One of the absolute fastest options is the Continental SuperSonic, in 20mm or 23mm. It has no puncture belt though, so be careful! Don't use it if flatting is a worry.

Then there is the Continental GP 4000S, decent rolling resistance, good aerodynamics, and good durability.

The Bontrager R4 aero is excellent, the Vittoria EVO tires offer very good rolling resistance but less good aerodynamics and some models like the CX don't grip very well imho.

I tend to use the Conti GP4000S with latex tubes most of the time. SuperSonic for TTs where I think the road will be clean and smooth.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Thanks.

conti GP 4000s 23mm front, 25mm rear, with latex tubes FTW

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Do you know if michelin prorace 2s, 3s, or 4s (the standard ones) had/have puncture-resistant belts ?

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the Vittoria EVO tires offer very good rolling resistance but less good aerodynamics

Use the Evo Tri.

i believe all of them do

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Vittoria Corsa EVO CX II 23 (24)

x2 on the supersonics. Fast, fast tires. I've ran those on my Hed Jets last two seasons with no issues (ie. Flats). Don't use them for training though as they have zero flat protection as mentioned earlier.

Cheers,
Buck

Yes, they do have an anti-puncture belt. They made a Pro2 (I think) that didn't, and will soon be selling a Pro4 that doesn't that may have a Crr rivaling the "good" tires.

IME the Supersonic even without the vectran layer and with very little tread is not as fragile as the Vittoria, Challenge, and Veloflex "open tubulars" I've used... which all have some sort of additional layer.

I've been using Vittoria CX's or the slick version for all of my training for the last decade. Life is too short to train on crappy rubber. I don't have more than one or two flats a year at the most. With any tire of course you can have bad luck and hit glass or something and have a short-lived tire, but I've found them fine for general riding. I've even commuted into the city occasionally on them, although if I did it on a regular basis I'd use something more durable/cheaper.

I ran a Supersonic last year on the front, and flatted in a race, got less than 100 miles out of the tire, which is pretty shocking on a front wheel. Had better luck with the infamous Veloflex Record. Given the rolling resistance is no better than the Vittorias despite being much thinner, I'm not going to use them again. Really my reason for using it was all the talk about the Conti being more aero, but I'm going to use the Vittoria tri version this year which looks much more like the Conti, at least to the eye.

The Vittoria Tri is a good choice.

I don't understand why you only got 100 miles out of a Supersonic... on the front no less. I only get ~500 miles on the rear, but over 1000 on the front.

My gripe with the "open tubulars" is that I *do* get flats from random little pieces of glass and the like that stick into the tread... the Contis seem to never suffer this fate. They only flat on thorns, nails, etc. or sidewall cuts.

If you believe advertisement, then the new Michelin Pro4 tires have the lowest rolling resistance of any clincher tire. The Pro4 Service Comp tire is just 180g and its rolling resistance is consequently extremely low at 3kg/t.
Link: http://www.michelinbicycletire.com/...?event=pro4comp.view

The Limited Service Pro4 tire has a weight of 165 grams with just 2.87kg/t rolling resistance. Link: http://www.michelinbicycletire.com/...pro4complimited.view

The tire lasted only 100 miles due to a cut, not due to wear. But a flat and a cut in 100 miles (2 separate events) was enough for me to not bother trying this tire again.

do you ride in an area flats are expected, or would you say you had the bad luck on pretty clean courses? I'm giving the ss a serious thought.

Bad luck on clean courses.

Has anyone used the Bontrager R4 Aero for road racing? I got some for TTs and tris and love them, but wonder how they'd do in a tight corner.

They are 22ish mm wide. which is plenty.

I would happily use them in a crit and drop people in corners.

people used to do the whole tour on 19mm tires! I've tried a crit on a 19mm tire up front once...it was a little funny feeling.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I had the R4's on my TT bike and liked them a lot ... however, they were a little narrow for my Flo wheels so I switched over to R2's which are a little wider, a little heavier (but still light by road tire standards) and a little more durable than the R4's.

I've got about 400 miles on a front R2 right now and still have the extra little strip down the middle of the tire due lack of wear on it.

I still run the R4 on my RENN Disc and it's holding up really well.

I don't know if they have lower rolling resistance or not compared to other tires, but I do like the extra lip on the edge that closes the gap between the rim and the tire, especially for TT's.

For use as a road tire ... I think they would be an excellent choice for the road and the R4 would fit narrower rims (19mm - 20mm wide) with the R3 or R2 for use with wider (23mm wide) rims.

Conti Attack/Force seems to work well for me.Also Attack/4000s works well for me.Can't decide which I like best though.

Looking at the flo website they recommend 700x23 tires. Why do you think the 700x22 r4's aren't a good match. BTW this isn't idle curiosity, I was planning to pair the two.

Thanks
Matthew

I mostly race on Continental GP 4000S, 23mm. Low rolling resistance and resistant to punctures. The 4000S is also available in a 25mm-version, I like it for long training sessions on the road bike and prefer to wear it on the rear wheel only.

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I have an R4 Aero on the front of my FLO60s. It is the perfect size -- the sidewall makes a nice smooth transition to the brake track.

I have an R4 Plus (23mm) on the rear, and it does bulge out a little past the brake track.

Vittoria Corsa Evo CX. Switched to these from Michelin Pro Race 4 and love them.

The first reason is the 22 mm is a little narrow for the tire. Yes, it gives a nice round shape up front (just as a 23 mm does), but the tire is narrow enough that the beads may not hook onto the tire well enough. One time I mounted the tire to the rim the bead actually didn't hook to the rim in a section and almost blew the tire out ... I caught it as I was putting air into the tire.

With the 23 mm tire, I never had that issue.

The second reason is because the tire casing is narrower, it pulls the "Wing's" that fill the gap between the tire and rim upwards opening the gap compared to those on a 23 mm tire. So the R4 has a wider gap between the rim and the tire than the R3/R2 tires. When it comes to air flow, you want that gap to be as small as possible and it will make a bigger difference than any bulging of the tire ... which is minimal at best.

With the R2's I pull the wheels on/off without touching the brakes.

Basically ... when using both tires ... the R2/3 is a better fit than the R4. The R4 will work, but to me are just a bit too small. If I felt like the R4 would be faster then the 2/3 I'd run it, but I actually feel it's just a bit slower overall due to the gap and narrowness of the tire ... and you run a much higher chance of getting a cut sidewall due to the lack of material on the R4's (there isn't much there).