Tong Family

Bicycle Tires Trials. Back in November, I wore out my Continental GP3000s. Since then, I’ve tried a bunch of different tires. Here’s the scoop at least for me:
* “Sdeals”:http://sdeals.com. They have the absolute best prices on tires I’ve seen.
* “Continental GP 3000”:http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/race/grand_prix_3000/grand_prix_3000_en.html. These I actually wore out after 2,000 miles. At least the rear tire. Folks say they are fast wearing. At 210 grams, they are fine tires and very durable.
* “Veloflex Pave”:http://www.veloflextires.com/. These are made in the original Vittoria factory in Italy. Only 180 grams, but after 200 miles, I blew them out. Hit some glass. They are incredibly light and in the rain, it is very exciting. I wonder what the Master (170 grams), Corsa (160 grams) and the Record (130 grams) would be like. They were amazingly fast after using the Conti’s for a year, but tricky in turns. They are 20mm tires, not 22mm, which is part of the reason they are so light.
* “Vittoria Open Corsa TT”:http://www.vittoria.com/catalogo_2002_vittoria_geax/product_index_frame.htm. These lasted about 100 miles. Glass and road junk blew through the casing. I think I was looking for it more, so it wasn’t as severe as the Veloflex, but depressing. Very fast though and less squirrelly in turns than the Veloflex.
* “Michelin Axial Pro”:http://cycleus.webmichelin.com/tires/axialpro.htm. The other standard in tires, is this 230 gram version. Just started using it. It has a much heavier tread than the Veloflex or the Vittoria, but after having tires that were pumped up to 120 psi and 130 psi respectively, it felt flexy and slow. Oh well, I guess there is a tradeoff between weight and durability.
The conclusion is I’m going to try another set of Veloflex and see how they last through the training up to the STP. Unfortunately, Sdeals.com is down through April, so this will give me some time to really test the Axial Pro’s. There is a new tire, the Axial Pro Light at 190 grams, so I’ll have to give that one a try too.