It seems like the majority of our customers have great luck (durability wise) with Continental tires. I like them, but the newer (expensive) Michelins feel better to me. I like them at 110 psi. I'm an average size guy, about 160-170lbs. The Michelins are much more durable now than they have been. For mega-durability I like the Continental Gatorskins. I'm not sure if they use Kevlar, but there is some kind of flat resistant belt in there. For tubulars Continental is good but Tufo rules. They are not necessarily much less expensive than other tubulars but they are consistantly good quality and very flat resistant. I race on these.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Any specific model of the tufo that you would recommend?
And how long should a set of race day tires last provided anything unfortunate doesn't happen ie. riding through a field of thumb tacks. Would you also reccomend buying a cheaper tire as a spare or would you buy 3 or more of the race tires?

thanks

Hmmm, I'm a little embarrassed. I had to walk out on the sales floor to look at one of my Hed 3s to see what TUFO tire I was using. I have been racing on a Pair of S33 26" Specials. I can get an entire race season or more out them, but re-glue your tires every 6 months. For a spare (at Ironman distance only)I carry a new, never stretched tire of the same type I'm racing on. If it is new it tends to stay on better under an emergency race change even without glue, although you still must slow down for the turns.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

IMHO (700c) the best available:

Clincher: Michelin Axial Pro Race

Tubular: TUFO S3 Lite 21mm

I'd like to present a differing opinion on the state of one's spare tire. A pre-used tire will have glue residue on it. Sew up glue on a recently removed tire with glue younger than 6 months old or so has a great contact cement like quality. When properly inflated it would have all the grip-tion the new tire would have plus the grippage of the glue.

I've flatted twice* in IMCanada both prior to the Yellow Lake decent and decended without concern. I've only ever rolled one sew-up and that was in a cyclocross race, and that was putting a 34mm tire on a Mavic GEL280 earlier this year. Yeah, not the smartest pairing.

*2 years out of 7 up there, once on Conti GP, once on Veloflex Record, both glass cuts.

The "best" training tyres in my book, are Vredstein (sp?) Fortezza's. They aren't really cheap, but you can find them on sale for a decent price and they wear forever. Extremely cut resistant too, and a fairly supple casing. They also make tri-comps, and more race-oriented models, but I like the Fortezza's for everyday training - and wouldn't hesitate to race them either.

As far as tubies go, I like Tufo S3 Lite's. I've heard awesome things about Veloflex, but have never even seen a pair, much less tried them.

---

<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
Get Fitter!
Proud member of the Smartasscrew, MONSTER CLUB
Get your FIX today?

Clinchers, I've had good luck with Conty GP's -- about 2,000 miles out of one set but the stitching in the sidewalls have been consistently weak, tend to shred. Michelin's, tough to get off the deeper rims, and yea they cut easy but a little super glue will make them right. Tri-comps have been the best tire I've used. Quick to change and can take a beating.

Does anyone know anything about new Michelin "Triathlon" tires based on race pros? Just saw an ad for them, claim to be more puncture resistant. Is the "tri" tag just an excuse to charge more than regular race pros?

I am not too particular about tires, especially training tires. I bought some Panaracer Elite clinchers for $15 a piece recently and have put several hundred miles in with no flats and little wear. Whereas, the Kenda Koncept Lites that came on my Cervelo have noticable wear (on the rear) and a flat in about the same mileage. I plan on using light wheels to race and heavy duty tires to train. BTW I just picked up a pair of Panaracer Cateogry Elites on sale for $10 a piece on Nashbar. At that price you can have 4 pairs for training or 1 pair of Vredestein Fortezzas.

dave "rubber" judice

Funny I have used everything. Mostly like 650 hutchinson gold. I bought some $9 closeout Kenda tires they were Orange probably why they were on sale. I expected to ride them 1/2 a year. I rode them all season for training, all winter on trainer, all the next season for training. They still looked ok when I took them off. I don't know if I just got lucky or what but what great tires.

O.K.

Time for me to respond like an a$$...

Vredstein Fortezzas are NOT training tires. Those are nice tires in their own right.

My definition of training tire is simple...heavy and durable. Here in the NW in the winter, nothing beats Specialized Armadillos (stick a Mr. Tuffy inside for additional weight). The tires ride like crap, but they are virtually impenetrable (the only flat I've ever received in the last 2 winters was a roofing staple which I had to pry from the tire with a screwdriver). Besides, you shouldn't be descending at 50 MPH in the rain in the winter anyway. In addition, once you switch back to your race wheels/tires, they'll feel sooooo much lighter. We actually require our teammates to ride Armadillos in the winter...No Armadillo on your bike means we don't wait if you flat;-)

There are a lot of good clincher racing tires...I particularly like the Vittoria Open Corsa CXs. Although they cut easily, I rarely puncture. They are light and readily available. With that said, my team will be riding Baby Blue Michelin Pros this year which are a comparable clincher.

As for tubulars...Dugast are the finest. However, they are very difficult to find and unbelievably expensive. I've had really bad luck with Veloflex (they just seem to flat all the time on me). The result is that I'll either ride Conti Sprinters or Vittoria Corsa CX/CGs (I have a few aged tires left).

---

http://wattieink.com/elite-team/
Raising funds to help wounded veterans and racing RAAM 2013 with http://team4mil.org/
"If you are gonna charge... CHARGE HARD!"