How many miles

[LinkoVitch]

I am new to this road riding lark, enjoying it so far, and quite surprised at how many miles I can now munch on the thing ..

I was wondering roughly how many miles should I expect from my tires? I have a stock Felt Z85, which has factory fit Felt puncture resist tires. Mostly using the bike to commute with the odd weekend ride, the commute ride is all up hill, and some of the roads are less than amazingly surfaced and a bit rough in places.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fossyant]

How long is a piece of string. Varies greatly - upto 3000 miles, but less if the roads are poor and you are carrying extra weight (i.e. panniers). There is always a bit of a trade off. Race tyres don't last as long, but you gain performance.

 

[LinkoVitch]

Twice the distance from the middle to either end

Thanks for that, its nice to have a rough ballpark figure, my commute should give me about 100 miles a week, carrying a little extra weight on average roads so I am probably looking at a new set every 20 weeks.

Was thinking of sticking to the puncture resist variety of tires, I imagine these are typically heavier than race tires? or would the difference be more down to the rubber compound used?

 

[fossyant]

I'd say a good 6-9 months, possibly even 12 if you look after them. The back will wear first.

 

[HovR]

Was thinking of sticking to the puncture resist variety of tires, I imagine these are typically heavier than race tires? or would the difference be more down to the rubber compound used?

Yep, puncture resistant tires will be heavier than race tires. There are three main classes of road tire: Racing, training and tough/puncture resistant.

Race tires will be lightest and give you the best performance, but will be more prone to punctures, as well as having a shorter service life. Training tires are a good middle ground, and puncture resistant tires will generally give you the most mileage and puncture protection, but at the cost of weight.

I'm currently testing out a pair of Vittoria Rubino's, which are a training tire - And if I'm not satisfied with them, I will be trying out Schwalbe Durano or Durano Plus, which seem to get a good review around here for having good puncture protection without adding excessive amounts of weight.

 

[LinkoVitch]

I was looking on Wiggle earlier (not that I was bored at work or anything ) and they seem to refer to "City" tyres.. would these be the best puncture resist road tyres? They seem a lot more tready than my current tyres.. will have to look at training tyres and see if they match what I have..

Thanks

 

[HovR]

I forgot to mention, my list really only classifies skinny road tires - 700x25c or below. The sizes generally found on road and racing bikes. On Wiggle, all of the classes of tires I mentioned are grouped under "Road Race Tires".

Once you go above 25c you start to enter whole new tire classifications, such as City Tires which tend to be slick tires, but in wider sizes more suited for hybrids.

Wider tires will generally give you a more comfortable ride, however you will have to make sure your frame has the clearances needed.

 

[LinkoVitch]

I shall have to look properly when I get to the point of actually needing a pair Thanks for all the advice, most useful.