Commuting and the 700c tyre

Well, obviously, it depends highly on "quality, compound etc" and the
road conditions you ride on...

Clearly - the average lifespan for you is approx 5000km - and that
seems reasonable enough?? Nothing wrong with Zaffiro Pro's...

Absent Husband

Absent Husband said:

Well, obviously, it depends highly on "quality, compound etc" and the
road conditions you ride on...

Clearly - the average lifespan for you is approx 5000km - and that
seems reasonable enough?? Nothing wrong with Zaffiro Pro's...

Absent Husband

Pro usually means race in tyre naming convention.

I rate the Continental Gatorskins and GP 3000 Silica (Just got 7000kms out of the silicas before getting my first flat, still have some life in them but the back is particularly squared off at this stage.

AC said:

Learned Cyclist,

I pose a couple of questions for you to ponder:

What is an 'average' lifespan in kms of a 700 x 23 road tyre. (yes I
realise it relies on quality, compound etc.)

What is a good (from practical experience) 700 x 23 road tyre for urban
commuting?

I have been through a number of offerings from Vittoria (last ones were
Zaffiro Pro) and managed to get 6 months (app. 5000k).

I'm looking for something with better life (or am I just in search of
the tyre holy grail?)

AC

the holy grail is always a compromise 😉

i'm running $25 conti-ultrasport 700x23. put on about 3-4K km commuting
and "only scratched the surface". i'm (still) a fat barstard (dispite
all those hills) and ware(sp?) is pretty minimal. i have however had in
the order of about 30 flats in the last two months. but its three corner
jack season =(

cheers,

kim

PiledHigher said:

I rate the Continental Gatorskins and GP 3000 Silica (Just got 7000kms
out of the silicas before getting my first flat, still have some life
in them but the back is particularly squared off at this stage.

Hmm... I've got a gatorskin and have recently noticed the square
profile since I've had it on the front. I think these tyres are just
squarer than the average.

I think 5000-7000k is about what I've been getting on my tyres. I
usually just buy whatever's decent and cheap and the LBS (hence my
racing-red rubino on the back and black gatroskin on the front of my
blue-framed bike 🙂.

I find rotating the half-worn rear to the front works well, otherwise
your always getting a new rear tyre.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> "AC" == AC <[email hidden]> writes:

AC> Learned Cyclist, I pose a couple of questions for you to ponder:

Learned? Well you're not talking to me but I'm butting in anyway ;-)

AC> What is an 'average' lifespan in kms of a 700 x 23 road
AC> tyre. (yes I realise it relies on quality, compound etc.)

I'm happy if I get 4k out of the rear, no idea how long the front lasts.

AC> What is a good (from practical experience) 700 x 23 road tyre
AC> for urban commuting?

Gatorskin's been the best for me so far.
--
Cheers
Euan

Duncan said:

I find rotating the half-worn rear to the front works well, otherwise
your always getting a new rear tyre.

And what's wrong with that? Better than having a half worn front tire.

aeek said:

And what's wrong with that? Better than having a half worn front tire.

maybe half not worn !

( managed to get 7500k out of a Vitt Rubino (@ 110psi) on the front and it still looks pretty good, but my big butt on the back ripppppps through a new back bead in about 3-4000k ( at 110psi) Thinking of going over to Vitt Pavé 25s at 291tpi , next change, either the ruts are getting worse on Beach Road or my butt is getting thinnner🙁 😕 😉 )

aeek said:

Duncan said:

I find rotating the half-worn rear to the front works well, otherwise
your always getting a new rear tyre.

And what's wrong with that? Better than having a half worn front tire.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that..", but I figure a half worn
tyre is probably at its best.. its finally down to a slick, which is
what it should have been in the first place..

I find my rear starts getting bogan-detritus punctures if it gets
too worn.

AC said:

Learned Cyclist,

I pose a couple of questions for you to ponder:

What is an 'average' lifespan in kms of a 700 x 23 road tyre. (yes I
realise it relies on quality, compound etc.)

What is a good (from practical experience) 700 x 23 road tyre for urban
commuting?

I have been through a number of offerings from Vittoria (last ones were
Zaffiro Pro) and managed to get 6 months (app. 5000k).

As a few of the others here have posted, the Conti's are
good. I'd expect at least 7-8000 out of them - the wire
bead ones . um, gatorskins? About $40 each or so,
and last ages.

I got 1500 out of a michelin pro race once! But .. it was pretty
tatty by the end of it - I think I'd worn through the threads 🙂

"Duncan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

aeek said:

Duncan said:

I find rotating the half-worn rear to the front works well, otherwise
your always getting a new rear tyre.

And what's wrong with that? Better than having a half worn front tire.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that..", but I figure a half worn
tyre is probably at its best.. its finally down to a slick, which is
what it should have been in the first place..

I find my rear starts getting bogan-detritus punctures if it gets
too worn.

I pulled an astonishing amount of glass and plastic out of my rear tyre the
other day. I kept waiting for the sudden hiss that would tell me that I had
to pull out the puncture kit, but it didn't happen. They're the 700x25
Michelins that came with the bike and I've had one puncture since I bought
the bike last November. It'll be interesting to see if I get more when I
replace the tyres.

On 02 Jun 2005 02:14:06 GMT, dtmeister <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Carl Brewer <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Yeah, I'll second that. Conti gatorskins with kevlar belt. Have been
using them since November, commuting every day with no punctures. Prior
to that I had Maxxis Detonators and had multiple punctures over a 6
month period.

I had them, the most appropriatly named tyre ever! BANG!

Carl Brewer said:

On 02 Jun 2005 02:14:06 GMT, dtmeister <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Carl Brewer <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Yeah, I'll second that. Conti gatorskins with kevlar belt. Have been
using them since November, commuting every day with no punctures. Prior
to that I had Maxxis Detonators and had multiple punctures over a 6
month period.

I had them, the most appropriatly named tyre ever! BANG!

Mine didn't pop, but I got a few flats on them in the early days, until
I started running lower pressure (90-100psi instead of 110psi) After
that they gave me no trouble.

--
BrettS