Road Bicycle Questions

I just run light weight Huchy race tire with Perf. Bike light weight tubes, in the roadie.

Cross bike uses Kenda Small Block 8s with the same LW tubes. Rarely ever get a flat.

 

I have been running Specialized Espoir Elite. They are listed as a training tire and have dual layer flat protection. They are a little heavy, but I got used to it pretty quickly and it is a training tire anyway, so who cares. They have been excellent against flats. I run the specialized ultra lite tubes to help offset the weight difference and those tubes come pre talced. I rarely get flats now. I switched to these from the Conti GP4000's because I was getting tired of multiple flat rides. The last bonus to the Espoir Elite is that they are inexpensive as far as tires go. I think they are around $35 each now.

 

Aka Kenda

 

Gatorskins are excellent, but IMO overpriced. My rear tires last about 2000 miles and the fronts about 2500 no matter the brand.

Michelin makes a good road tire that's almost as tough at about 30% the price, they sell them at Performance I forgot the model name. I used about 4 sets of them. Right now I'm running a super cheap set of REI house brand tires (20 bucks each), I rarely have a flat. The carcass is a bit vulnerable to cuts though. I managed to hold one together with gorilla glue. Last week I took the road bike on a straight up mountain trail, reduced pressure to 90 each they were fine. Typical pressure I run is 120 in clear weather, 110 with heavy climbing and descending (makes carcass more compliant on descents), 100 in inclement weather.

I run whatever tubes they sell at Performance. Unless you're riding over chipseal roads or other nasty areas all the tire liners etc are overkill.

 

Exact same setup here. Works very well.

 

Is 120 a typical pressure to set a tire at? Seems real high. What's the rules on road bike tire pressures?

 

120 is normal for good roads/conditions on a clincher.

 

Tubeless run lower pressures, I go 105.

 

Running Vittoria open corsa CX 23 on the trainer wheels with their Latex tube and same tire but a 22 on my better wheels with same Latex tube ..... the latex offers a softer ride with the smaller tire,no flats and I've gone thru 2 sets of tires on each .... tire isn't as durable as the the Conti 4000s,price is a little cheaper .... running 115 f , 120 r on psi ... only down fall is u will be pumping the tires every day,latex doesn't hold air as well as buytuls ..... if ur looking for bomb proof go with the Conti gatorskins and they make a double thick tube,had a friend train on these for ever no pinches and there was all kinds of stuff stuck in the tire over a few months that I pulled out,just way to heavy of a combo

 

I run 25mm gatorskins at 80/100 - f/r

Per this calc: http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html

 

As a "heavy rider" at 190 lbs I think I am going to go up from the 23 to a 25 or maybe even a 28 on my Trek 2.3. I don't do any sprint races and the bike is 95% for training with maybe 1 or 2 fun race entries a year. I think the lower pressure on the bigger tire will be worth the extra weight.

 

I was a bike messenger for 10 years and have been in and out of road racing for 20 years. Hands down I think the best non racing 25 is the maxxis refuse. I would get 2xs the life out of these than any other tire and they are quite affordable. I train on them on my cross bike and get awesome mileage out of them and worked on them and they took a beating and held up. As far as a racing tire I'm michelin guy.

 

120 is a typical pressure for your average clincher. I usually go 5 PSI down on front compared to the rear, sometimes 10 depending on the ride. For rollers or flats in good cool weather on a good surface I run 120 rear 115 front. For big mountain descents I do 115 rear 110 front. Wet weather 110 rear 100 front. I don't know if those little 5 and 10 PSI changes make a difference but they make me feel better. I also adjust down for excessive heat, it you fill your tires in a cool space and then go ride in 100 degree weather you could see thermal expansion as much as 10 PSI. IE. On one of those 110 degree days we get in SoCal I will run 110 / 110 where it'd normally be 115 / 120. Your road bike tires will lose pressure rapidly, they have to be pumped before every single ride. I'm 220 lbs, if you weigh less you will need a bit less pressure.

You will eventually get a good feel for what pressures you should run. I had the opposite problem when I got a MTB. The pressures I ran were too high because I was used to road bikes and I was crashing every single ride. I was doing 55 on my 29" clinchers, once I took it down to 40 / 45 the crashing mostly stopped. At least the front end washouts...

 

jeeezzz... I might put that much air in my MTB tires if Im only riding on the road. Otherwise Im around 27f & 25r on sand/roots/coterrain.

 

I run Vittoria Corsa tires with 320 tpi. They are an awesome tire and a little spendy but well worth it. I run 100 psi which gives a great ride. Some people like to run 110 - 120 psi but that will give a pretty harsh ride on todays stiff carbon bikes.

 

Michelin Pro 4 Endurance 25c in off season racing months and 23c in racing months....excellent tire and very good mileage....I also just started using Specialized Espoir Elites and so far also really like those tires...I used Gatorskins for years and was never impressed with the mileage I got out of them....

120 psi? Wow....I'm never over 105 even for summer race rides....Tubeless on the road I go 95/100....

Ken

 

My summer weight is around 195-200, winter is 200-205. Definitely need to go to a 25, you will notice much more plushness w/o much resistance. 28's won't usually clear the brake pads when removing the wheel, but the forks/frame are generally fine

 

As far as being able to run a bit larger tire..here in lies the beauty of the cross bike. Better for mtn dirt roads too. Not quite as fast as a true roadie. But who cares unless your trying to hang on to the wed night group ride.