Its been awhile since I bought tires, actually never since they came on my bike, and I’m very confused. What’s (folding) mean? I notice some say folding while others say sew up and wire bead? Also I got a flat yesterday on my ride so I’m in the market for some innertubes. What are some of your favorite tires/innertubes?
Thanks
Folding tires are foldable, and wire ones will not fold. Foldable are desireable as they weigh less. I buy the cheapest innertubes and really like Michelin Pro Race or for training the Michelin Carbon. I can’t wear either out so I must up the mileage.
The Specialized Armadillo are wire bead and pretty heavy, however they’re arguably the most flatproof clincher out there. You might want to consider them if you have dedicated training wheels, or if a losing a few seconds isn’t too important in your races.
I like the Michelin Pro Race - but they max at 116 and I am big so I like to pump up to about 115 - 120, so that makes me a bit anxious with the Michelins. Right now I am on Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp tires and they feel very nice. Only 200 miles so far, so not sure about wear. I was actually about 1 mph faster last week on them over my usual long ride - it may have had nothing to do with the tires though. They max at 175 psi, so I pumped them up to about 120. That may have been a difference. Continentals do not seem as supple, but do seem to wear well. I have used the Attack/Force pair, my wife has GP3000s which seem fine also.
I love the valves on Michelin Aircomp tubes.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the max pressure rating that is printed on the tire. I used to pump my pro-races up to 140psig all of the time without any problems, even on Ksyriums which people said were only rated to 140psig I had a thing about thinking the tires would be faster at the higher pressure but really all that pressure in the tires just rattled my body around without any noticable increase in speed. I consistantly pump them up 110psig to 120psig now.
jaretj
I also use the Pro Race for races and Carbons for training, and I pump both to about 120psi. With >3k miles on them (between a few different tires) I am pretty secure about them staying on the rim. I’ve tried 125 and 130psi but didn’t notice any improvement in speed, but they did get a bit harsher. I really love the Carbons for training, they are reasonably light, grippy, long-wearing and so far pretty indestructible.