Commuting tire recommendations?

[vvill]

My stock road tires are some sort of Vittoria slicks and I’ve been pretty happy with them. Of course, I’ve had nothing to compare to really.

@Dirt 21095 wrote:

More documentation of my superpowers:
1) Cause OneEighth to get flat tires
d) Cause destruction of all Toyota Priuses
9) Make beer disappear.

A Prius parked in front of Swing’s this morning got a parking ticket before you showed up.

I flatted twice this week. (First one was due to me being stupid and leaving my bike out in the heat which blew a sidewall in my tire. Second one was due to me being stupid and not checking the sidewall before putting in a new tube and riding off.)

I don’t think there were any undrunk beers left last night.

😮

[KLizotte]

@vvill 21103 wrote:

I flatted twice this week. (First one was due to me being stupid and leaving my bike out in the heat which blew a sidewall in my tire. Second one was due to me being stupid and not checking the sidewall before putting in a new tube and riding off.)

Newbie question: Could leaving your bike parked out on the sidewalk in the hot sun potentially cause the sidewall/tube to burst? I’ve never thought of that before….

[consularrider]

I have to admit I’m cheap and that I have been running the Nashbar Prima 2 Plus tires on my road bikes (a 700×25 on the Salsa and a 27×1 1/4 on the Raleigh). At anywhere from $10 – 15 they’ve been good for 5000 miles with no flat issues for me, but then I’m usually riding in the opposite direction from Dirt. I ride these bikes mostly for longer rides on paved trails, city streets, and country roads/highways.

On my commuting bike I run a 700×32 or 35 and have tried different tires. Right now I have some Michelin PiLot Sport tires with 5700 miles and only one flat, a nasty brass screw in the rear tire. I got these for about $35 each. Before that I had Continental City Rides for about the same price and changed them at 4600 miles, but had a number of flats after 3000 miles. This bike is my do everything bike for rides under 40 miles with some packed trail riding as well as paved trails, city streets, and some country roads/highways.

[Certifried]

thanks for all the new responses and letting me hi-jack the thread. I ended up with these:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/road-tires/enduranceroadtires/roubaixarmadilloelite
from FreshBikes ($60), so saved the shipping costs and was able to get them immediately.

not sure if there’s any difference, but these were the ones I thought I was supposed to get:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/road-tires/training-allseasonroadtires/allconditionarmadilloelite

I don’t see a whole lot of difference between the “endurance” and “training” tires, except (I guess) the tread pattern. The all condition might’ve been better for the rain, the bike shop pro said he preferred the roubaix. I probably wouldn’t have noticed any difference lol

[jopamora]

I’ve been pretty happy with the Vittoria Randonneur line.

[DaveK]

@jopamora 21189 wrote:

I’ve been pretty happy with the Vittoria Randonneur line.

That’s what I have on my commuter. Reflective strips and all.

[jrenaut]

@DaveK 27650 wrote:

That’s what I have on my commuter. Reflective strips and all.

Please don’t feed the spammers.

[Dirt]

My only complaint about the Vittoria Randonneur series is that on some rims, they fit REALLY tightly… like “they are so tight they will break any plastic tire lever if you get a flat” tight. It isn’t a problem with all rims. I had it with a set of Velocity rims and a set of Mavic CX33s. Others seemed to be okay.

[jopamora]

@Dirt 27653 wrote:

My only complaint about the Vittoria Randonneur series is that on some rims, they fit REALLY tightly… like “they are so tight they will break any plastic tire lever if you get a flat” tight. It isn’t a problem with all rims. I had it with a set of Velocity rims and a set of Mavic CX33s. Others seemed to be okay.

I had that problem with the Randonneur Cross tires on my old bike. I think I broke a finger or two in addition to a few tire levers. The install/removal of Randonneur Pros on my current bike has been really easy. Not sure if it is the tire or different wheels that made the biggest difference.

[GuyContinental]

@jopamora 27677 wrote:

I had that problem with the Randonneur Cross tires on my old bike. I think I broke a finger or two in addition to a few tire levers. The install/removal of Randonneur Pros on my current bike has been really easy. Not sure if it is the tire or different wheels that made the biggest difference.

Make that three of us- I use Vittoria Diamantes (not durable enough for commuting!) and Rubinos- the Diamante’s were, bar none, the hardest tire I’ve ever had to mount. Ended up having to leave one stretched across the rim for 48 hours and then using a soap lubricant on the rim. Went through 6 tubes too… the second trip to Revolution was kind of embarrassing. The Rubinos went on with *only* a busted lever and a bloody finger.

On a side note, I’m amazed that the Vittoria internet trolls found this thread that quickly! That’s an amazing social media response… too bad they came off sounding like the bot that they probably are…

[DaveK]

@jopamora 27677 wrote:

I had that problem with the Randonneur Cross tires on my old bike. I think I broke a finger or two in addition to a few tire levers. The install/removal of Randonneur Pros on my current bike has been really easy. Not sure if it is the tire or different wheels that made the biggest difference.

I’ve had the same issue with the Rando Cross on my bike on two sets of rims. Solution is hopefully not to flat..

[jrenaut]

After about 1200-1400 miles on my Specialized Armadillo Elites, the rear tire was wearing through in patches. It seemed kind of sudden, though when I looked up the mileage, I realized that I probably should have rotated them somewhere in there. To the credit of the tires, they still didn’t flat, even with the rubber completely gone in two dime-width patches. I had exactly two flats on those tires. One was a poorly installed tube – the stem – whatever the heck you call the thing that you put the air in – sheared off when I hit a bump. The other was the nail through the rear rim. So, I would absolutely heartily recommend these tires for flat resistance.

However, I’ve replaced them today with Continental Gator Hardshells. I’m a little disappointed in 1200 miles, and my LBS doesn’t stock Specialized. So I’m trying something different. I will keep everyone posted on how they do.

[ronwalf]

@jrenaut 32175 wrote:

After about 1200-1400 miles on my Specialized Armadillo Elites, the rear tire was wearing through in patches.

I’ve had chains last longer than that! Is tire worn all over and just worse in these spots? If not, is it from skidding while braking?

I’ve got 2800 on my Vittoria Randonneurs, and they’re just starting to show the second layer of rubber (it’s red). But then, I’m relatively light and only occasionally haul one kid and he’s on the front.

[jrenaut]

The actual holes in the rubber are probably from hard braking, but I ride 80-90% of my mileage in the city. Skids happen. But the tires, the rear especially, are worn all the way around. The front probably has some life left, but not a ton.

[Greenbelt]

I’m over 6k miles on Schwalbe marathon 35s — pretty rough duty too, give my weight and route

[Author]

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