Up to about a month ago I did all my training on fairly decent ‘racing’ tires such as Michelin Pro Race, etc. I decided to get some durable training tires instead so I bought a set of wire-beaded Specialized Armadillos and ride on them 100% of the time. As soon as I switched to these tires I could not believe how slow they were. I had no idea a ‘training’ tire could be that much slower than a regular ‘racing’ tire. Hopefully I’ll feel that much faster on race day when I go back to racing tires. Any one else experience this?
All that flat protection comes at a high price. Those super-durable, high-mileage tires often feel very slow.
That being said, I’ve been training on Michelin Krylion Carbons, which is Michelin’s training tire, and I’ve found them to be very smooth and fast. Not as nice as the ProRace, but still very nice. Definitely does NOT feel like a training tire, unlike the Conti GranPrix 4-Seasons that I had before, which are quite similar, from what I gather, to the Armadillos. If you like to keep that fast & smooth feeling, give them a try.
Yeah… but its just training. I ride the armadillo for my rear tire. The thing is bomb-proof. If you want to minimize flats, then this is a great tire. If you spend much time on the trainer, especially a computrainer, then this is the tire. Honestly, I really don’t focus much on speed at all in training. Its all about watts. When race day rolls around, slap on the race wheels with some fast tires, and you will notice how much faster everything seems.
Growing up as a swimmer I always wore a drag suit, so I see this as pretty much the same thing. Don’t worry too much about your average speed in training; its race day that matters. I never have understood the guys who train with their hed3s or their 404s. Seems like race day won’t feel as special…I guess that is just me though. Maybe they are riding Tufos in training, and dugast are their race tires…perhaps that is the same is the difference in the armadillos…
I use the amadillos 100% of the time training and only change them out to Mich Pro Race for races.
Yes there is a dramatic difference, which is why I continue with the 'dillos. Plus no flats ever since I started using them exclusively 3 yrs ago. Got them on the road and tri bikes. No heartache on the trainer either.
Agreed with other poster, its just training. I don’t care about speed. Unless you’re trying to hang with a group, in which case its like what your mom told you about your veggies, it’ll make you better for it.
This is reassuring. My training speed has certainly dropped but my efforts are similar to the past…efforts are certainly higher while climbing. I think I lose two gears on steeper climbs with these tires. But I don’t hesitate to ride on gravel if need be because I think these tires are very difficult to flat.
I hope to feel like a rocket on race day. Thanks again.
Up to about a month ago I did all my training on fairly decent ‘racing’ tires such as Michelin Pro Race, etc. I decided to get some durable training tires instead so I bought a set of wire-beaded Specialized Armadillos and ride on them 100% of the time. As soon as I switched to these tires I could not believe how slow they were. I had no idea a ‘training’ tire could be that much slower than a regular ‘racing’ tire. Hopefully I’ll feel that much faster on race day when I go back to racing tires. Any one else experience this?
Matt
You’re comparing one of the fastest tires on the planet to what might be the slowest.
The difference between those tires is a true 40+ watts. Armadillos actually do the impossible, they make Tufo’s look fast.
I train on armidillos, fantastic tires. They are so slow though that it is worth thinking about when to use them. If you ride with friends, or in regular group rides, the tires can have a significant effect. I ride with some people that are a lot slower than me, and the tires make a perfect handicap. I also do some group rides with some very fast people, and depending on how tired I am, will switch wheels so I don’t hold them back. It can make that much of a difference.
A few weeks ago I did a HCTT riding Michlein P2Rs and finished 1 min and change faster than my friend. We descended and I changed to my training wheelset with Armadillo Elites and then did the climb again for training. He put 30 sec into me the 2nd time up.
I was riding by myself last week and our local group road ride pack came blowing by me and I tried like mad to stay with them but had no luck at all. Then we hit ‘the hill’ and it was all I could do to keep them in sight. I still hope to use these tires all the time in training unless my ego gets in the way and I feel the need to actually keep up or beat some of my friends!
Interesting you guys mention the difference in speeds. I hadn’t even been factoring the Armadillos in for my HIM race sims recently. In my prep for E-man I have been doing a fair amount at right around HIM watts. I was finding ~280 watts was only getting me 23.5mph, when 247 watts got me about that speed last season. The difference Mich Pro Race vs Armadillos. I guess for me they are around a 30 watt difference…They will be sweet to take off on race day.
I don’t know much about power, but what type of mph dropoff is expected with a 40watt increase in power output? I do know that 100 mile rides are taking me about 25 minutes longer after I switched tires.
The exact same thing happened to me last winter. I bike commute to work and stopped by the LBS at lunch to swap out to armadillos. I noticed a dramatic slowing in the first two blocks. My training partner even asked me if I had a brake rubbing. I would say a 1-2 mph speed drop is about right.
I do switch out to my “race” tires a week or two before an event. As I do not want any surprises on race day.
The only tire combination I have tried that beats the Armadillo is a 700x23 with the bead cut off used as a liner inside a 700x25 with a thorn resistant tube. A great heavy and slow combination that sucks the speed out of your bike.
My 2x20 minutes at threshold speed was a good 2-3mph slower than my effort at the same wattage with my race wheels on a consistent basis.
I don’t mind the slow, but the Flintstone beat the hell out of you as well. I love to ride my bike, but those tires take a lot of the fun out of riding. To me having a nice rolling tire on a nice day are about as good as life gets. With that said I do ride on Bontrager hard case in the back and Gatorskin in the front on my training wheel setup. Not nearly as harsh as Armadillos or as sweet as a nice racing tire.
I ride these also, and I really hadn’t noticed since I think I’ve always used them as training tires on my Tri bike, and I think when I made the switch from my road to tri bike the slowness of the tires and the aero frame offset eachother. But now that I know I’ll probably never switch, I look at it as swimming with a pull buoy, without the position advantage that the buoy gives you.
I’ve been using the Elites for the past few months and they don’t seem any faster. They’re lighter but seem closer to the original Armadillos in rolling resistance. So far they’ve defeated every goathead thorn I’ve encountered.
I use Gatorskins on both wheels all the time - training and racing because I’m so scared of getting a flat in a race. Am I being stupid? How much of a difference would a switch to smoother tires really make? I did a flat 100 miles yesterday in 6 hours. I saw many other riders on the side fixing flats.
I have been using the Elite as my back tire for about 800 miles now and I can’t tell a performance difference from GP 4000’s. The only difference is that I have had zero flats and have not chewed up the tire yet, very little wear so far just like the regular armadillos.
The main difference I have seen in examining the tire is it is a kevlar bead and doesn’t have the impenetrable fortress of a sidewall that the regular Armadillo has. I think the regular Armadillo has such sturdy side walls that even if you find a way to flat it you can’t really tell it’s flat because the sidewalls are so stiff. The tread pattern is the same and to the touch feels just as “sticky” as the GP4000’s. (FYI, I am not impressed with Vectran).
I usually destroy a Pro Race back tire to the point I wouldn’t trust it in a race after 400 miles and the GP4000’s I get leary around 600 miles. I have 800 miles on the Elite and it looks like it will go at least 2000 miles.
I use Pro Race as front rubber only and in that capacity they have been very durable.
If you didn’t get a flat and rode some Mitchilin pro2s bet you would cut ~20 mins of your 100. Gators are not as bad as amadillos but you would still lose in the region of 1-2mph avg. For argument sake say its 2mph down over 6hours loses you 12 miles.