Huge Tyre shootout/test in "Le Cycle"

Don't know if there's anyone here who reads/gets the French "Le Cycle", but for the tyre concious rider, the latest edition (360, Feb 2007) has a shootout of 100 tyres and tubulars.

Basic comparisons are weight, cost, adherance (tested by putting the tyre on a damp bitumenized board which is then tilted until the tyre slips) and rolling resistance (given as a distance, tested on a trainer). On top of that, they give various subjective opinions on each tyre - puncture resistance, comfort etc.

Interesting! No space here to list everything, but for the curious:

Competition: Best for them was Bontrager Race X Lite Pro 23 mm. Amongst this group, Continental GP4000 did quite badly in adherance (well, very badly actually), but the GP 4000 S did much better. Others that did well were the Vittoria open Corsa Cx, Veloflex Milano. The old standby, Vittoria Rubino Pro 23 rolls very well, but doesn't grip as well as some - though it did better than (for example) Schwalbe Ultremo which is about double the price.

Cyclosport: (in other words, anything between racing and training .. "event" riding). Best for them was the Rubino Pro 25 (NOT 23!). Others that did well were Michelin Lithion, and Tufo C Elite Ride 25 (but it's expensive!).

Training: Only a half dozen listed here, all quite similar. They picked Hutchinson Equinox, but Bontrager Select K (good grip) and Michelin Dynamic (rolls well) look better on their figures.

They then have one catch-all category they call "Specific" tyres ... anti-puncture, rain, ultra-light etc. etc. Hard to compare them then in some respects, but they picked out the Conti GP 4 Seasons .. though it has pretty low rolling figures, Schwalbe Stelvio Plus (anti-puncture, but careful in the rain), and for lightness Michelin Pro2Light (rolls well, but once again, careful in the wet).

Overall, not counting sew-ups/tubulars, the best roller was the Bontrager Xlite Pro 23, closely followed by the Michelin Pro2Race/Pro2Light and the Rubino Pro 23. Best for adherance was Maxxis Courcheval, followed by a family, the Conti GP/4 seasons/4000S and the Rubino Pro 25.

Hope some of that was useful!

B

Did they give specific test numbers?

The reason I ask is because, when you test and rank anything, somebody has to be best and worst but the range between the best and worst may only be a couple of percents. If that's the case, the entire difference can be due to background noise data.

Years ago Bicycling Magazine used to do that kind of testing. They even had a test fixture built to measure the stiffness of bike frames. For whatever reason they decided that it was in the magazine's best interest to discontinue that kind of testing. It's nice to see that some journalists still have the courage to do objective testing and to publish their findings.

Viva la France!

What's Conti GP4000 S?

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

Yes, "grip" is given as an angle before the tyre slips (angle betwen the tyre and the 'road', the lower is better. Best was 44 degrees, worst 59.6. Only two tyres got lower than 45 deg. Average was 49.6 deg.

Rolling resistance is given in distance (metres), longer being better. Highest was 34.2 metres, lowest 15.8, average 24.2.

All tyres were tested at 8 bars (116 psi).

B

Of the tyres mentioned (and I've ridden most), the Vittoria Open Corsa CX would get my vote. It rides mighty fine!

I don't know, and didn't even know it existed. But it's listed there separately from the GP4000 as an "improved" model. It's about 20 gm lighter, slightly thinner and seems to only be available in black. On the other hand, I can't find any other info about it anywhere so ...??

B