Which tyres for winter?

[Forever Alone]

Not long got a road bike and the tyres (and wheels) are rubbish.
I want to go to 25mm anyway so seems like a good idea to get winter tyres.

Which ones would you chaps recommend?

TIA.

[nammynake]

Conti GP 4 Seasons.

[Forever Alone]

nammynake said:

Conti GP 4 Seasons.

Was just looking on Wiggle at those and they have great reviews.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Conti 4seasons are good , had them on my winter bike for 2 years , really good for smooth ride . They are a bit soft making them not great if you ride down gravel etc like I do

[SixPotBelly]

In my experience GP 4 Seasons come up a couple of mm small. I'd go for the 28mm if you want true 25mm width.

[numtumfutunch]

nammynake said:

Conti GP 4 Seasons.

me too

use the 23mm version as I dont have a proper winter snotter and they need to fit under crud racers and despite them looking a bit skinny theyve been great for the last xxxxx years

[BadgerBenji]

Schwalbe Durano, had better mileage from them and less punctures.

[Forever Alone]

SixPotBelly said:

In my experience GP 4 Seasons come up a couple of mm small. I'd go for the 28mm if you want true 25mm width.

I need to be careful as its a Cervelo R2 and everywhere online seems to be saying 25mm is absolute Max & will be tight.

[anonymous-user]

I thought the R2 was essentially the R3 but with a different fork to facilitate clearance issues. I'd be more than surprised if a 25 is tight but then it can be a factor of both tyre and rim.

I use vittoria rubino pro 25s in the winter, they are cheap and light with good resistance to punctures

[TwistingMyMelon]

On my single speed commuter ive stuck a pair of Vittoria Zaffiros for £7 each on there, they seem a tougher outer shell than Conti 4 seasons, I notice the difference when taking corners/slippery roundabouts at speed, in that they have less grip and not so reassuring. But Ive got fed up of payingfor decent tyres and them not lasting too long due to the horrendous pot holed roads near me. @ £7 I can almost treat them as inner tubes and no punctures as yet.

[broster]

I have 4 seasons, the 25mm version. They do come up small, ill be getting 28's next time to replace

[SixPotBelly]

I've gone back and found the thread where I posted my measured widths last time winter tyres came up.

My 28c GP4S measured 26.1mm at 95psi. By contrast, on the same wheel, my summer 28c GP4000Sii measured 30.4mm, also at 95psi*. So it's not that the rim was making the 4S come up small.

But I shouldn't have said "true 25mm" above. I should have said "near 25mm".

*I now run at lower pressures: 90 on the 4S and 85 on the 4000Sii, but that's not relevant.

[Daveyraveygravey]

I stick with Conti 4 Seasons year round, I find them the best balance of grip/durability/ride/cost. I shouldn't say this, but they even seem more puncture resistant now than a couple of years ago.

Does anyone know of a tyre that offers more grip? I will ride through the winter if the temp is as low as 0-3 degrees; last year I had two nasty offs on icy roads so am prepared to sacrifice some of the durability and even cost if I can stay off the Tarmac. I may try and get 35 mm tyres on my son's Allez (he doesn't use it much to even notice!) if I can't get something grippier for my bike.

[Forever Alone]

Guys silly question before I order.
Current tyres are 23mm. I'm guessing to go 28mm I'm going to hand to order new 28mm inner tubes as well?
Continental good for those also?

ETA

From this list which ones is it? Race or tour? Presta or Schrader? 40mm or 42mm?

Why is this so confusing?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-quality-road-p...

Edited by Forever Alone on Saturday 10th October 11:33

[MC Bodge]

As recommended on another thread, I have fitted some 28mm Durano to my commuting cyclocross bike. I've been very happy with them so far.

Tubes are sized for different width tyres, although there appears to be a large crossover between different brands/sizes.

You don't want to squeeze in massively wide tubes, especially on narrower rims.

[yellowjack]

Forever Alone said:

Guys silly question before I order.
Current tyres are 23mm. I'm guessing to go 28mm I'm going to hand to order new 28mm inner tubes as well?
Continental good for those also?

ETA

From this list which ones is it? Race or tour? Presta or Schrader? 40mm or 42mm?

Why is this so confusing?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-quality-road-p...

Presta/Schrader question easily answered. Which of these images do your current tubes/valves look like?



Best check your current tubes anyway. The spread of tyre sizes each tube is suitable for varies between manufacturers, so you may already have suitable tubes in. If not, just nab a couple that cover 28mm in their size spread. From that list, it'll be the '700 x 28-37 Tour 28 SL' if you have Presta valves. Which also would mean 42mm valve length. Again, that'll be fine if you have shallow (standard, non-aero) rims. But measure your current valve length to be sure. Long valved tubes are available for 'deeper' (aero) rims if it turns out you need them.

Fingers crossed I've made some sense with all that...

[Forever Alone]

yellowjack said:

Presta/Schrader question easily answered. Which of these images do your current tubes/valves look like?



Best check your current tubes anyway. The spread of tyre sizes each tube is suitable for varies between manufacturers, so you may already have suitable tubes in. If not, just nab a couple that cover 28mm in their size spread. From that list, it'll be the '700 x 28-37 Tour 28 SL' if you have Presta valves. Which also would mean 42mm valve length. Again, that'll be fine if you have shallow (standard, non-aero) rims. But measure your current valve length to be sure. Long valved tubes are available for 'deeper' (aero) rims if it turns out you need them.

Fingers crossed I've made some sense with all that...

Brilliant, thank you very much.

[Jimbo.]

If you can stomach the price (£50 RRP, about £35-40 online) then Vittoria Open Pavés are _very_ good (and grip well, for the personal asking above!). Used them for a few winters and trips to Flanders now and they've never let me down.

That said, I've been running Michelin Pro 4 SCs, including winter of 2014/2015 and this years wet, cold and muddy Flanders. To be honest, they're as good as the Vittorias, but if you shop around 2/3s the price! Last a bit longer too. Also heard very good things about the Pro 4 Endurance tyres too.

[Black can man]

BadgerBenji said:

Schwalbe Durano, had better mileage from them and less punctures.