Winter road tyres

[ozboz]

Hiya , I want to get my girlfriend a CX but she wants a road bike , I like the tyre gear on CX's esp with the onset of winter , so I will compromise if I can get a good road tyre with good tread pattern and puncture protection , without trawling all the sites what brand would be the better winter tyre ?
Cheers Steve

 

[arch684]

Marathon plus.On sale at wiggle,read the reviews

 

[outlash]

Tyres on 'cross bikes won't necessarily have good puncture protection just because they go off road, and you don't need tread on road tyres either. Personally, I've been using Schwalbe Durano's for the last year and they've been excellent and I would imagine the Durano+ have even better puncture protection.

 

[Mo1959]

Tyres on 'cross bikes won't necessarily have good puncture protection just because they go off road, and you don't need tread on road tyres either. Personally, I've been using Schwalbe Durano's for the last year and they've been excellent and I would imagine the Durano+ have even better puncture protection.

Yes. I'll second the Durano Plus. I got 7,000 miles out of a pair with only one deflation right at the end of their life when I stupidly decided to pass a hedge cutting operation with fresh clippings all over the road. Lol

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Tread pattern isn't really what you want this time of year. More knobs on tyres = less rubber on the road usually!

+1 for Schwalbe Durano though, whichever flavour

 

[winjim]

Compromise by getting your girlfriend what she wants rather than what you want her to have? How peculiar.

That aside, if she's riding on road then tread pattern is irrelevant and won't improve grip. I have found Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech to be an excellent tyre. Supple and grippy with a wet weather compound. Gives a decent ride and has extra puncture protection compared to the regular Rubino.

 

[vickster]

Compromise by getting your girlfriend what she wants rather than what you want her to have? How peculiar.
.

Indeed, given your location you have a very wide selection of good shops within only a couple of miles

 

[shouldbeinbed]

To expand the tread pattern info slightly: CX knobblies are for obtaining griip in thickish wetish mud, in driving terms like off road Land Rover tyres. Slow, poor all round and wear down very rapidly on roads.

Road tyres are slick or with rain clearing grooves like F1 cars, to provide the best traction and surface area contact with (by and large) flat clean solid surfaces such as roads.

If your GF is riding soft off road stuff regularly or spends her time tailgating dirty tractors then CX may be the ideal but if she's going to be riding normal roads then CX just for tyre choice is OTT and counterproductive to good grip.

Edit: P.S. you have a lot to learn about women too

 

[Racing roadkill]

Don't sacrifice ride quality for durability, unless you really can do without punctures at all costs. The Schwalbe + tyres are fairly bullet proof, but they roll like crap. I've switched one of my road bikes to continental 4000 S, they are lovely as far as ride quality goes, and they are pretty durable as well. It's all a compromise at the end of the day, trial and error.

 

[gavintc]

Compromise by getting your girlfriend what she wants rather than what you want her to have? How peculiar.

Women can have valid opinions. Perhaps she needs a new boyfriend. Tread pattern has no use on a road bike, and indeed can result in less rubber on the road.

 

[vickster]

Review of winter tyres I just read rated the GPS4000 4 seasons best

But I'd just see how the stock tyres on her new road bike fare

 

[Jimidh]

Don't sacrifice ride quality for durability, unless you really can do without punctures at all costs. The Schwalbe + tyres are fairly bullet proof, but they roll like crap. I've switched one of my road bikes to continental 4000 S, they are lovely as far as ride quality goes, and they are pretty durable as well. It's all a compromise at the end of the day, trial and error.

I use these summer and winter and they are great tyres - fast and they stick to the road even in crap weather.

 

[Tom B]

Probably a bit extreme for you, but I have just got back from Iceland where around 50% of pushirons are fitted with studs.

Noisy but surprisingly grippy off normal roads, didnt get chance to use them in anger on ice.

I'm going to get a set for my second scrubber bike - probaby Schwalbe marathon winter or just winters.

 

[declas]

Take a look at the Cycling weekly "Winter road bike tyres: a buyer’s guide" http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/winter-road-bike-tyres-3139
From my experience-
Thick touring type tyres are more puncture resistant and wear longer but these arent what you would want on a road bike. Touring thick stiff and slow rolling, road supple and fast rolling which is what you want on your road bike.
Its the rubber compound not tread that has most effect on grip and rolling resistance for road tyres.
25mm or if you can fit them 28mm are better for both comfort and rolling resistance on British roads. Must inflate them to the right psi for the tyre, road and rider weight. 23mm at 130psi are great when you have a perfectly smooth clean track but general British riding conditions suit 25/28mm much better.
A tyre with a puncture resistant band will help alot.
Avoid tubeless. Yes you do get self sealing for all the flint style punctures but when the tyre eventually goes down and wont re inflate (and it will) and you put an inner tube in it will immediately puncture because of all the resident flints in the carcase you havent removed.
I use Schwalbe and Continental but all the major manufacturers have good tyres in there range. (see Cyclig Wekly article). Schwalbe One is my favourite for my Road and Audax bikes. They do a Schwalbe One V Guard now which offers greater puncture resistance.

 

[al-fresco]

Continental Gatorskins. I know the tread looks feeble, doesn't matter, they work. Good puncture protection and they last well.