbe Marathons. While they are a sure fire way of making any bike feel sluggish they are bombproof - along with woodlice and scorpions they'd be the only things to survive a nuclear bomb! I did 10,000Km on one and the tread and mould tabs were still in place.

As for Duranos, perhaps the only tyre I've actively got rid of. I had a rear tyre (Michelin Pro 4) come to the end of its life whilst out on a ride. Fortunately this happened near a bike shop, they only had the Duranos in stock. At first I thought I'd got the pressure wrong but no matter what pressure I set it at, the tyre always felt like it was squirming around, at least it was the rear. I ordered a new Pro 4 and the Durano still sits somewhere in the house with a grand total of about 200Km usage.

[benp1]

My Arkose is running 32c marathon plus, not the lightest but they've been very reliable on my 30k daily round trip, through London in all seasons

They've done a bit of light off road and they do fine, not tested properly in mud though

They've got about 7000 odd miles on them now and they're still going strong

Not sure what I'd replace them with. They're not the fastest but I like the reliability and I suppose it's good training!

[voodoo_simon]

With all those comments on marathons, looks like my only claim to fame is wearing out a pair of them

[fatbikephil]

Marathon supremes are good - not mega heavy and pretty puncture proof. Good all weather grip as well

[ScotRoutes]

There are Marathons and Marathon Plus. The former are just fine - lighter, less draggy, but ultimately a bit less protection that the Plus version. I usually tour on Marathons.

[Javi]

I also have in the fast bike the G Ones 35mm tubeless Ian is using and I rate them quite fast for the size. But they are rubbish in mud, for obvious reasons. The commuter has the G One speed 30mm (former S Ones I think) also tubeless and they are much faster and can easily cope with gravel terrain, also bad in mud.
In the past I had Kenda small block 8 with tubes and after a while I started puncturing them.
Go tubeless is the key

[Zippy]

Thanks all - you've been very helpful.

In fairness to the tyre, puncture I got on friday on the way home was a fairly large stone that went all the way through the sidewall (I was leant over going round a bend when it went psssssst)! So being in tubeless mode wouldn't have helped that time...so not only have i got a nice hole in the sidewall of the tyre, I now can't get the blinking thing to sit properly on the wheel and I have a low spot. I didn't mind for the last 10 miles home, but I'm not gonna live with that. I've pumped it up to 130psi - I'm a bit nervous anything above that...


Anyway, back to the new tyre choice - I think the slant of going towards a more cx/touring oriented tyre will suit me more than a heavy duty road tyre, and I hadn't really considered those (or rather had just dimissed them). Those G Ones look interesting, as do the marathon series - there appears to be a marathon supreme in tubeless which looks like they might be the ticket - if I can find any in stock @ 28 or 32c (don't really wanna go any wider, although I do need new mudguards to fit wider than 28c under anyways).

[benp1]

Interested to see how you get on Zip. You're commute is much longer than mine but I reckon I have more glass, there's some most days

My new office move means a 2 mile ish section of off-road former railway line, that was making me think about marathon somethings to manage this. Would do 32s too

[johnnystorm]

Panaracer Gravel King Slicks. Tubeless with no faff on my Arkose Alex rims. Used them for Audaxing this year. Couple of punctures but Orange Seal has cured both. A fresh set of 28c are waiting to go on. I currently have 32c fitted but they rub on my slightly wobbly crudracer guards. Hoping extra couple of mm each side will help.
£25 each from Winstanleys.

[Zippy]

Thanks all. I've settled for some Schwalbe G-Ones, 35c and microskin as that appears to be the toughest option. I think I'll be taking a few more gravel lanes now too - previously I was sliding all over the place on slicks - which was fun in it's own way, but too slow to actually do any mileage on them!

Doing bits like this over winter too will be good.


185 (04-07-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr

[benp1]

Will be interested to hear how the tread fares on road heavy mileage. It was the thing putting me off a light tread - i.e. lots of road miles rubbing the middle contact patch, leaving a slick carcass to ride on (which would be like a road tyre, although I doubt it was designed to be ridden on like that)

[Zippy]

Well it hasn't got off to a good start, I ordered the tyres from wiggle, box turns up yesterday - with the tyres part of the order not included and looking at my email cancelled that day...and now they're out of stock
They then appear to be considerably more expensive everywhere else, obviously

£41.50/ea @ Merlin seems the best now? (They were £36/ea @ Wiggle which I was pretty happy with)

[benp1]

£38 and back in stock tomorrow apparently...

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/700-x ... e-700-622/

[Zippy]

Cheers Ben.

What's strange is that their in stock with CRC (@£48/ea), and they're the same company!!

[benp1]

Cheers Ben.

What's strange is that their in stock with CRC (@£48/ea), and they're the same company!!

It's a bl00dy conspiracy!

[Zippy]

Will be interested to hear

261 (18-09-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr

So I’ve done 1,200 miles+ on these tyres now. I changed them towards the end of September, I’ve ridden them on the commute in mostly dry weather, but recently the weather has all changed, so done some wet weather riding. The commute consists of mostly road, but some of these are a bit crappy, I’ve also taken the opportunity to get in a few more cycle lanes which are rough gravel – I’d happily ride these on slicks if they’re tough, but it can get a bit slimey.

264 (21-09-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr


312 (08-11-2017) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr

My initial thoughts after fitting them (which was a doddle by the way) – I’ve tested using a normal track pump, and you can make them pop on with that – but I do have a compressor which makes life easier. As always, it’s the tyre/rim combo that makes the difference, so your experience may differ.
First two things I noticed were the comfort (going from 700x25c to 700x35c), and the rolling resistance change is barely perceptible for commuting. There’s a bit more grip on the looser stuff, and in the dry they’re fine.

I’ve not noticed any wear on the tyres either – they seem to be wearing well at the moment, and I expect they’ll last the winter.

Braking – they make a bit of a noise (on tarmac) if you need to really slam on the anchors and the back wheel inevitably locks up briefly. It does make the person that’s just run out in front of you without looking notice you though and look a bit sheepish!
Wet roads – they’re not as grippy as you’d expect – almost fell over as it drifted on the roundabout in the wet outside work – and I think that was just the damp as diesel is way slippier than that. I’d go as far to say as possibly worse than the durano plus tyres I’ve been used to riding in these conditions (never got a chance to test my Hutchinson tyres in the wet tbh), but way better than the set of conti gatorskins I remember trying once! Not a deal breaker, but something to be aware of. They do far better on the slightly slippier stuff off road though, probs due to the small nobbles.

Puncture resistance – well tubeless wise I’ve had 1 thorn stuck in a tyre and I only really noticed it parked up once and just carried on with life without picking it out. I’ve then also had one proper puncture – which I tried to plug and left a puddle of sealant on the ground. I plugged it successfully, but then as I went to put some air back in the tyre, it popped off the rim and I couldn’t get it tubeless again, so had to put a tube in it – shame. I did however get it tubeless again just whipping the tube out, putting the valve back in and using the track pump – the tubeless plug seems to be holding fine. Normally I’d properly path the tubeless plug – but I figure the commute is a good place to test them out. I also had another puncture the other day on the rear, about 0.5 miles from home – I didn’t stop as I heard it hissing, carried on riding and it sealed itself at about 30 psi. I pumped it up again later to about 70psi (where it started hissing again!) shook it, it sealed again and is transporting me to and from work again.
I’m finding generally for mostly road work, having them at about 70-80 psi is pretty optimal, and they’re good to about 40psi for mixed use (I weigh about 60kg for reference).

So, would I get another set? Hmm, maybe! I think I might try a set of Schwalbe marathon supremes next if they do tubeless – I might go back to the G-ones, but they’re not really that much better than what I’ve been using that I think I’d like to try some other tyres out too. I would say to anyone else that you should try them out and see what you think. That said, I think for commuting and a bit of mixed stuff that I do, 700x35c is the future!