What commuter tyres do you use?

[Tynan]

Luganos dissed?

What's not to like?

there's a right tyre out there for every one I suppose

I'm reluctantly about to change the Lugano on the front, been there for an age, word completely bald and inumerable damage from inumerable sharp things but only ever two very slow pin prick flats in a hectic week where the a madman followed me around with an icepick it seemed

I get through them on the rear, I'm a big chap doing a fair amont of hard braking, but they last and barring one lost to a side wall gash, they wear routinely and without drama or suprises, the same couldn't be said for the tyres I used before them

 

[downfader]

I had gatorskins with the bike as new on the Condor chap's recomendation, 'bomb proof' he said

Hated tham, they flatted too much, cut up terrible and were alarming when cornering in the wet, I nearly lost the rear twice on fairly dull sweeping turns in the wet, so bad that I ditched them after a couple of weeks

that so many like them proves to me that tyre performace varies wildly between riders, bikes, routes etc etc

Its interesting you say that. In the wet I find I lose traction uphill slightly, and downhill I have to be a little more careful than with the Bont's. They're pretty good in the dry though.

Havent had any issue with them cutting up or flats though and have done about 1500-2000 miles on mine

 

[Tynan]

yes, clearly lots of people love them, I'd have been the large end of 15 st back then, plus pannier, who knows, a GP4000 lasted me no more than two or three months either

 

[dondare]

I've tried many types of "puncture resistant " tyre and SMPs are the only ones that have never punctured. Armadillos gave a hard ride and punctures. Hardcases didn't last the week. SMPs are heavy but roll well. As for getting them on; yes it's a job to do. Last time I used a shoe-horn. Really. I actually had to shoe-horn them onto the rim.

 

[bauldbairn]

Michelin City Protek Plus - 26" X 1.85, one puncture in 3500 miles. OK in the wet, OK in the dry. Nothing startling but a good VFM tyre. Really heavy though.

 

[buddha]

I was just about to buy some Vittoria Rubino Pro slick 26" tyres. (I use the Rubino Pro on my 700c wheels and recommend them highly).
However, in their wisdom Vittoria have decided to make them (26" version) with a wire bead only AFAIK! So whereas the '09 version is 210g the 2010 version is 400g

 

[BentMikey]

Schwalbe Durano 28-406 (20") n the front, and a Conti Triathlon 23-571 (650C) on the back. Speed, grip, and excellent handling are my priorities.

 

[Watt-O]

Specialized Armadillo's on the old MTB, and Schwalbe Ultremo on the road. Both highly recommended. Now, having said that I'll get a puncture tonight!

 

[BentMikey]

You know about the Ultremo recall, right? I just got my replacements for the fixed wheel in the post last week.

 

[michaelrmgreen]

Specialized All Condition Armadillos in 700c 23 here. A complete solution for me.

 

[Tynan]

Schwalbe Durano 28-406 (20") n the front, and a Conti Triathlon 23-571 (650C) on the back. Speed, grip, and excellent handling are my priorities.

That Durano's a pretty heavyweight tyre though surely, plus I aways assume that as the belt gets thicker, the handling will get worse

 

[palinurus]

Armadillos, 28s on one bike and 23s on the other.

Plus spare wheels with Schwalbe Snow Studs for the icy bits of winter.

 

[BentMikey]

That Durano's a pretty heavyweight tyre though surely, plus I aways assume that as the belt gets thicker, the handling will get worse

Durano, not Durano Plus, which is the heavyweight. The Durano is the Stelvio replacement, so is fairly thin and fast out of the 406 selection.

 

[leyton condor]

Continental ultra gator seems to work quite well for me.
12 miles per day with only a couple of pun~*^7£s per year if that.
The missus used specialized armadillos on the same route with equal success

 

[MacB]

Have two sets of M+ in 700x35 and they've done about 4k miles between them, zero punctures. Had the Luganos when I was using 700x23, on another bike, and only had two punctures, both on the same ride and the second was a pinch puncture from a pothole incident that broke the rear wheel. I may go with the idea of M+ rear and Marathon front. I've not noticed any big speed penalty with them though you can feel it when accelerating. I also don't have an issue cornering, but then I corner quite slowly

I did some, very amateurish, home tests around my local training loop last year, just over 20 miles. On the commuter bike with 700x35 M+ tyres and a total bike weight of 35lbs unladen I could just reach a 16mph average. On the lighter bike with 700x23 Lugano tyres and a total bike weight of 22lbs I could manage about 18.5mph. This is looking at the best I ever managed on each bike. I also found that I could achieve pretty similar results if I left each bike in one gear or moved through the ranges. Just a bit of difference in riding styles, especially around conserving momentum.

For a day to day workhorse I'd rather avoid punctures and the bigger tyres give a vastly comfier ride. The light bike is going to be tried with some Panaracer Ribmo tyres next, but still 700x32.