28c Road Tire Recommendations

[JoeAAA]

I have a Specialized Sirrus road bike (flat handlebars, more upright riding position, carbon fork, suspension seatpost) that came with Armadillo 26c tires, that now have about 600 miles on them (Specialized specs said they should have come with 28c tires). I would like to replace these with 28c tires that would ride less stiff and maybe stick in the corners better? I have these pumped up to 110psi in both tires (sidewall says 115-125psi). I weigh 215lbs. The Armadillos have been flat proof (so far!) but the ride quality is not that great. I have read on these posts people who like the Continental or Avocet tires. Continental makes their Ultra Gatorskins, Sport 1000, Ultra 2000, and Ultra 2000 Wires in 28c width. I would prefer going up to the 28c tires as I ride for exercise and recreation, and the roads in NJ are littered with debris everywhere I ride. Also, if possible, I want to feel more confident when the roads are wet, which has been often this year.

 

[rek]

Of those I'd pick the Ultra Gatorskin. It's the only one with the Duraskin layer, and is only slightly heavier than the others (when they're also in a wire bead, at least.)

If wet weather performance is what you want, then you might want to look at the Grand Prix 4-Seasons, but they are expensive and only available in 25c.

This site is useful:

http://www.bikemine.com/Pages/Conti/ContiProductSet.htm

Click on "application guide", it tells you the design compromises of each of their tyres.

BTW, also see what lower pressures can do for your comfort; put them down to 90psi or so and see what they're like.

 

[big_h]

Hi

We ride a Tandem and my half bike is a Trek 7200. We use Continental Ultra 2000 on both. I heard rumours that the Ultra 2000 are discontinued but are replaced by the Ultra 3000. This tyre has a putty grey appearance and the tread is apparently made of silicon that will give it an even better grip. We get exellent mileage with these tyres and they are P....... resistant (I never use THAT word!!!!!) My biggest gripe is that the cotton strip securing the bead starts to ravel and even peel away. I just hope that the new 3000's will have this attention to detail solved. What I do before even fitting an new tyre is to lightly coat the entire section of the sidewall where the cotton strip terminates with a rubber based contact glue (we use Bostik here is RSA) This helps and stops the ravelling. The front tyre that gets less wear also sometimes starts cracking but this has never caused any problems. You can always use gatorskins but you will no get any benefits except to pay more. The Gatorskins are also more "puncture" resistant but they also do puncture as regularly as other tyres. We inflate the 2000's to 140 Psi on the tandem.

Keep those wheels spinning!!!!

Big H