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A friends lad is doing a budget biking camping trip to Italy soon and as I know anything on whats good or bad with road tyres wondered what people recommend?
Conti 4000 has been mentioned as a good tyre and looks like they're just under £60/pair which is a bit above his budget I believe. Anything else that would be suitable from this lot?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/tyres/road-tyres?f=2259,4294958068,4294941631&sort=pricelow
700x25 size I think was suggested he has 23 fitted at the mo.
Thanks.
michelin lithion 2 are a durable cheap option.
That's a pretty wide remit. If it's a biking camping trip, I wouldn't say that Conti GPs are the best choice. Rather, I would suggest something like Conti Contact Sport... it's round and comfortable, with good traction both on road, and gravel (if it happens to come up). I would also go bigger than 25 if possible. More like 28.
Maxxis ReFuse are my choice for balance of speed/robustness/cost, had some for ages and get on well with them.
Find Conti MTB tyres very fragile of sidewall but the Gatorskin road tyres on the commuter have been OK, if quite slow.
Go as wide as possible. No way would I be buying top end race tyres, something cheap will do touring no problem!
I got some conti ultrasports dead cheap recently, £10?
As above - 28mm if you can get them in.
Thanks so far. The rims are Alex SL22 if that makes a difference.
Do you know what the frame is? Someone else might have already fitted wider tyres.
As mentioned michelin lithion 2s are excellent. I use them on my winter bike. Cheap, fastish, durable.
I used to commute on Lithion 2's - good value, great rolling. OK puncture wise - and not far behind the more expensive Pro Race tyres.
How do you post pics from imgur on this new set up.....?
GP 4000s on the race bike, conti ultra sports on the training bike, and wide Clement Stradas on the commuter for some tracks and gravel. Ultra sport wins the value prize though.
How do you post pics from imgur on this new set up…..?
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I've been running some Vittoria 32C's on my commuter recently and they feel great. Not too slow or draggy, plenty of grip, comfortable as a big leather sofa. I've moved upto 28's on my proper road bike from 25's and so far only upside.
I find michelin pro4 endurance a good mix of price, speed and reliability. £27 each on CRC including an inner tube.
Cheers again.
Not the best angle but reckon a 28mm will fit in the frame and also on the rims ok?
Oh and what make inner tubes?
Ta.
Looks like it but get a pic at a better angle and with a tape measure present - might go wider (calipers look like deep drops).
Tubes - any reasonable brand.
Cheers, not got the bike to hand at the mo to take another pic.
Deep drops....? I really haven't got a clue with darkside bikes aside from sorting out the gear cable tension 🙂
Try using an Allen key to measure the clearance between the top of the tyre and brake caliper? If there's a 23mm tyre fitted, then you really need 5-6mm clearance i.e. bigger tyre plus 2-3mm spare. If the bike is being used for touring, then a higher volume tyre helps in terms of comfort, grip and durability - panniers on a bike work the tyres a lot harder and I wouldn't suggest a performance-oriented tyre like a GP4000 because they have notoriously weak sidewalls - rolling over a flint / sharp stone can slice a sidewall. Touring in Italy assumes high mountains and high-speed descents, and cheap rubber wouldn't be my choice. Something like a Schwalbe Durano (£19 from Merlin) is a good compromise between performance and durability IME. I tried some Michelin Lithions once - got shredded on one ride.
Cheers will try the allen key trick.