Well after 100km - I hit a pothole at speed and pinch flatted on my Continental Attack front tire - I think that as sweet handling as it was - it is a little bit too high performance and not durable enough for the rough roads around here and my lack of finesse
I was looking at the Continental GP3000 or GP4 Season as a possible more durable replacement
Other possibilities are Michelin Axial Bi-Sport or Axial Carbon, Veloflex Master, and Vittoria Rubino Pro
I’ve heard mixed experiences with GP3000 and the Michelins…
Conti GranPrix will offer thousands of happy miles. I’d highly recommend them. I’d also recommend going 650x23 for a bit more air volume to reduce the harshness on a long ride.
I train on the rubino pros. I wouldn’t want to race on them but they provide pretty good bang for the buck as being really durable for the price. Haven’t ridden the other wheels you mention so I really can’t offer a comparison though.
Try serfas (seca-rs). For the amount of miles that I’ve put on them they still look fairly new. Nice grip and wear for the buck. The vittoria rubinos wore down really fast and cut fairly easily, decent grip. The axial carbons were like riding fred flintstone style, never again.
They ain’t purty but the Performance Forte Kevlar tires are essentially bomb-proof. Knock on wood I haven’t had a flat in 2 years and my rear tire is in pretty bad shape from riding on the trainer. I really need to replace that tire. For the price I don’t think you will find a more durable tire.
Most durable Specalized Armadillo ride like Flintstone but tough
Second Bontrager Hardcase not quite as harsh or tough as above
Third Gatorskins, Michelin Carbon, more road feel probably 75% as tough as Bontrager.
I think the problem is you trade road feel for stout. can’t have both.
I’ve ridden on the michelin axial sports, the axial carbons, rubino intrepids, conti gator skins. I just got the gator skins so can’t comment on the durability. The others all seem good. The axial sports lasted the longest but were too loud on the trainer so I quit using them. The gator skins flatted in the first 30 miles but that was due to glass that I didn’t see. The rubino’s rode the nicest. The one tire to stay away from are cheap kendas. I had some kenda’s that disintegrated in 40 hours of riding.
Keep in mind that the attack is a 22mm tire… pretty narrow. Going to a 25 will give you a LOT more durability and you could still probably get away with a performance-oriented tire. Otherwise the conti ultra 2000 foldable is nice. Rubino pros are a bit hard for my taste, michelins are too soft. Gatorskins may be overkill if you have any intention of having some perfomance capabilities.
Highly recommend Vredestein Fortezza’s or the Tri-Comp version of the same. Very few flats, so long as you don’t overinflate them (I stay around 110 now, but tried 140-150 for a while with lots of flats to show for it, the sidewall says you can run 'em to 170, but that’s rough on the rims) and they give great feel of the road. The faster you go, the more important “feel” is in my opinion. I routinely go above 50mph, almost every day in fact, so I’ve banished the Armadillo’s, but admittedly, the Armadillo’s do last a long time and are highly resistant to flats. The Fortezza’s are lasting me about 3-5K mi. for the rear and about double that for the front.
Aside from the Vittoria Rubino Pro, you could look at the Diamante Pro (Vittoria). They will be slightly less durable than the Rubino Pro, but will have better traction and ride quality. The Rubino Pro’s will have a harder tread compound. It might just depend on the kind of riding you’ll do, and how critical traction and ride quality might be compared to durabilty. The Diamante Pro’s have been a great compromise tire that can be raced on, but are still pretty durable. The Rubino Pro’s are better suited for pure training use.
I don’t know how much difference there is but my P3sl came with Diamonte Lites and In 30 miles I’ve now cut the rear tire so badly it’s toast, and pinch flatted the front. I’ve only pinch flatted once on a road bike in the last 5 years not including today. They were nice and supple but the two flats so quickly scared me.
Maybe it’s just a bad time for me though as I’ve had SEVEN flats in the last two weeks:( That’s got to be some kind of super record or something.
For training or racing? For training, I’ve got a Bontrager Race Lite on my Powertap wheel. It’s got well over 1000 miles on the tread this year and has not flatted. The tread looks like it’s hardly worn. I’ve been using GP3000s and those wear pretty fast on the rear. They also cut easily.
I’d say the front tire failure you had is an anomaly. I’ve had 3 front flats in the last 4 years/40,000 miles. A GP3000 (23c) getting a flat after hitting a large rock, a GP3000 (23c) getting too much pressure and the tube blowing out, and a GP3000 (20c) that mysteriously deflated last weekend (small pinhole, but I wonder if something happened to the 110 psi inflated tube/tire when sitting in the back of my car where temperatures were probably reaching 140 F).
I want to second the Verdsteins. Great ride, wear like iron, very flat resistant, and easy one and off the rim. Just don't use them with Hed wheels. They warn about tires blowing off the rim. I'm afraid to jinx myself but I pump my tires to 115 before every ride and haven't had a fl*t since I switched to Verdstein.
Right. They are a little heavy (not too bad) and the rubber is hard, so you slide a bit more in corners. I think they have a foldable version of this tire nowdays that might be lighter.
The Diamante Pro Lights are a very lightweight version and therefore much less durable. Virtually a completely different tire, although it might share some of the same casing. The standard Diamante Pro’s are about 210 grams, and the Pro Light’s are around 170 grams. Definitely not intended for training use. Also, what width tires did they give you. The pinch flat issue makes me suspect tire width or tire pressure more than the tire itself. As far as cuts and punctures goes, it kind of makes sense when you have a clincher tire that light. Try the regular Diamante Pro and I think you’ll be much happier.
I think some manufacturers put the ultralight clinchers on as a cheap way to get the “selling weight” of a complete bike down. That’s 80-120 grams less than your average clincher tires.
Yeah, I noticed that the Diamonte Lites were really really lite. the casing (as I got a good look at it after slicing it open on the first ride) looked pretty fragile. The front blowout was strange, tire pressure was at 110psi and with my weight 150lbs that’s usually more than sufficient. Freak accident. At least Cervelo isn’t specing those horrible Kenda that they used to ship. Maybe I’ll try the regular Diamontes. I’ve been more than happy with Serfas tires and Conti GP3000s and Gatorskins though.
Got another flat today, woke up to head out to a tri to find my front Tufo flat. Injected some sealant, pumped it up and gave it a spin. Sealed up perfectly.