Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

I'll try to keep this one a little different to the usual "what should I buy"...

Possibly I'm just looking for an excuse to upgrade. Currently have Schwalbe Marathons (700 x 28c) but I dislike the squirmy tread (last set were the OEM Specialised All Conditions, replaced after a nail when through the tread and out the sidewall). I have had one puncture (metal staple) in about 18 months and ~5000 km, the front still looks new and the rear is only slightly flattened. sidewalls have a little cracking but nothing that worries me.

Q1) how often should you replace tyres?
when they wear to the canvas? after a certain age? after a certain mileage? I imagine that the performance degrades

Q2) How dies the ride and speed of a 28c vs 25c (or even a 32 or 23) compare? (bearing in mind I'm ~70kg, but my bike is about 14kg before I put anything in the panniers) 25s are probably overkill but it opens up a few more sportier options...

Q3) With the aforementioned lack of punctures, and because my entire road is on quite smooth clean surfaces, I reckon I could get away with a sportier tyre - is something like a Conti GP 4 Season overkill? I see mixed opinions on Gatorskins but that's also under consideration.

cheers pedallers!

I think the first question could be answered by : http://www.google.com.au/. Im not sure about the last two I think you might need to rephrase them but I'm not the person to ask because I know absolutely nothing about tyers.

MattyK wrote:I'll try to keep this one a little different to the usual "what should I buy"...

Possibly I'm just looking for an excuse to upgrade. Currently have Schwalbe Marathons (700 x 28c) but I dislike the squirmy tread (last set were the OEM Specialised All Conditions, replaced after a nail when through the tread and out the sidewall). I have had one puncture (metal staple) in about 18 months and ~5000 km, the front still looks new and the rear is only slightly flattened. sidewalls have a little cracking but nothing that worries me.

Q1) how often should you replace tyres?
when they wear to the canvas? after a certain age? after a certain mileage? I imagine that the performance degrades

I've only ever noticed degraded performance if it wore through the tread rubber altogether and was on body or belt rather than on tread - or the tread wore to square profile. Obviously if the rubber is ancient and perished it will be different. I've replaced tires because I couldn't find whatever it was in them that was puncturing tubes, because they were worn, and because they weren't knobbies on a weekend when knobbies were appropriate, or because they were badly slashed and not supporting the tube safely.

Q2) How dies the ride and speed of a 28c vs 25c (or even a 32 or 23) compare? (bearing in mind I'm ~70kg, but my bike is about 14kg before I put anything in the panniers) 25s are probably overkill but it opens up a few more sportier options...

I have a roadie and an MTB. MTB has 1.5 and 2.0in 65 psi tires, flat bars and full suspension and is nearly twice as heavy. It does 30 where my roadie does 34-35 - so despite ALL of the penalties its not that much slower from a commuting perspective. Tires aren't responsible for the whole gap, so I'd imagine changing puncture protected 28s to puncture protected 23s isn't going to get you much more than 1km/hr.

Q3) With the aforementioned lack of punctures, and because my entire road is on quite smooth clean surfaces, I reckon I could get away with a sportier tyre - is something like a Conti GP 4 Season overkill? I see mixed opinions on Gatorskins but that's also under consideration.

cheers pedallers!

I've been on gatorskins for a couple of hundred k's now without problems, but I just don't think I've hit any glass on them yet.

MattyK wrote:Q1) how often should you replace tyres?
when they wear to the canvas? after a certain age? after a certain mileage? I imagine that the performance degrades

I do a fair bit of riding on crappy roads with plenty of debris so for me it's when the cuts start going right through although on my last tyre the squareness was also nearing the point of changing the tyre.

Q2) How dies the ride and speed of a 28c vs 25c (or even a 32 or 23) compare? (bearing in mind I'm ~70kg, but my bike is about 14kg before I put anything in the panniers) 25s are probably overkill but it opens up a few more sportier options...

I'm a similar weight (73+13). I ride 25s for the reason you mention last, the available options. I'm one of the many happily riding on GP4000 tyres, if they came in a 28 I'd probably give them a go but 25 is the biggest they make.

Q3) With the aforementioned lack of punctures, and because my entire road is on quite smooth clean surfaces, I reckon I could get away with a sportier tyre - is something like a Conti GP 4 Season overkill? I see mixed opinions on Gatorskins but that's also under consideration.

cheers pedallers!

Those conditions definately sound ideal for sportier tyres, one thing to consider though is that the trade off with sportier tyres is that they wear out quicker. My personal opinion is I'd rather pay a bit more replacing my tyres more often to get better grip but then my commuter is also my recreational bike, whether my opinion will change once I have another bike for recreation or not we'll have to see, I'm thinking I'll still probably go for the more grip but that's just the way I am.

1) there are indicators on the tyre, once you can't see them then you get new ones - I replace mine when I get a flat or if i don't like how they're rolling.

2) dunno only ever had 23mm

3) there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to tyre protection - flats are a pain in the butt

Missy 24 wrote:3) there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to tyre protection - flats are a pain in the butt

Missy 24 wrote:I replace mine when I get a flat or if i don't like how they're rolling

I rate that as overkill !!

il padrone wrote:

Missy 24 wrote:3) there's no such thing as overkill when it comes to tyre protection - flats are a pain in the butt

Missy 24 wrote:I replace mine when I get a flat or if i don't like how they're rolling

I rate that as overkill !!

I've moved onto Ultremo's now and I don't have this problem, they aren't cheap though, at least they aren't cheap in country

MattyK wrote:Q2) How dies the ride and speed of a 28c vs 25c (or even a 32 or 23) compare?

32s are much harder to push than 23s. When I first got mine I hated riding them. Don't mind them now though but I noticed my max rolling speed down a known hill was 10km/h less on my 32s compared to my 23s.

I'm running 37mm Vittoria Randonneur Hyper City on my commuter. They are quite nice. No punctures to date, though I have gotten a few pinch flats from jumping gutters too fast. They seem to have pretty low rolling resistance as they are slick and quite round in profile. I run 23mm Rubino Pros on my racer, and while the racer feels faster, it is half the weight of my commuter. I love the sure footedness of the Hypers. They stick like glue and corner like a motorbike. Braking performance is way way better than the Rubinos too.