Hello everyone – I’m a serious road biker with 4 road bikes – an Ultegra Kestrel Talon, a Dura Ace Cervelo Soloist Team, a 105 Giant TCR Aero 2, and an Ultegra Giant OCR 1. Well, I’m looking for a good pair of puncture proof Kevlar belted tires for my commuter bike – the OCR 1. I prefer 700 x 25c tires for that bike.

My OCR 1 tires right now are the Michelin Dynamic 700 X 25c tires with Spinskins Touring Kevlar belt inner lining. Sadly, the Spinskins don’t work in preventing all flats and I have gotten two flats while using them! And when I repaired my flat tire I found that the Spinskin liner bunched up along one part of the wheel so that part of the tire / tube combination was exposed to flats.

I really had bad luck lately as I have had 3 flats within the last month. I guess only tires with an inner built in Kevlar belt will work. I guess there are Schwalbe and Specialized tires with Kevlar belts. But my impression of the Specialized Armadillo tires are that they are slow.

Does anyone have recommendations for Kevlar belted puncture proof tires? Have you used them for long miles and did they prevent flats? Most of all, are they fast or slow tires ? E.g., do they have a lot of rolling friction that slows you down?

try a product called panaracer flat away. Its a ballistic kevlar belt that goes inside the tire very light and tough. Stay away from Spinskins though from what I hear they're crap.

If weight isn't an issue try Mr Tuffys they work quite well also. They're reusable whereas the flataways aren't really.

One other thing, max out the tire pressure, especially on the back since thats where you'll get 90% of your flats. And use a tire with a high thread count, TPI. I highly recommend Veloflex tires.

I've never had a puncture with Conti Gp 3000s (7000 miles), so would recommend them. Believe they are 5 ply, 430 tpi, but don't know if they use kevlar. For something a little heavier, the Conti Four Season or Gatorskin should be good.

Also, would advice to stay away from the max rated pressure on any tire if you want to avoid cuts and punctures. Depending on your weight, for 25 mm tires, 90-100 psi should be plenty....grip, ride, tire life, puncture and rolling resistance all improve when you run the right tire pressure.

Specialized Armadillos, available in 23 and 25, virtually indestructable. Just picked some up for $1.50 a piece (yes, that is right, it's an excess inventory place).

I'm staying away from all inserts now. My Spinskins Touring work terrible and they always bunch up along oneside of the wheel. I guess other inserts will do them same. So a kevlar belted tire is my only option. And I do pump up my pressure to the max.

My Specialized Armadillos on my MTB bike feel slow. Or maybe it's just that MTBs are slow. I have a 2003 Cannondale F600 MTB with only 80 miles. That's how much I like riding it compared to 1777.6 miles on my training road bike, a 2002 Giant TCR Aero 2.

Actually I have had only one pinch flat from using the Vredestein Ricorso tires. Never a flat from a puncture yet with these tires.

How about Hutchison Excel tires? Are they any good?

Where did you get these.... online ???
Please inform

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Excess inventory place run by Overnite Trucking company, local Richmond, VA. Also picked up some Specialized FatBoy mtb slicks .... $1.15 ea! i was there Thursday and they had about 30 each 23 and 25s.

Email me at capwater@yahoo.com Might be able to work something out for you if I can figure how to ship a wire bead tire....

That is what I have, I ride in NYC, and so far I have had no punctures.
I hope that I don't jinx myself.

C'mon man, you can't hold out on us like that! I've checked Nashbar and Performance. Not there. Where are they?

Ok just saw this. Nevermind.

I would have bought all of them if I'd seen a deal like that. They'd make great gifts for my cycling friends ... if i had any that it.

I like the Vittoria Open Corsa range

KS, KX, CX

All very durable and a nice ride too.

Great value for money too imo.

Of course I am biased as we sell them from www.bicyclerubber.com

But, having had the chance to look closely at pretty much every tyre out there, I really do like these the best and use them myself

Cheers

Here's my two cents' worth.

I bought 23cx700 Armadillo tyres for my commuting hybrid bike a couple of weeks ago; before I was using some Michelin ones (Pro Race http://two-wheels.michelin.com/2w/front/TyreGuide) with a green Kevlar liner in.

The Pro Race tyres had great grip, but were punctured easily without the liner. They lasted around 5000 miles, but by that point you could see holes everywhere. I inflated the tyres to around 8 bar. Even with the Kevlar, there was the occasional puncture (but some were due to me not keeping the band over the middle of the tyre).

I think the Armadillos weigh less than the Michelins+Kevlar, and the bike seems quicker (but that could be because you have to inflate Armadillos to around 8-8.5 bar). The person in the shop said if you underinflate them the softer walls perish as the harder middle bit flexes. Having said that, if there were a world without broken glass and nails, the Pro Races would be perfect. Hmmm, maybe the clue is in the name.

I think the grip on the Armadillos is considerably less than the Michelins (or at least there is less feedback from the tyres, so I don't fancy pushing them), as the Armadillo compound is so hard. This and the high inflation pressure leads to a harsh ride. And braking is not very good. But on tyres that skinny it isn't exactly easy to stop quickly without locking up.

I'd best finish now before you all get too bored...

I'll second the Conti GP 3000 and tire pressure recommendations. I've never had a flat in 4 years of riding on them at 100-105 psi on my road bike.

I've also had good results with the Specialized Armadillos on my tandem. Haven't had a flat with them, though I don't have as many miles on them as on my road bike.

For my commuter bikes, I have used either Specialized kevlar belted tires or Contis with similar results. Even without kevlar, Continentals are the most puncture resistant tires I've used in 15+ years of urban commuting with Michelin by far the most puncture prone.

I've had good luck in the past using the Continental GP 3000s. However so far this year I have been on Vittoria Rubino Pro tires. No flats so far. They are a very surprising good value.

Cheers!