good 25-33c, tough road tires?

[scandy]

I have a set of Strada Biancas right now, I think they're great as an all around tire so long as I stick to paved roads. Taken them on a couple shortcuts and around gravel parking lots and in that short amount of time developed quite a few small cuts. There are a few rides I want to do with about 50/50 road/gravel mix, and i always like the option to throw in some gravel on a mostly road ride.
For example, theres a 160 mile ride im trying to do, 130 of it is paved, with the last 30 a pretty rough gravel road mountain pass. So having something thats fast rolling is important for the majority of it, but also wont get torn up or be miserable for the last 30, especially when you consider that those might be some LONG 30 miles. anyway, im not feeling comfortable putting the stradas through long miles on gravel.

So looking for a tire that prioritizes paved road, but can take plenty of abuse if needed. I can fit up to about 33c and still have a tiny bit of clearance.

[eBAUMANN]

28c gp 4-season on a wide rim

or a 32c pasela - pt serv or tourguard, ive had great experiences with both on and off-road.

[palincss]

Pretty funny that a tire named after gravel roads would be too delicate for use on gravel roads...

[palincss]

And by the way, what is "c" supposed to stand for?

[eBAUMANN]

Pretty funny that a tire named after gravel roads would be too delicate for use on gravel roads...

pretty much every open-tubular i can think of prioritizes ride comfort/quality over durability. which is fine if you are racing or don't mind changing a flat every so often but if you want a tire thats gonna LAST and take a beating, i would probably look elsewhere.

[buldogge]

Vittoria Hyper Randonneur...I believer it is now called the Voyager Hyper...in 32.

Very smooth rolling tire, but pretty tough and still reasonable weight.

-Mark in St. Louis

[batman1425]

I like the vittoria as well save for how miserable they are to mount. Broke 3 levers trying to get them on my fulcrums.

[moose8]

A second vote for the continental gp 4-seasons. I've never flatted them while riding including three d2r2s on them. And I'm not light or particularly good at avoiding rocks and potholes.

[alessandro]

And by the way, what is "c" supposed to stand for?

Dunno how that snuck in there--scandy and Eric are talking about tire width in millimeters, and the c definitely does not belong in that context.

With a little searching, I found an explanation of the C in 700c: It means nothing. Nothing, my dear sir, and yet we continue to use it. Sort of like being clipped in to clipless pedals. Bicycles!

The modern standard for road, cyclocross, and many hybrid tires is 700C. You'll also find 700C tires on some European-style cruiser bikes.

The "700" refers to the rough outer diameter of the tire, although the actual outer diameter will vary greatly, depending on the type of tire and tread pattern. The "C" means NOTHING; it does not stand for "centimeters." Think about it--a 700-centimeter tire would be HUGE, over 21 feet tall! And don't say "700CC" unless you want to look like a complete newbie. For the origin of the term 700C, see "A Brief History of 700C" below.

A Brief History of 700C

Many years back, there were four different variations of tires sizes available known as 700A, 700B, 700C, and 700D. They had different bead seat diameters, but all shared the same characteristic of being exacly 700 millimeters on the outside diameter.

Bike racers of the day had several wheel sets that they would swap on and off their bikes, with one set being a 700A, another being a 700B, and so on. They'd choose the appropriate size tire based on the conditions they'd be riding that day--the skinniest one for race day, a somewhat thicker one for training, and an ever thicker one for training on rough roads or dirt. Since all of the wheel sets had an outside diameter of 700mm, they could be sure that whichever wheel set they chose, it would fit within their frame.

The downside of this scheme was that they'd have to re-align their brakes every time they swapped wheels, to account for the different rim diameters. However, this was easier back then, because the arms on road brake calipers allowed for a much wider range of adjustment than is typical on modern road brakes.

For various reasons, most of these tires sizes dropped out of use, except for 700C, which eventually became the de facto standard for modern road bikes.

The advantage of this is that there are now fewer road bike tire sizes to keep track of. The downside of the current standard is that there is no consistency in the outer diameter of tires. 700C is used to refer to any tire, rim, or wheel with a 622mm BSD, but it could be on a skinny-tired road bike where the wheel has an actual diameter of only 660mm (which is actually a little LESS than 26 inches!), or a mountain bike with a wheel diameter of over 29 inches.

Source: http://centurycycles.com/tips/tech-talk-know-your-tire-size-pg1275.htm

[sparky33]

With a little searching, I found an explanation of the C in 700c: It means nothing. Nothing, my dear sir, and yet we continue to use it. Sort of like being clipped in to clipless pedals. Bicycles!

look at that, I learned something today. Thx

fwiw I knew what you meant... 33c, 33, whatever ; ).

[CNY rider]

28c gp 4-season on a wide rim

or a 32c pasela - pt serv or tourguard, ive had great experiences with both on and off-road.

The GP 4 seasons have also served me well.
They don't have the ultra plush ride and road feel of the Compass/GB tires but they are highly durable and have a nice ride quality.

[oldpotatoe]

Dunno how that snuck in there--scandy and Eric are talking about tire width in millimeters, and the c definitely does not belong in that context.

With a little searching, I found an explanation of the C in 700c: It means nothing. Nothing, my dear sir, and yet we continue to use it. Sort of like being clipped in to clipless pedals. Bicycles!





Source: http://centurycycles.com/tips/tech-talk-know-your-tire-size-pg1275.htm

And some 700c tires are called 28inch, in spite of 700c being smaller than 27 inch and those places don't use inches.

And in Europe, they size bearing balls using inch fractions too.....1/4 inch bearing balls.

[tumbler]

28c gp 4-season on a wide rim

I second this. I ride these, but on a normal rim. No issues after several years of rolling on NYC streets. They aren't quite as wide as a true 28c, more like 26c on my rims, which is also helpful if you're worried about clearance.

[palincss]

With a little searching, I found an explanation of the C in 700c: It means nothing. Nothing, my dear sir, and yet we continue to use it.


Well, in the 700/28" context it doesn't mean a whole lot because 700A and 700B have vanished from the face of the earth; but in the 650/26" arena, the letter following the size means a whole lot, serving to distinguish 650A the English 3 speed 26x1 3/8" from the French Rando 650B aka 26 x 1 1/2" from 650C the small bike/triathalon tire.

And yet, the bike magazines and people here, all of whom should know better, continue to use "c" as though it was a 1-letter acronym that stands for "mm". I've even seen a 42mm 650B tire referred to as "42c". Now what could possibly be dumber than that?

[Climb01742]

Anyone care to comment on how Grand Bois Extra Legers are for gnarly roads?

[KidWok]

32 mm Paselas on archetypes here. Pump them up for road rides. Deflate the for gravel. They do great in dry conditions.

Tai

28c gp 4-season on a wide rim

or a 32c pasela - pt serv or tourguard, ive had great experiences with both on and off-road.

[mtechnica]

Conti gp4s for road, gatorskins for city, gp4000s for racing

For wider tires, vittoria randonneurs roll not the best but are useable in gravel, a file tread cyclocross tire might be ok if it's narrow enough. Paselas are slugs.

[Admiral Ackbar]

28mm resist nomad or 28mm panaracer gravelking imo

the nomads are heavier and wire bead but they ride aamazingg for what they are. and they measure true even on narrow rims. i couldn't flat them no matter what. singletrack, broken glass, gnarbo gravel. i put 3000+ miles on them before i had to emergency stop and flatspotted the rear down to the casing. the pair is still on my beater bike with another few hundred mi more on them, casing showing and all and i still ride them with confidence. they kick they ···· out gatorskins atmo. great tires, a+, would recommend. did i mention I've never flatted with them? they're like 20 bucks a tire. get some.

now i have a set of panaracer gravelkings, ~215g 127tpi, 40 bucks, measures true. got around 1k mi on them and they ride awesome, similar feel to the nomads atmo but more "supple" over bad surfaces. and despite the rubber being quite soft they have not cut up at all. and yeah, they're billed as a "gravel" tire but i ride them on the road 99% of the time and they are awesome. i did my fastest century on them. these are my new favourite tires.

[merckx]

Pretty funny that a tire named after gravel roads would be too delicate for use on gravel roads...

Almanzo is the gravel tire from Challenge. I mounted a pair in February to halt the jailbreak punctures that I was getting on our broken winter roads. They worked really well and I was puncture-free for the duration of winter. They are hanging on a hook waiting for a new winter to arrive. However, I am somewhat alarmed by the reports of blow-offs experienced with Challenge tires. I did not experience any, but I don't like surprises of any type let alone ones that risk life. I was contemplating a purchase of Strada Bianchias for more distance work on better roads but have shelved the idea for now until we get to the bottom of the blow-off reports.

[Shoeman]

+1 for the Nomads, although I ride the 35's which is more like a true 32. They are an amazing tire for not a lot of greenback heavy though!!!!!!!

[sparky33]

Anyone care to comment on how Grand Bois Extra Legers are for gnarly roads?

I love love love these tires (700x32) for imperfect paved roads.

I don't like them as much on unpaved roads with pebbles, sand and other debris because they skip around a bit because they lack any meaningful tread. For that sort of surface, I really like the Pasela or the file-tread Challenge tires (Grifo XS, Almanzo)...just a bit of tread for grip and still fast.

[HenryA]

700X25 Panaracer Race Type D.
Bombproof and fast rolling.

[Steve in SLO]

Another vote for Pasela T-Servs here. I ride them on lots of Forest Service gravel and tarmac roads when I vacation in Oregon and haven't had a flat in over 1000 miles on the same pair. I ride 28s at 70/75lbs on standard rims, am 190# and have been impressed. Pretty light, too.

[Rada]

I like the vittoria as well save for how miserable they are to mount. Broke 3 levers trying to get them on my fulcrums.

+1 on the Vittoria's. I run 700X35s on Velocity Dyads and they mounted by hand.

[Lovetoclimb]

Ruffy Tuffys

[spartanKid]

Schwalbe Durano Plus in 25 or 28 mm are great. I like them a lot better than gatorskins.

If you want to all the way to basically literally flat proof and don't care about wieght, the Schwalbe marathon pluses are a good choice too.

[donevwil]

+1 on the Vittoria's. I run 700X35s on Velocity Dyads and they mounted by hand.

Would you happen to know what these measure mounted? I see they also make a 38, oooh.

[dmurphey]

You have a great road/gravel tire already with the Strada Bianca's. These are my go to fat tires for my all rounder when its time for rough roads and gravel, and they have been great. They are comfy and decent on the road unless you are trying to keep up with the fast pack on skinny tires. They are super on rough paved roads. They are godd on noraml gravel roads. They are not as good as CX tires in deep gravel or wet conditions, but CX tires are not as good an on and off road compromise. Grand Bois fat tires are comfy, but much more flat prone. I had a flat within a week of using them and this was just riding in town. Panaracer T serves in 32 are pretty good for the price as well.

[Dromen]

Clement LAS

[GregL]

Another vote for Pasela T-Servs here. I ride them on lots of Forest Service gravel and tarmac roads when I vacation in Oregon and haven't had a flat in over 1000 miles on the same pair. I ride 28s at 70/75lbs on standard rims, am 190# and have been impressed. Pretty light, too.+1. We use them as the everyday training tires on our tandem. Rugged, reliable, durable, and reasonably priced. If they hold up to 350+ pounds of a loaded tandem, they should be very good on a single bike.

- Greg

[Dromen]

X'plot USH is what you are looking for but think it only comes in 35"c"

[Rada]

Would you happen to know what these measure mounted? I see they also make a 38, oooh.

I get 36mm with my callipers mounted on the Dyads, which are 24mm wide.

[donevwil]

I get 36mm with my callipers mounted on the Dyads, which are 24mm wide.

Thanks Rada, I'll have to give those a try.

[gomango]

You have a great road/gravel tire already with the Strada Bianca's. These are my go to fat tires for my all rounder when its time for rough roads and gravel, and they have been great. They are comfy and decent on the road unless you are trying to keep up with the fast pack on skinny tires. They are super on rough paved roads.

My experience as well. I have Strada Biancas on my Bilenky and I have had good fortune on all surfaces with these tires. We have hard packed class five on many of the roads I ride locally and they are quick on these surfaces. Keep them out of sand and loose gravel though. They sink like a rock, as they simply aren't wide enough for that stuff.

[scandy]

My experience as well. I have Strada Biancas on my Bilenky and I have had good fortune on all surfaces with these tires. We have hard packed class five on many of the roads I ride locally and they are quick on these surfaces. Keep them out of sand and loose gravel though. They sink like a rock, as they simply aren't wide enough for that stuff.

Hmm, maybe I've just had a bad experience? or im worrying too much about the little cuts im getting in the tread? I'll give them another shot, but still want to try something else.

The Pasela's look great for the money, those are probably at the top of my list at the moment. In 32 they'd be great for the rides that are mostly gravel too.

What about the dugast pipistrello? a little expensive but the tread looks about perfect, you can get it with or without side knobs too. dont know about durability though.

[dawgie]

Vittoria Voyager Hypers and Panaracer Pasela PTs are both great choices. The Vittoria Hypers roll a little faster but might be too wide in 32s, altho also available in 28s. The Paselas have a little more tread if you need it, which probably contributes to their increased rolling resistance compared to the Hypers. They measure a true 32 mm on Open Pro rims, while the Hyper 32s measure closer to 34 mm wide.

Clement LAS 33s are also nice rolling but probably too wide. They measure 35-36 mm wide on my Open Pros.

I have commuted and toured on my Vittoria Hypers more than 2,000 miles without a flat and they still have plenty of tread left. I used the Paselas on my touring bike riding 400 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the GAP-C&O Canal trails without a flat. The extra tread is nice on unpaved roads and trails.

Conti GP 4 Seasons are OK if you don't care about the width, but why get 28s that only measure 26 mm wide? Kind of defeats the purpose. They are also very expensive. I commuted on GP 4 Seasons for a long time but wont buy again unless the price comes down and/or they start making them wider.

[KidWok]

I'd also check out Schwalbe Marathon Supreme in 32. A bit more robust sidewall, durable tread, and better grip on wet pavement.

Tai

[guido]

Another vote for the Conti GP4 28

[Ttx1]

+1. We use them as the everyday training tires on our tandem. Rugged, reliable, durable, and reasonably priced. If they hold up to 350+ pounds of a loaded tandem, they should be very good on a single bike.

- Greg

Another +1 for Paselas. I ran 700x28 on H+Son Archetypes for DeeToo, no flats, no issues. Also @ 70-75lbs for my 190+ lbs self. Maybe a little tight tolerance on ENVE road fork w/ SR caliper, but workable.

[EDS]

I have had very good luck with the Schwalbe Ultremo DD, mostly in the 700x25 size.

[djg]

I should say that I have relatively little experience with this type of tire -- a good bit of experience with cross tires, as well as road tires in the 22-25 size range, but not so much in between. With that said, I have a set of Vittoria open Pave clinchers in a 27 -- figured I'd give them a whirl for a 2-day tow-path ride this spring and I've used them a fair bit for commuting, etc. They've been holding up well and seem to ride pretty well on both smooth and rough roads, and are not bad on dirt roads.