Advice Needed: Tires

[Steve Cole]

I want to replace the tires I currently am running on a bike I use only about a quarter of the time.  The bike is a 1990s era Bianchi Axis.  It is currently set up with 700c x 37 Schwalbe Marathons (the original).  I want to go a size larger which I believe the bike will accommodate.  I also want a suppler tire.  I ride mostly in the city, on paved country roads and occasionally on fairly smooth dirt roads.  I've considered Rene Herse Barlow Pass, Continental Contact Speed or Schwalbe G-One Speed.  I'm interest in any views you have on these tires or others you would strongly recommend.  Many thanks.

Steve Cole

Arlington, VA 

[Brian Campbell]

I have used the Barlow Pass Extra Light tires for years and have had no issues. I am riding primarily paved roads along with light gravel and dirt a part of the time. I also just did a 70 mile mixed surface rideusing 32mm Rene Herse tires and they held up great on some pretty serious gravel. 

[Steve Palincsar]

No doubt the Barlow Pass ELs are excellent tires.  Question is, though, what is "one size up" from 700x37C Marathon?  The Barlow Pass are 38mm and I believe really are 38mm wide.  How wide are the Marathons in real life?  Some Schwalbe tires are dramatically narrower than the sidewall rating; is the Marathon one of them?   If it is, will the Bianchi Axis fit an actual 38mm wide tire?

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Steve Palincsar
Alexandria, Virginia 
USA

[James Valiensi]

HI,

I use Schwalbe’s on most of my bikes. The G-Ones are my favorite tires. I use them in the road version and gravel versions. I have them from 25mm to 50mm.

The tires seems heavy duty but ride as good as the condom-thin tires. I feel very secure on the Schwalbe’s and get a great fast ride. 

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[Patrick Moore]

That's interesting that these beefy-seeming tires roll as well as extralight Compass tires; I guess that what makes the difference is that they are tubeless? I know that when I briefly ran Kojaks tubeless (ghetto setup), they felt like the Compass Elk Pass with tubes.

Question: after much suffering and anguish I managed a couple of years ago to purchase a pair of 559 X 28 G-One Speeds, but I don't see these on Schwalbe's site anymore. Do they still make a 26" version?

(As to my pair, (a) I was then ignorant that you can very successfilly -- so I'm told -- run tubeless-ready tires on non-tubless rims with the right rim tape; and (b) when I felt those thick and stiff sidewalls, I said, "Nah!" and sold them at a huge loss, unmounted and unridden. Wish I'd been as well informed then as I am now. Still, perhaps academic if this size is no longer on the market.)

On Tue, Jan 14, 2020 at 9:18 AM James Valiensi <jpval...@gmail.com> wrote:

HI,

I use Schwalbe’s on most of my bikes. The G-Ones are my favorite tires. I use them in the road version and gravel versions. I have them from 25mm to 50mm.

The tires seems heavy duty but ride as good as the condom-thin tires. I feel very secure on the Schwalbe’s and get a great fast ride. 

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[aeroperf]

My wife and I used to ride Schwalbe Marathons.  Great tires for puncture protection, but at 730 grams my wife said it always felt like riding through mud.  Never had a flat, though.
We went to Continental Ride Tour tires and they were an improvement - less stiff and less heavy at 650 grams.  She loves them.
I moved on to Continental Speed Ride tires.  They only come in one size - 622x42 at 495 grams.  I have 5000 miles on my set and I love them.
I will occasionally re-mount the Ride Tours if I want to compare things like tire widths or chain stay lengths.  :-)
IMHO it is a trade-off between weight and puncture protection, and I’ll take the risk for lighter weight.

[tc]

Steve,
What width rim? How wide a tire does your frame allow you to go?

My quick ranking, having used them in the 38-60mm range:

1. Barlow (38 std casing). Most supple - like butter, quietest, easiest to mount.

2 G-One (2” and 2.4”) second most supple, very slight hum on pavement, but not objectionably so.

3. Sport Contact II (42) (I know you didn’t mention). Least supple, but more so than marathons, least expensive, quiet, fast for money.

I should note my experiences are running with tubes.

Tom

[ascpgh]

My experience has been that an improvement in the suppleness of the casing, including a less slab-like tread cap, is like gaining width and accompanying volume. I started riding the Stampede Pass ELs on my Rambouillet four years ago to expand the bike's terrain potential. 32 is pretty much the max width under fender once more optimal brakes (Paul Racers) were installed to clear everything, stop when needed and not losing clearance when the arms closing on the rims for braking like the original Shimano Dual pivots. Better tires were that last step I took, although I considered them a part of the caliper and fender size changes.

Without a width increase, the supple tires provided a whole new level of comfort. Other than the option of a new bike, the supple tires opened the terrain I was comfortable riding and they felt like I could maintain control while having a decent chance of avoiding pinch flats while doing so. Comfort being both physical and intellectual, I was less jarred from rough surface roads and less worried about the smoothness of the ride coming at a cost of more frequent flats. I was riding longer with less need for physical recovery, fewer spare tubes, patches and tires. 

I ride the Stampede Pass ELs on that bike and frequently take trips on the gravel GAP and the rocky muddy C&O on them carrying 15-20# with me on the bike. I can't speak too much about comparisons in this use because I didn't ride my Rambouillet on the these surfaces much before using those tires and now think nothing of heading out for a two day 150 mile trip and an Amtrak home from Cumberland, MD. 

Andy Cheatham

Pittsburgh

On Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 9:25:58 AM UTC-5, Steve Cole wrote:

[Marc Irwin]

I'm thinking, after a friend recommended them, of going to Bon Jon Pass tires on my Hillborne.   Is the extra light casing worth the cash?  Do you give up much durability against the standard casing?  I worry a bit about the casing because I'm bigger (205-210 on the best of days) and have seen my share of snake bites from small potholes.

Marc

[Marc Irwin]

I had a similar experience with Marathon's on my Hunqapillar.  They were the slowest tires I have ever used, on any thing.  I replaced them with larger (50mm) Schwalbe Big Ben and have been rolling happily ever since.  The Big Ben is incredibly fast on pavement for a wide tire and the extra tread comes in to help on the soft ground and muddy stuff.

Marc

[Jeffrey Arita]

Steve,

Maybe consider Panaracer tires?  Specifically the GravelKing slicks?

My wife and I ride our fair share of RH/Compass tires.  Excellent quality, extremely comfy, long-wearing and high performance.  We also own a fair number of Panaracer tires - specifically GravelKing slicks (28 and 32 mm).

We've ridden the GK's on our tandem (the frame and fork can only fit 28mm max) and they are very, very nice.  They are very reasonably priced too.  I will be mounting a set of 38mm GK's on my new Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross [I am currently building it up].  I only wished they made a 44!

Good luck!

Jeff

[Marc Irwin]

The Gravel King seemed an option until I heard a number of complaints about flats, even on tubeless applications.   
What is your experience with Gravel Kings and flats?  I've been using Pasela tires for years but have been thinking of tubeless for the Hillborne now.

Marc

[ascpgh]

I can’t compare the ELs to standard, I’ve never looked elsewhere since riding them.

Andy Cheatham
Pittsburgh

[Deacon Patrick]

Marc,

"Is the extra light casing worth the cash?"

For me, absolutely. Your flat-tolerance-to-cush-ride-ratio may vary. I've experienced an increase in flats to roughly 4 a year with plush tires (I count my supple-ish liteskin Schwalbe's in there, which account for about half of my flats) from 0-1 flats with Schwalbe Dureem tires. 

"Do you give up much durability against the standard casing?"

No real idea. Never tried the standard for the near non-issue I have with sidewall cuts. I've gotten some abbrasion, which I just leave and carry a few tire boots (cut up Rene Herse tires) in case they are needed. I still get the full life of the tire and haven't used a boot yet.

"I worry a bit about the casing because I'm bigger (205-210 on the best of days) and have seen my share of snake bites from small potholes."

I'm 190-200 and it takes some adjustment to dial in the pressure for supple tires to accommodate rocks and roots or potholes (increase the pressure, still get the plush ride benefits). If you find unavoidable obstacles are an issue, you may want to go with the endurance casing. They were developed for slamming into potholes in gravel races in the peloton.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Marc Irwin]

Thanks to everybody for the feedback.

Marc

[Jeffrey Arita]

Marc,

Sorry - I just saw your question regarding GravelKing's.  We've been lucky thus far.  Only a few flats - no more than any other type of tire.  Note that we only have the 'standard' GravelKing slicks.  Apparently Panaracer came out with a GravelKing PLUS.  The GK Plus adds a "ProTite Shield Plus" layer onto the 'standard' GK.  I/we do not have any experience with the GK Plus.

Note: I/we do make sure we (kinda) carefully watch the air pressures both front and rear (per Frank Berto's tire chart as a starting place).  For a single bike it it not a huge issue (we typically run them kinda low pressure anyway) but for the tandem I watch it carefully because of the potential for pinch flats.  For the tandem I ran 90-ish psi front and 95-ish psi rear (tubed of course).  We rode a 200k brevet on January 1st and a 75 miler this past weekend without flats (as expected).

I/we don't have any experience with GK's run tubeless but as duly noted I am building up a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross (rim-brake model).  I've got the front wheel completed (700x38 GK tubeless with Panaracer Seal Smart).  Interesting to note: Upon installing the tire onto the rim (new Velocity Quill) and inflating it, the tire did NOT hold air, even for a few minutes.  I checked it under water and saw that a lot of air was being lost at the bead AND where the Velocity Quill rim was joined together.  I installed the sealant and it completely sealed the leaks (I tested it under water after adding the sealant).  I've used Stan's and Orange Seal and this is the first time using Panaracer's version.

Good luck on your eventual selection!

Jeff

[Bryan Kim]

With the understanding that the quality of "suppleness" can be somewhat personal/subjective, I personally like the ride quality of my Panaracer Pasela PT tires, especially for a bike you intend to use from time to time. FWIW, I live in the DMV and run the Paselas on my Bridgestone MB-2 for rides around the city, on the Capital Crescent Trail, and even on the C&O towpath - have not flatted yet and the ride quality has been more than sufficient for all three situations. As a bonus, the cost is relatively low for these tires.

On Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 9:25:58 AM UTC-5, Steve Cole wrote:

[Jason Fuller]

I have a hard time suggesting anything other than Rene Herse tires for road use when supple & quick are desired.  There are other good options I'm sure, but I cannot find a fault in the R.H. tires. At one point I was concerned about their puncture protection because I had two flats within a week, but it's now been almost two years flat-free.  

[Benjamin L. Kelley]

Funny I had the same thing happen, a couple flats in in a couple of days(I think like 4 in one week) on RH/Compass Stampede Pass' right after moving from KC to NYC. After that I switched to gatorskins which are the anti-supple and suck for gripping anything other than flat and dry pavement.  But I only had 1 flat in 2000km and it was a tiny bit of wire that worked its way in. These will go away when I finally do my 650b conversion on the steamroller.

On the Quickbeam I've been running Gravelking SK+ and no issues so far but only 700km or so on them.

On Wed, Jan 22, 2020 at 4:50 PM Jason Fuller <jtf.f...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have a hard time suggesting anything other than Rene Herse tires for road use when supple & quick are desired.  There are other good options I'm sure, but I cannot find a fault in the R.H. tires. At one point I was concerned about their puncture protection because I had two flats within a week, but it's now been almost two years flat-free.  

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[Arthur Mayfield]

I want to throw in a vote for Soma Supple Vitesse SL tires. I have them currently on my Frank Jones Sr in 700c x 38, but have also run 700c x 33 on that bike. Both are the most comfy tires I've ever ridden on, and as light and fast as I need. They come in two variants, SL (super light) and EX (extra wear, with just a little thicker rubber on the tread. They also come in 700c x 42. Current production is tubeless-suitable, but some vendors still have the non-tubeless version in stock.