tyres again

Seaswimmer

Hi all. I am currently commuting on 700 x 23 Gatorskins and find them good even if they seem to pick up a lot of glass which needs to be removed regularly. My wife and kids bikes have 700 x 35 marathon plus tyres which are great. i notice that you can get a 700 x 25c marathon plus tyre now. Have any of you tried these on your road bikes for commuting. I assume the clearances would be ok and the difference in rolling resistance negligible..

72hundred

Personally I like gatorskins 25x700 for communting and conti gp 4000S 23x700 for weenend cycling. What do you plan on using the tyes for most?

Lumen

I use GP4000s and Gatorskins, and never get punctures, but the legendary toughness of Marathon Plus is quite attractive purely from a convenience POV - you can just leave the pump/levers/tube at home.

They're not light though (580g in 25mm) although that obviously isn't a big deal for commuting.

blorg

They don't roll as well as Gatorskins, they are a fundamentally different sort of tyre. I used the non-plus variety in 700x35c before, my girlfriend has the 700x25c on a vintage tourer as there isn't clearance for anything wider. To be honest I wouldn't see a lot of point in it unless you had an off road component, it is one of the best tyres for mostly road with a bit of light off road though. What sort of bike are you commuting on? I am sticking Marathon Racers in 700x35 on my commuter (swapping from 700x25c Gatorskins) to see how they go. These are a fair bit slicker than Marathon Plus.

petethedrummer

I stuck the 700x28C version of these on my road bike on Monday. Used them all last winter including the snow. There a good deal slower than 23Cs though.

Seaswimmer

blorg wrote: »

They don't roll as well as Gatorskins, they are a fundamentally different sort of tyre. I used the non-plus variety in 700x35c before, my girlfriend has the 700x25c on a vintage tourer as there isn't clearance for anything wider. To be honest I wouldn't see a lot of point in it unless you had an off road component, it is one of the best tyres for mostly road with a bit of light off road though. What sort of bike are you commuting on? I am sticking Marathon Racers in 700x35 on my commuter (swapping from 700x25c Gatorskins) to see how they go. These are a fair bit slicker than Marathon Plus.

I am commuting on a single speed road bike, all on the road but over a lot of debris and glass in certain areas. I just notice myself picking more and more glass out of the gatorskins and quite a lot of nicks/damage in the tyre even though i change them every 6 months. I have had a couple of slow punctures recently where small shards of glass have worked through the tyre over time.

petethedrummer

You have to check your tyres every now and then and pull out any bits of glass.

Seaswimmer

petethedrummer wrote: »

You have to check your tyres every now and then and pull out any bits of glass.

I do this weekly but maybe i am just cycling through a lot of glass these days. I am going to give the Marathons a go. Which brings me on to my next query. The tubes i am using are 700c X 18-23. would you order a 700c x25-32 tube for a 700c x 25 tyre or chance the 700 x 23's that i currently own..

blorg

The small nicks don't matter as long as it doesn't go through to the tube. The tyres are designed to have a somewhat soft outer (soft is necessary for good grip) with a layer inside that that stops objects that get through the soft outer from puncturing the tube.

As Pete says, you have to remove the glass periodically or it is basically like running over the same bit of glass on a continual basis and it will eventually get through.

To be honest I would avoid cycling over glass with any tyre, surely this must be possible?

I often use 700x18-23 tubes in 700x25c tyres, indeed more often than not, and they work absolutely fine.

Seaswimmer

blorg wrote: »

The small nicks don't matter as long as it doesn't go through to the tube. The tyres are designed to have a somewhat soft outer (soft is necessary for good grip) with a layer inside that that stops objects that get through the soft outer from puncturing the tube.

As Pete says, you have to remove the glass periodically or it is basically like running over the same bit of glass on a continual basis and it will eventually get through.

To be honest I would avoid cycling over glass with any tyre, surely this must be possible?

I often use 700x18-23 tubes in 700x25c tyres, indeed more often than not, and they work absolutely fine.

Thanks for the advice re the tubes. i do try and avoid glass but it is not easy on these dark mornings and evenings and as i said i do pick it out every week (if i find it). I dont get many punctures but having seen the abuse that the Marathons take on my teenagers bikes i think they maybe a better commuting option..

poochiem

Lumen wrote: »

I use GP4000s and Gatorskins, and never get punctures, but the legendary toughness of Marathon Plus is quite attractive purely from a convenience POV - you can just leave the pump/levers/tube at home.

They're not light though (580g in 25mm) although that obviously isn't a big deal for commuting.

well (on your advice boadsies) my GP4000s arrived this morning so might try to stick them on tonight. got a cold though so will probably retire with whiskey to the leaba when i get in.

blorg

Worth bearing in mind as well I guess that they are wide for 25s, more like 28s I would have thought. Certainly they look a fair bit wider than 700x25 Gatorskins, I have compared the two directly.

petethedrummer

I had these tyres in 23C on the bike till the recent change to wide tires for the ice. They are slow and heavy but they were far better for resisting punctures than gatorskins IMO. I don't rate gatorskins at all, but I'm in the minority.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/product/ribmo-tyre-32125

niceonetom

blorg wrote: »

Worth bearing in mind as well I guess that they are wide for 25s, more like 28s I would have thought. Certainly they look a fair bit wider than 700x25 Gatorskins, I have compared the two directly.

Which tyres are wider than billed? Continental of schwalbe? I've ordered a pair of these at 28mm and it's only 50/50 they'll actually fit on my fixie, but I'm hopeful as I was under the impression that contis generally are narrower than they claim...

MadHatter

petethedrummer wrote: »

I had these tyres in 23C on the bike till the recent change to wide tires for the ice. They are slow and heavy but they were far better for resisting punctures than gatorskins IMO. I don't rate gatorskins at all, but I'm in the minority.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/product/ribmo-tyre-32125

But not a minority of one! I had at least 5-6 punctures on 25c gatorskins in the 12 months of running them, compared to 1 on armidillos over a 15 month period. But more importantly, I found the grip on gatorskins to be appalling in wet conditions. Had 3 "offs" over the 12 months due to loss of grip in rear wheel. On each occasion, I was travelling at a moderate enough pace and taking gentle corners, so I would have expected to stay upright.

The gatorskins are now in the bin and I've moved to these Conti Sport Contacts. Seem to be behaving themselves a bit better.

MadHatter

niceonetom wrote: »

Which tyres are wider than billed? Continental of schwalbe? I've ordered a pair of these at 28mm and it's only 50/50 they'll actually fit on my fixie, but I'm hopeful as I was under the impression that contis generally are narrower than they claim...

What width are your rims?

They fit fine on my 14mm rims but I tried to fit them on 13mm rims from the wifes bike and they were too big.

niceonetom

MadHatter wrote: »

What width are your rims?

I don't know off the top of my head, but they're open-pros which I think are quite wide. It's the clearance under the rear brake bridge and the fork that I'm worried about. It's a pretty uncompromising frame.... all I can do is cross my fingers and hope.

How little clearance is too little clearance guys? If the wheel spins am I good to go? or do I really need a couple of mm of air just in case the tyre picks something up or I flex the whells a little too much with my mighty watts? I see track frames run with fag-paper clearances but is that wise in the real world?

monument

Touch wood -- Not one puncture on Marathon Plus since switching to them a year or two ago (bar a directly inflicted one while not cycling).

blorg

niceonetom wrote: »

Which tyres are wider than billed? Continental of schwalbe? I've ordered a pair of these at 28mm and it's only 50/50 they'll actually fit on my fixie, but I'm hopeful as I was under the impression that contis generally are narrower than they claim...

The Marathons specifically seem a bit wider than Gatorskins- in the 700x25 size. May not apply to other sizes.

I have put 35c tyres on Open Pros so I don't imagine you'll have a problem with the rim.

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

I don't know off the top of my head, but they're open-pros which I think are quite wide. It's the clearance under the rear brake bridge and the fork that I'm worried about. It's a pretty uncompromising frame.... all I can do is cross my fingers and hope.

How little clearance is too little clearance guys? If the wheel spins am I good to go? or do I really need a couple of mm of air just in case the tyre picks something up or I flex the whells a little too much with my mighty watts? I see track frames run with fag-paper clearances but is that wise in the real world?

Fag paper clearance is fine mate... them thighs you got ain't going to be flexing any frames in the near future

Signal_ rabbit

Another vote for the GP4000S, absolutely great tyre, and good in the wet too. Have gone up a lot in price now though.; PBK £35!!!

niceonetom

Well today I will be road testing my new continental sportcontact 28mm tyres at 80psi on my cannondale capo*. I expect to feel slow. Conti do indeed run narrower than they claim - the 28mm is actually only 26mm which means they sneak under the brake bridge with about 1.5mm to spare.

*that's for google

poochiem

quick question - i'm putting on my new conti 4000s and it's my first time changing a tyre in nearly 20 years. what is the rotation arrow about on the tyre and what relation has that to the wheel?


meh. i'm presuming it means the direction of travel and not the "direction of the wheel" as it says in my little tutorial.

I think I should give mr.Skeffington a buzz for some lessons.

blorg

poochiem wrote: »

quick question - i'm putting on my new conti 4000s and it's my first time changing a tyre in nearly 20 years. what is the rotation arrow about on the tyre and what relation has that to the wheel?


meh. i'm presuming it means the direction of travel and not the "direction of the wheel" as it says in my little tutorial.

I think I should give mr.Skeffington a buzz for some lessons.

You put it on so the arrow points in the direction of wheel rotation. Not that it really matters.

poochiem

blorg wrote: »

You put it on so the arrow points in the direction of wheel rotation. Not that it really matters.

Yeah I presumed that's what was meant but my 'instructions' made it seem as though there was an equivalent arrow on the wheels. just confusing.

Anyways thanks for the recommendation the gp 4000s are like formula 1 tyres. feel comlpletely different - faster? - maybe my imagination but on a dry indoor tiled floor the bike practically stood up itself they feel so grippy.

I got a sweet deal for 40 quid on those, delighted.