Is it just me, or do Michelin Pro Race Tires suck?



marleyjane

New Member
Sep 4, 2004
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i've been on a pair of michelin pro race tires for a couple months now (after switching over from a set of vittorias) and i've noticed that i flat ALL THE DAMN TIME! i'm tempted to blame the tires and switch back to a new pair of vittorias - has anyone else noticed michelin wimpiness, or have i just hit a patch of bad luck?
 
These tires are for racing only - not for training. It's not clear from your
post what you're using them for but if you're using them for training you shouldn't be. I'm using a pair of michelin carbon comps and they haven't punctured yet in training unfortunately I've had several flats from the inner tube
rupturing from an impact with a rock, but the tire never punctured.

-Bikeguy
 
i used them for racing but carried them over to post-season training. i guess that explains it. thanks.
 
marleyjane said:
i used them for racing but carried them over to post-season training. i guess that explains it. thanks.
I'd just say bad luck. I run Pro Races roughly 3/4 of the year, racing and training, with very few flats. (I buy them in bulk, reduces the price, and in general I both race and train on my PowerTap, so I don't worry about having one brand or model tire for training and another for racing.) I have noticed that they are susceptible to cuts from road salt in the winter, so for Dec-Feb I swap over to Conti 4-Seasons. But overall, I think you're just hitting a stretch of bad luck, unless you live in a city or another enviroment with a lot of bad stuff on the roads.
 
Same story here. Last one I had on the back cut through on about my second or third ride. I switched to Conti GPs then, and haven't had a puncture since in the last 10000 miles.
 
I've raced and trained on them, but the 1 flat I had in 1000 miles was just bad luck. But these tires are hell to put on and change for flats. I'm switching to and have used Vredestein Ricorsos for training. Easier to change tires and they are just as fast, in fact I hit my top speed on Ricorsos even though they are heavier.
 
I bought Conti GP4000s this week for the Try bike. Will post my impressions after a few rides..
 
hmm... that's interesting. I ride with a club. Some race, some don't. There's a full spectrum of riders I ride and train with. When it comes to Michelin's people either love them or hate them.

Although I race and train on a pair of Vittoria Open Corsa's my brother has the Michelins and they seem to be okay. You may be missing a small piece of debris on the inside of the tire each time you fix the flat. A fellow club member had a similar problem with her set of Hutchinsons. It wasn't until I actually turned the tire inside out and physically tried to spread the tire open with my hands that I saw a small sliver of metal imbeded to the inside of the tire. Lord knows how that got in there... but you might want to give that a try.
 
You could say the same about any tyre I think - there are good and bad stories for most brands / models.

At this time of year (in the northern hemisphere anyway) as the weather gets that bit worse, I usually switch to Vittoria Open Pave CGs, they are designed for fast riding on tough roads in less than perfect weather.

Very highly recommended