I've 'ad enough of getting puncturez from ridiculously small pieces of glass in my schwalbe blizzard sport 'puncture protection' tyrez, so I'm thinkin of gettin a pair of 25c schwalbe marathon plus'z. They're about double the price and probably double the weight, I hope they last 2wice as long and let 1/2 the amount of glass thru to the tube. Anyway, me question is what tyrez do you use, how long do they last, how puncture resistant are they, how well do they work in the wet?
I rode armadillo's once- for about a week- I wouldn't ride 'em again if you paid me. slow, heavy, don't grip the road well in the dry, don't grip it at all in the wet. If I had armadillo's on my bike I would never get punctures 'cause I'd never ride my bike. Personally I like Continental GP 4seasons
Iron; you seriously had a boss that would help you change a tyre? Sounds like a keeper. Armadillos have changed; they're not quite as bombproof as they were but they are ok to get on and off and they don't take 2000 miles before they wear enough to have grip. Just put an old pair back on today because the Rubino Pros I had on had turn out to be lethal in the wet though top notch in the dry. Never liked Contis; the side walls go too quickly and the gator skins are not as tough as they claim. My colleague has these new, Japanese I think, tires on that are the thickest I've ever seen. see how he gets on. Weight v grip v punctures? The eternal triangle.
i've found armadillos are great. i had one set on for nearly two years and not one puncture. i even wore one set down to threads from a little too much skidding and still didn't puncture. once u get them on u probably wont need to take them off. also soapy water helps get em on. in my opinion a worthwile investment. that said i havn't used much else so dont have much to compare with.
Armadillo on the back, continental grand prix 3000's on the front, winning combination. I had an armadillo on the front when they first came out, lost my front wheel and hit my head on the road. Not enough grip if you like to zig and zag but great on the back. Though like will said they aren't as strong as they used to be.
JP: Do you find Gatorskins good in the wet? I've always found them fairly terrifying - can't wait for the buggers to wear out so I can put something else on, possibly Vittoria Pave.
My favourite tyres are the black Vredestein Frotezzas. Soft, grippy, comfortable and you can bang in 175 psi. Unfortunately they are too soft to use for messengering.
I used GP3000 (now GP4000) (grippy and pretty puncture) resistant when I was working, but Conti 4seasons are pretty nice too.
I agree with the conti on the front, something tougher on the back. When I worked in Glasgow ( wet, hills ) I had that set-up but in London I use vittoria Rubinos front and back cos they're cheap, and while you might think it's wet down here, it's just not.
@Steff Ive not lost the front wheel in the wet since I started using them, current one has done 8 months with 1 puncture so far... Ive got one on the back as well at the moment but will return to the armadillo when it wears out (had 8 punctures in 6 months on this one)
Armadillos really are a lot grippier than they used to be. I had 4 punctures in 30 mins on Fortezzas in the wet; and , no, it wasn't something in the tire or rim I'd missed.
@JP - fair enough, comes down to my crap bike handling then which is no great surprise, though I've generally found it's the back which slides in the wet. They do wear very well though - admittedly I'm only commuting, but my front looks as-new after several months.
oh man did i loose the arse today badly with a rubino on the back in the wet i must have 360'd the bike, splat, spun out flat on the deck with bemused paedestrians laughing at my ass... all i could do to regain composure was mount up cycle away round the corner and yelp like a dog thats got its tail stuck in the door... zafiro next methinks...
rubinos are great in the dry; both sides of my body are bruised and scabbed from me needing two accidents before I learned that they are awful in the wet.
They dont seem to cope well on the back wheel (puncture-wise). Apparantly the price of rubber has gone up?? All tyres in Condor have gone up by a fiver... Gatorskins £22, Armadilo elite £28??!!
Well tyre rubber is made from crude oil innit, and prices for that have 'rocketed'
I keep getting punctures in my back tyre, it's pissing me right off, I went to bed last night with a fully inflated tyre and the motherfucker is flat when I wake up this morning. FUCKING PUNCTURE REPAIR ON A SATURDAY MORNING!!! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE MASTURBATING, THEN DOING FOOD SHOPPING, THEN CLEANING THE KITCHEN AND BATHROOM, THEN PREPARING FOR BIRMINGHAM'S FIRST ALLEYCAT TO WHICH ONLY 4 PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP!!!!! MY PLANS ARE FUCKING RUINED!!!!
I had sport contact 26*1.3 and they were great, gripped well and next to no punctures. ive always liked contis but dont get the 1.6" version; slower, weaker and dont take as much pressure.