Grippy wheels...

[confusedcyclist]

I came off my bike earlier in the week, I'm ok save for a bit of road rash and sore right arm and leg. I have the stock Giant P-R3, Flat Guard tyres which came with my Defy 1, they have been great so far and haven't suffered a single puncture. I'm a bit nervous about using them again though in the wet as I think they let me down on the bend which had me sliding along the road on my arse and elbow.

Until now I had been very confident of these wheels and had no plans to replace them for the winter. Was I just unlucky, or was I pushing my luck with slicks in the winter?

I see lots of praise for the conti 4 seasons and marathon plus, but my main concern at this stage is grip, rather than puncture proofing, but I'd take both if I can get them!

 

[Saluki]

Your wheels are fine. Just change your tyres.

My Defy has bontrager semi slicks on and has been fine so far. That'll see me on my backside any day now. The Giant tyres are made of cheese and should be changed before the bike leaves the shop, IMO.

 

[adscrim]

I moved from Gatroskins to Schwalbe Durano plus because I've found the Gatorskins 'skittish' in the wet. I've nothing but praise for the Schwalbes. They're not light but they seem to roll well, they give confidence cornering in the wet and I haven't suffered a puncture (fingers crossed) for almost two years of commuting plus two winters of training. I've just changed winter bikes (last month) and my new ride came with Schwalbe Luganos which also appear to be great in the wet. I've not ridden them long enough to tell you whether the puncture protection is any good but it's all positive so far.

 

[ianrauk]

another vote for Durano Plus's. Pretty much bombproof, grippy and fast rolling.
Damn fine tyres, though if you're a high mile muncher they don't last long.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Gratutious opportunity to repeat my picture of a Durano Plus surviving a pallet nail without puncturing.

nal1.jpg

• Dogtrousers
• 20 Sep 2014
• 2
• puncture schwalbe tyres

Durano Plus resists nail in tyre.

 

[Turbo Rider]

As per above, the wheels are fine but, from what I read, Giant tend to stiock cr*ppy tyres. They excuse themselves by comparing other brands and deviating to the group-sets and lightweight frames though, so you usually win overall...or so they say and who am I to argue? My Defy came with SR4's but I took them off after 3 months, when they started hunting for bits of glass and flint and gifted me 5 or 6 puntures in the space of a month (none previously) - got over 1500 miles out of them though and I would have carried on with them, were it not for the holes I noticed on the rear. Switched to Marathon Plus having got stuck trying (and failing) to fix a punture in the rain one day though and they've been a joy. They take some bedding in though and you will notice the difference on your ride if you get them, but once you've adjusted to the weight and slight loss of grip (I found them a bit slippy when I first put them on, though it was windy at the time), you'll be fine. From what I read, they last longer than a conti and you'll save yourself a few quid on the intitial outlay as well. B*stard to fit though!!

 

[confusedcyclist]

Your wheels are fine. Just change your tyres.

Actually the stock wheels were terrible. 2 spokes lost in under 1000 miles!

 

[Cyclist33]

I came off my bike earlier in the week, I'm ok save for a bit of road rash and sore right arm and leg. I have the stock Giant P-R3, Flat Guard tyres which came with my Defy 1, they have been great so far and haven't suffered a single puncture. I'm a bit nervous about using them again though in the wet as I think they let me down on the bend which had me sliding along the road on my arse and elbow.

Until now I had been very confident of these wheels and had no plans to replace them for the winter. Was I just unlucky, or was I pushing my luck with slicks in the winter?

I see lots of praise for the conti 4 seasons and marathon plus, but my main concern at this stage is grip, rather than puncture proofing, but I'd take both if I can get them!

I think you just got unlucky... I had the stock Giant tyres on mine and they were pretty much the grippiest I've ever used.

 

[MikeW-71]

I came off my bike earlier in the week, I'm ok save for a bit of road rash and sore right arm and leg. I have the stock Giant P-R3, Flat Guard tyres which came with my Defy 1, they have been great so far and haven't suffered a single puncture. I'm a bit nervous about using them again though in the wet as I think they let me down on the bend which had me sliding along the road on my arse and elbow.

Until now I had been very confident of these wheels and had no plans to replace them for the winter. Was I just unlucky, or was I pushing my luck with slicks in the winter?

I see lots of praise for the conti 4 seasons and marathon plus, but my main concern at this stage is grip, rather than puncture proofing, but I'd take both if I can get them!

My Defy 2 has the SR4 wheels and it came with the P-R3 tyres too. They were OK, good dry weather grip, but not great in the wet. They also wore out in 1500 miles, and I also had a crash on them in the wet.

I replaced them with some GP4000S which were a night-and-day difference! These have great grip in the wet as well as the dry, more comfortable, roll better and I haven't had a single puncture in them (touch wood). They are also still going strong at 3000 miles and I reckon another 2000 is left in them yet. For a "race" tyre, they don't half last a long time

The 4 Seasons tyres are supposedly better when it gets really cold, and can last longer still, but there's almost no difference between them in terms of grip. Even so I do not push my luck in the wet and I take corners a lot easier.

The stock wheels are comparatively heavy and crude. My carbon Defy has the PSL-1's on it and they are massively better (PSL-1's are really only the entry level of Giants' good wheelsets), so if you were to upgrade the wheels to something like the Fulcrum 7's or 5's as well as the tyres, it would be like riding a new bike IMHO

 

[cyberknight]

If it was an oil spill then pretty much any tyre will slip, GWS .

 

[fossyant]

4 Seasons are great but costly

 

[bpsmith]

I have Fulcrum 7's, from my other bike, and GP4000's on my Defy 1. Amazing difference to stock. Great in the wet too, as stated above.

 

[derrick]

4 seasons every time, well in the winter any way, will see how flush i am in the spring, i could even leave the 4 seasons on till they wear out.
I must say i am really impressed with them, i think they are worth paying that bit extra for.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Ordered some conti 4 seasons, thanks for the tips guys. Been back to the scene, no oil. Just a very smooth surface! The tyres are going in the bin!

 

[MikeW-71]

When you get them, get a bowl of hot water with washing up liquid and rub around the tread with a scourer to remove the releasing agent (this is what makes new tyres feel "oily"). If you don't get it off, they will be very slippery in the wet for a bit.

Usually you'd do this by going for a ride on dry roads, but there's not much chance of that happening any time soon