Bicycle Tires



kylerlittle

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Apr 25, 2015
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What bicycle tires do you prefer? There are the ones that are really really thick, like a motorcycle, but there's also ones that are really thin, and there is the ones that are in between. What one do you have, and what one do you prefer and why?

I'm interested, as I think it's very important to decide on that matter.
 
What feature are you asking about?
Overall width?
Sidewall/wear surface thickness?
Tread depth?
For road use I prefer fairly skinny tires. Thin sidewalls and as thin wear surface as my riding conditions allows w/o getting too many punctures.
For off-road riding I prefer wider tires. Wider means I can run lower pressures w/o getting pinch flats, and lower pressure means better traction and better comfort.
Tread depth according to surface firmness. But generally as little as I can get away with.
 
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If you can it would be helpful to have the questions that Dabac asked above answered.

If you're wondering about road tires in the 700c format there are a lot of good tires on the market today without needing to spend $40 or more for one! If you look for closeout sales you can get $55 to $65 tires for less than $35, just find a good deal and read the reviews, if the reviews are plenty and favorable then buy the tire. I stay away from Conti road tires but I like their MTB tires. Conti road tires are too fragile for my taste and they cost more even with sales prices that are rarely slashed more than maybe 15%. I recently bought a pair of Hutchinson Intensive long distance tires that retailed for over $65 each for just $32 each, I have a set of Vittoria Rubino pro Slicks that sell locally for $59 I got for $29, and just 2 weeks ago I got a very rare sale on Specialized (who like Continental has fixed pricing) Roubaix Pro tires for $40 for one and the second was free so $20 each (this sale is still going on at any LBS that sells Specialized stuff). Most of my tire purchases are online because LBS's charge MSRP, but those Specialized tire prices are good at LBS's and on their web site and I got mine at my LBS.

The key to getting a good tire is closeout sales and reviews, I never pay more than $32 for a tire nor have I been disappointed in any tire I got like that.

By the way, the trend is going towards the 700x25 size instead of the 700x23 because of the wee bit more comfort in the larger tire, slightly better wear, and slightly less rolling resistance, if none of that is real important to you, you can get great sale prices on the 23 size tires because companies are dumping their huge inventories of that size which makes a great deal for you.
 
On my hybrid, I just got a set of 700x32 gator skins. Unfortunately the sidewall have an ugly orange pattern, but they are much tougher than the standard bontrager tires which have been giving me a lot of flats. I got them for $45 each at my LBS... Of course free install.
 
Thank you all for your answers. I think that it's not such a big bike, I'm not that experienced in calculating exactly how it would all be since I have a small body and I'm not overweight so I think a normal size bike, I'm not sure about the other calculations. I just go to a shop and pick up whatever is on there, but to me somehow the big tires seem attractive, but I don't know if they are any good.
 
I go with inbetween myself. I ride in town on paved roads, but I don't want to go so small as road bike tires typically are. Not all street are in great condition, so having a little bigger tires is great when you run into bumps and bits of gravel and things like that. I do not have a mountain bike though, it's a ladies town bike for sure. In between tires will not work well for you if you do ANY off roading though, so if you want to do anything like that, you will need the serious traction of mountain bike type tires. I found that out once when I pulled into a parking lot that was only half paved. Back tire slid the second it hit the unpaved part. Good thing I was going very slow and able to catch myself.
 
I ride in grass, hard packed dirt and even semi loose gravel all the time with just 23 tires and never had a problem, of course I'm not doing 20 mph either! Just saying if your bike handling skills are good you can ride with 23's and 25's in mild off road conditions without wondering if you're going to die.
 
Conti GP4000S2. 23C's on a 25mm wide rim. 23's are wide enough when inflated to match the 25mm rim and they're great on hardpack dirt and even gravel roads. If I rode more gravel then I'd probably use 25C's but I don't so I won't.

If you want to go off road on a road type bike, see if you can fit some 32's in the frame. Some frame/fork's won't take that width but there are tires that'll get you through the gnarly stuff. The question then is do you have the gearing required to get up the hills on grass/dirt without having to resort to cyclocross type shenanigans.
 
I guess my only option through the conclusion of all these comments is to buy myself two types.
 
A good brand is popular and sometimes expensive. Do not go after cheap tires, they easily get punctured. Tyres can be expensive because of their good quality.
 
9lines said:
A good brand is popular and sometimes expensive. Do not go after cheap tires, they easily get punctured. Tyres can be expensive because of their good quality.
Not sure what you're implying, sure a $15 msrp tire will be trash, but a $65 msrp tire on closeout for $30.will not. I highly recommend that a person read the reviews of any tire they're thinking of purchasing. There are a lot of tires that can be found on closeout that cost in the $30 range that retailed in the $65 range that are fantastic tires. And the most expensive tires that cost in the are of $75 to even $100 are handmade racing tires that have very little flat protection vs a tire that specializes in flat protection that usually cost half as much, but you pay more for a light weight tire not for puncture resistance.
 
9lines said:
A good brand is popular and sometimes expensive. Do not go after cheap tires, they easily get punctured. Tyres can be expensive because of their good quality.
Not always. I've used some really cheap ones that never broke for years.
 
It really depends on what you ar boding and what kind of bike you are riding. Cheaper tires will probably be fine if you do not do a lot of rough riding, but will probably wear out quickly if you do a lot of it. I've gotten discounted tires when I needed new ones, so I got a really good price. I don't remember exactly what the price was now, but I think it was around $20 or less per tire.
 
kylerlittle said:
What bicycle tires do you prefer? There are the ones that are really really thick, like a motorcycle, but there's also ones that are really thin, and there is the ones that are in between. What one do you have, and what one do you prefer and why?

I'm interested, as I think it's very important to decide on that matter.

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