I used to like road racing on the old Vittoria CX tubulars back in the day - a grippy and fairly hard to puncture tyre. I was pretty disheartened about how many punctures I got with the one Open Corsa CX I tried and shocked to see how easily they cut. Definitely a race only tire.Originally Posted by daveryanwyoming .
Gandamn,
Just to give you counterpoint, I've trained and raced on Michelin Pro Race 2's and 3's for years and before that on their Axial Pros which were the precursor design. I really like the way they handle and roll and feel very confident with the way they corner at speed though I definitely think they're a better dry pavement tire. Like any lightweight racing tire they're more susceptible to flats then heavier or thorn resistant tires, but I haven't had an unusually high incidence of flats with my Michelins, certainly less than with Vittoria Open Corsa Cx's or other lightweight high performance tires.
Anyway, they're road tires not track tires though I've trained on the track with them. They won't blow up when you hit your first pothole and aren't dangerous or unreliable at pressure or at speed. You may or may not like their overall ride quality, wet or dry cornering performance or may feel more confident with a treaded tire (many folks do though bike tires don't really need tread the way a car tire with it's much larger contact patch and higher average speeds does). But the tires are very high quality, very fast tires that are a nice compliment to your bike but may or may not be appropriate for the kind of riding you do. If you ride a lot of debris strewn roads for instance while commuting you may want something a bit more puncture resistant.
Tires are pretty subjective and though I've got no argument with Swampy over Continentals being very good choices, I've personally had really good luck with the Michelin Pro Race series so as in everything a lot is in the eye of the beholder. My current favorite wet weather clinchers are the Vittoria Open Corsa CGs with the green tread and I typically race on tubulars but train on the Michelins and have no regrets with them.
-Dave
Perhaps the Hi-Lites predated the Axial Pro's but I'm pretty sure the Axial's were the predecessors to the Pro Race line.Originally Posted by swampy1970 .
I thought the Michellin Hi-lites were the tire that spawned the Pro Race range? Those things were around back when I was racing the first time around. Them and the NuTrak FasGrips - those were some awesomely grippy tires. They'd almost give Clement Crits a run for their money. I see the Clement Crit has been "rebranded and revived". Nice.
Are you using the black Equinox or the ones with the colors.? The reason why I ask is I had a fairly serious crash while riding the "Equinox Red" during a downpour. I have had good luck with Hutchinson tires other than that. I am giving the "Road Intensive" tires a go around right now and have been quite pleased.Originally Posted by kdelong .
They are not the cheapest tires on the shelf: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1034963_-1_1590008_20000_400013
Mileage is a matter of how you ride and surface that you ride on. I have never used Michelon Pro 3 tires but I have used others and they last about half as long as a regular tire, i.e. 2500 miles on a Hutchinson Equinox tire versus 1500 on a Hutchinson Fusion 3. Part of what makes a race tire desireable is the fact that they are lighter than training tires. Part of this weight savings comes by not using as much rubber in the casing and using more threads to give it strength. The tires wear out more qucikly because they start out with less rubber.
Reviews about anything on the Internet, or anywhere else should be taken with a grain of salt. That is why they coined the phrase:"Your mileage may vary". There will be people who are going to love a certain product because they have had good results with it and there will be those that hate it because they have not had good results.Originally Posted by bianchi10 .
reviews about tires on the interenet should be taken with a grain of salt. it's like asking which saddle to get. you can give advice but really there are several points of personal set up that can be a deciding factor. I PERSONALLY will never buy a pro race 3 again. had bad luck with tons of flats. does that mean its a bad tire? no, I just dont have the money to keep buying a high end race tire. Same goes for the gatorskin tire from continental. People rave about them, but I had 3 different sets, all had sidewall blowouts within a month. Will never buy again. Could have been something I did when installing, could havebeen air pressure to high/low, terrain....etc. I ride on specialized mondo pro's currently and love them despite it's low rolling resistance. I have nearly 3000 miles and not one flat. It may not be the fastest tire but it has proven to be reliable for me. Unfortunately they stopped making them and I going to try the gp4000 (continental) next. I have also had fatntatsic luck with the serfas seca RS tire. Cheap but very durable! comes in tons of colors also. If you want a solid tire that you can feel asured that you wont be on the side of the road each ride fixing a flat, i would really look into the serfas tire. Not going to be your number 1 race tire out there, but I would bet money you would be happy with it.
Originally Posted by kdelong .
Reviews about anything on the Internet, or anywhere else should be taken with a grain of salt. That is why they coined the phrase:"Your mileage may vary". There will be people who are going to love a certain product because they have had good results with it and there will be those that hate it because they have not had good results.
If Serfas Seca RS tires are your gold standard, check out this review site: http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/serfas-seca-rs-folding-road-tire-reviews
Now twice as many people liked them as disliked them, but with a 33% disapproval rating, I would be a little worried about betting money on it.
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