Tire choice for Reynolds Strike 66mm?

Triathlon Forum
1

I have sort of narrowed it down to the following options for a set of 2010 Reynolds Strike 66mm carbon clinchers:

  1. Michelin Pro race 4 700x23 front and rear

  2. Continental Gp 4000s 700x23 front and rear

  3. Continental Attack Force combo 700x22 Attack front and 700x24Force rear

  4. Vittoria Diamante Pro 700x22

  5. Bontrager Aero TT Aerowings 19mm Front and something else (4000s???) rear

These would see some training and be used for Tris (Oly and Half iron). I am new to cycling, but have been told I am a (towards the) front of pack cyclist already.

I have read that the Michelin Pros are hard to mount on the Reynolds wheels. The Conti 4000s gets solid reviews for an all-around tire that is a good tri race tire. Jackmott has stated that the 22/24 front/rear combo is a good combo and the Attach Force combo uses the black chili compound. The Vittoria Diamante Pro is supposed to be a great race tire but is puncture prone. Is the Bonty 19mm too narrow for the Reynolds Strike?

What do you think, and what tires am I failing to consider that I should?

Thanks!

2

Wheel choice for Reynolds Strike 66mm?

Check me if I’m wrong Sandy…but it seems like you already made your wheel choice.

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3

:slight_smile: Yep, just made the change to the title (and more detail in the actual post). Dur.

4

I’ve got Attack 21/Force 23 on my Reynold’s 66/81. If I were to get a flat in a Sprint/Olympic, I would or seriously consider (respectively), just taking it easy from that point on. Complete B trying to get these tires on or off. Though, I’ve never had a flat on them. Let my friend borrow the wheelset and he got a flat on the front the first day testing them out though haha. Great tires, just watch what you’re running over.

5

I have both a Reynolds Strike and Assault wheelsets and use the Attack/Force combo on both. I love these tires. The 22mm front is just a hair wider than the brake track so it shouldn’t affect the “aero-ness” and the 24mm rear does seem more comfortable that when I had 23mm GP4000S.

6

Thanks. Any other experiences out there? Thoughts from others?

Thanks!

7

so I have been using my strikes for 3 years now - here are the tires I have used;

Schwalbe Ultremo
Pro’s - easy to get on/offers
Con’s - recalled a couple years back for a potential blow out issue, not the fastest from what I could tell form research (off memory), not always available (in canada at least)

Michelin Pro3 - A bitch to get on when they are cold. I had no problmes changing them if flatted during a ride and had “warmed up” a little but at other times you risked pinching the tube with installation if not really careful. Good news about hard to get off is that is you ever needed to ride a slow leak clincher this one would likely hold your way to T2.

Pro’s - relative fast, could ride when it was flat if desperated
Cons - absolute dog to get on/off

Conti GP 4000 - This is what I am currently running in conjunction with latex tubes. Just got back from 6 weeks of riding in Oz on some attrocius roads (chip seal) some dirt roads (got lost/some routes had dirt sections) and only had my race wheels with mr and was running these tires. Shocked that did not flat at all for the entire trip based on some of the stuff I road on and tires have survived awesome.

Pro’s - Meant to be relative fast, durable, ok to install
Cons’s - may not be the fastest out there.

So based on you requirements I would recommend the conti’s based on the three options above (no experience with the others). Have been really happy with them and will be riding them for the remainder of the 2012 race season more than likely.

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8

they dont make the 19mm TT tire anyway, its too narrow.

I use the new model the R4 and fits great! Per them best suited for 21-22 mm tire

below are slow!

  1. Michelin Pro race 4 700x23 front and rear

  2. Continental Gp 4000s 700x23 front and rear

  3. Continental Attack Force combo 700x22 Attack front and 700x24Force rear

  4. Vittoria Diamante Pro 700x22

9

MattQ – I am talking about the 19mm Bontys that someone is selling in the Classifieds here on Slowtwitch.

I think I have a good shot at qualifying for the national 5150 championships in Des Moines at an upcoming qualifier tri in Kansas City – so I don’t want to risk a flat tire just to get a miniscule amount of additional speed out of a riskier tire. Can you shed more light on why you say the other tires are slow? What is the R4’s durability?

10

They are to narrow I have tried them
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11

I have both the Strikes and Assaults, too. I got a disc cover for the rear Assault,
giving me a wide range of Reynolds wheel options come race day both front and rear.

Anyhow, about tires now. I’ve been running the Vittoria Open Corsa EVO-CX on the Strikes
and they feel great and handle great in wet conditions. I know how to roll a clincher on by
hand, even when it seems next to impossible, but I can’t get these Vittoria tires on without
using tire levers (plastic, of course). So yeah, the fit is really tight.

I got the Assaults with Specialized Mondo S-Works tires on them. Those are much easier
to get on and off the wheels - but I’ve not tried them on the Strikes. I’m guessing the rim
profile should be the same? Anyhow, not crazy about the Specialized riding quality, and
the rear tire starting cracking earlier than I would have thought.

I also rode the Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp on the Strikes. These also feel great, and
from what I understand have a low Crr. The only bummer there, which is just in my case,
was on the first ride, in the first 3 miles, I flatted on something that left a huge, unrepairable
gash in one of the Vreds. Poof! $65 down the drain.

I am only offering up that I like the feel, lack of flatting, and holding up in wet conditions
(riding in Florida) of both the Vittoria Open Corsa and the Vredestein Tricomp, and that
as someone else said about another tire, it’s a super tight fit with the Vittorias on the
Strikes.

I’m going to follow this thread because I’d like to know what is the fastest
tire choice.

On a side note about the Strikes, the owner at a popular bike/triathlon shop here in
south Florida told me that the Reynolds aren’t a great choice for the salty conditions
we have here. He said the spokes fail at the nipples on all the Reynolds wheels
more often than other wheels (I’m not sure why that would be the case, but that’s
what he said - lesser quality steel? smaller gauge nipples?). The thing is, when he
said, that I had to concur - I’ve had one spoke break in one each of my Strikes and
Assaults, and both breaks were at the nipple (one break at mile 55 of a 100 mile ride -
oh fun!). So maybe he’s onto something about that…

12

Thanks, everyone. Still looking for input for the future, but for now I have scored a set of Continental Attack/Force 22mm/24mm combo for an amazingly low price. The 22 should do well on the Reynolds 22mm rim and roll well with the black chili compound. The 24 rear will help get the power down on the local hills and have some durability.

Again, any additional insight would be helpful in case I want to switch in the near future after riding the Contis for a while.