Tyre Rolling resistance?

Izoard

Did the W200 on a pair of Gator Skins and am deciding on what tyres for the bike for Ironman Switzerland next month.

Bike is a Trek E7, with a 6ft, 85kg carcass, looking at 6:45-7:00 for the 180km in Zurich, so puncture protection rates a bit higher than knocking a few seconds off.:)

Does it make sense to stick with the GS or move to something a bit sleeker?

tunney

Izoard wrote: »

Did the W200 on a pair of Gator Skins and am deciding on what tyres for the bike for Ironman Switzerland next month.

Bike is a Trek E7, with a 6ft, 85kg carcass, looking at 6:45-7:00 for the 180km in Zurich, so puncture protection rates a bit higher than knocking a few seconds off.:)

Does it make sense to stick with the GS or move to something a bit sleeker?

Switch to something robust but don't go the ultra low Crr side of things then. Stay away from latex tubes if puncture resistance is a key factor.

Chips Lovell

tunney wrote: »

Stay away from latex tubes if puncture resistance is a key factor.

Latex tubes are meant to be a bit better for puncture resistance than buytl.

ashleey

Conti ulta race have done me fine and schwalbe durano are good to

DirkVoodoo

Vittoria Evo Corsa CX are one of the best clinchers AFAIK. They are about as puncture resistant as any tyre really, but they wear quite quickly. Should get 180km out of them anyway.

You can only do so much to avoid punctures, obviously looking out for crap on the roads, not hitting potholes, etc. matter as much as tyre choice. Sometimes you can just be unlucky. Good luck with the IM anyway.

Izoard

Thanks guys,

I was looking at the Michelin Pro 3s as a reasonable compromise?

ednwireland

put schwalbe duranos on the main road bike much nicer rolling thean the old luganos i had on. run maxxis refuse on my work bike (damn close tolerance frames) 25mm and they aint bad either

levitronix

You ll be very unlucky to get a punture over there roads are amazing compared to here

interested

Izoard wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I was looking at the Michelin Pro 3s as a reasonable compromise?

I used the same pair of Conti attack/force combo in both long distance events I did last year. They're still in good shape.

+1 on Tunney's point re: latex tubes

DirkVoodoo

Like El Tonto said, latex tubes are less prone to punctures than butyl ones, they also roll better (apparently, never used them).

The downsides are the tubes themselves are less durable, they leak air more than butyl tubes and they are more expensive.

niceonetom

I've used latex tubes with Conti gp4000s tyres for a while and have been very impressed by how few punctures I've had. I really rate the gp4000s (and the s is crucial) as an all round tyre, and good balance of grippy, resilient and fast. They do square off eventually though as the use the same compound right across the bead unlike Michelin.

I would never put gatorskins on a roadbike. Only for touring/commuting etc. They're slow and I just don't trust 'em in the wet.

Latex tubes do need to be pumped before every ride though - they lose maybe 20 or 30 psi over night. Not sure about how they handle heat though. el_tonto told me that they're not recommended for use with carbon clinchers, presumably because they go bang. No idea what the IM course is in Switzerland, but if there's long fast descents with heavy braking needed that might put me off the latex even with alu clinchers.

ROK ON

niceonetom wrote: »

I've used latex tubes with Conti gp4000s tyres for a while and have been very impressed by how few punctures I've had. I really rate the gp4000s (and the s is crucial) as an all round tyre, and good balance of grippy, resilient and fast. They do square off eventually though as the use the same compound right across the bead unlike Michelin.

I would never put gatorskins on a roadbike. Only for touring/commuting etc. They're slow and I just don't trust 'em in the wet.

Latex tubes do need to be pumped before every ride though - they lose maybe 20 or 30 psi over night. Not sure about how they handle heat though. el_tonto told me that they're not recommended for use with carbon clinchers, presumably because they go bang. No idea what the IM course is in Switzerland, but if there's long fast descents with heavy braking needed that might put me off the latex even with alu clinchers.

Thanks for that. I bought some Vittoria tubes in CSS on special offer a few months back. But they are latex.
I leave my bike in work every Thur and come back late Monday nights.

For past two weeks all tyres were soft. I thought they were punctured.
Now I find it could be just the compound.

Sorry for thread highjack, but thanks.

cosman9373

niceonetom wrote: »

I've used latex tubes with Conti gp4000s tyres for a while and have been very impressed by how few punctures I've had. I really rate the gp4000s (and the s is crucial) as an all round tyre, and good balance of grippy, resilient and fast. They do square off eventually though as the use the same compound right across the bead unlike Michelin.

I would never put gatorskins on a roadbike. Only for touring/commuting etc. They're slow and I just don't trust 'em in the wet.

Latex tubes do need to be pumped before every ride though - they lose maybe 20 or 30 psi over night. Not sure about how they handle heat though. el_tonto told me that they're not recommended for use with carbon clinchers, presumably because they go bang. No idea what the IM course is in Switzerland, but if there's long fast descents with heavy braking needed that might put me off the latex even with alu clinchers.

Have to agree with you on this gp4000s are great tyres and also latex tubes do lose pressure and are puncture resistant but are too erratic. I have tried them with 404 clinchers and yes they go bang for no apparent reason!!

Orig poster 180km is a fair distance and if on good smooth roads i'd go with less rolling resistance, will make a diff over that distance, if on the other hand you'll be on roads like here then more puncture resistance.

I have used latex tubes on and off for two years and imho they're too erratic, stay clear.

100Suns

Schwalbe durano is more a training than racing tyre. In my experience rolling resistance is not close to conti 4000s but puncture resistance is better. Avoid latex tubes unless you can mount your tyres by hand-they are very easy to pinch puncture if putting on with levers unless you are very careful. Best clincher tyre I've used for rolling resistance is veloflex master 20mm (with latex tubes).

Izoard

100Suns wrote: »

Best clincher tyre I've used for rolling resistance is veloflex master 20mm (with latex tubes).

It seems 23 (or 25)mm is the norm...what are the +/- of 20mm?

cheers,

Murph100

20mm are going to be a bit harsh on our roads, but you can get Veloflex Corsa in a 22mm.

Theoretically wider tyres have a lower CRR but there is a decrease in aerodynamics, so 23mm seems to be the happy medium ... that is until the next load of marketing BS is dreamt up.

PBK have a pretty good price on the Veloflex 22, gonna give them a lash myself to compare with the tubeless Hutch I'm running, just out of curiosity.

http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=Y0120

100Suns

Izoard wrote: »

It seems 23 (or 25)mm is the norm...what are the +/- of 20mm?

cheers,

Its 20 mm wide rather than the 23/25, so less tyre in contact with the road so less rolling resistance. They can be a little tricky in the wet through fast corners. On the upside they are v light (c190 g), can take more pressure than standard clinchers and they ride as close to tubs so as a man on a galloping horse wouldn't notice.