If you’re like me, who rides on mostly decent roads and wants a good commuter tire, any one of them is a good fit. Even if your budget only allows for the cheapest Continental Ride Tour, you won’t be disappointed. Finance is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. Performance Cycling Limited FRN: 720557 trading as Tredz are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a credit broker not a lender – credit is subject to status and affordability and is provided by Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC. Terms & Conditions Apply. Agility is another, much more important factor to consider than speed because it’s clearly noticeable as you switch between tires. I didn’t find an empirical way to measure this, so it’s based on perception. Here, the weight comes into play a great deal.

For superb durability, reliability, and puncture resistance in your commuting/touring/trekking endeavors, choose the Continental Ride Tour Tire. The super-durable tread compound is ideal for putting in plenty of miles while its tread pattern ensures low rolling resistance for straight-line speed while the edges deliver ample traction in wet conditions or on dirt roads. A puncture-resistant belt helps reduce the occurrence of flats, particularly of importance when venturing out on rougher surfaces, and a wide variety of size options ensures there's a Ride Tour tire for your bike. Chain reaction Cycles and CRC are trading names of Wiggle Ltd (In Administration) registered in the United Kingdom at 1000 Lakeside, Suite 310, Third Floor N E Wing, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3EN, I rode the same bike with the exact same setup on the same hill three times. I measured the time it took to get both up and down and averaged them out. On the way down I didn’t pedal at all, but I let gravity take care of the speed.The Schwalbe Marathon Plus is the heaviest of the tires I tested. It’s regarded by many as the best commuter tire for its excellent puncture resistance. On a road bike or audax bike, you're trading away everything – weight, feel, speed, roadbikeyness – for reliability. Before purchasing, be sure that's what you want to do. There are less tough tyres that, for me and you, are a better compromise. If you want a really tough 25-28mm tyre that rolls reasonably well, try Schwalbe's Durano Plus. If you want a reasonably tough tyre that rolls really well, try the Michelin Pro4 Endurance. Verdict So let’s take a look at the second most important decision making tool we can use when shopping online, price. Whether your goal is to just get the cheapest Bike Tyres available, or to get the best quality at a reasonable price, there’s always going to be a need to do your research on price. Continental RIDE Tour 700c Tyre price analysis I cannot say I remember having as much difficulty getting them on. But I got shown good a good technique for fitting tyres from a mate who ran my LBS many years ago. I also have pretty strong hands so I'm often surprised when I hear people complain and resort to tools. But first I had to fit them. It was extraordinarily difficult. Of the scores, perhaps hundreds, of different tyres I've fitted, these were the toughest. In the end, it took: six to eight cable-ties around each rim, squeezing the tyre down into the well; a liberal application of chalk; much swearing; and considerable discomfort. My hands afterwards were like claws.

I've fitted Marathon Plus tyres with nothing more than my fingers and thumbs, albeit in wider sizes. (I remember struggling to fit a 700x25 M+ too.) Plus-style springy rubber under the tread makes any tyre harder to manipulate. The narrower the tyre, the less malleable it is. It's good that the Touring Plus is virtually impregnable, because you'd have a real fight on your hands trying to change a tube at the roadside with winter-chilled hands. What stands out to me is that the weight of the tires comes into play much less than I expected, so much so that you can’t even tell the difference based on this experiment. As a commuter, you may spend up to an hour or even more on your bike each way, which means that you need your bike to be as comfortable as possible. This starts with the tire, especially if your bicycle – like mine – doesn’t have a suspension fork.That's right: a road bike. The Touring Plus is narrower than its nominal size, to the extent that you're unlikely to want to fit it to your tourer or cyclo-cross bike. My vernier calliper says that while the height from the rim is about 28mm, it measures just under 24mm at its widest when fitted to a normal, 14mm-internal road rim. Taking all of that into account it’s pretty clear why Continental RIDE Tour 700c Tyre scored such a great price score of 9.2/10 and why it features as one of the top recommended products in the Bike Tyres category.

This isn’t a deal-breaker for most people, but if you’re looking for new tires for your e-bike, it is an essential detail to pay attention to. Here is a comparrison chart for traditional and ETRTO sizing to help you choose the correct tyre size. ETRTO Number Note:Size on the label may be in imperial or metric measurements, but convert to the sizes listed below. Most of the time, we don’t think how easy it is to mount the tire as long as we don’t have to do it. But even the most protective tire may need to be taken off some time. The Continental Tour Ride features a wire bead. Note this 700c version of the Tour Ride is labeled as a "28 inch" on the sidewall. It fits standard 700c rims (622mm ISO).Even when you handle the tires off the bike, you will notice how heavy the Marathon Plus is, but of course, this comes with the great benefit of very high protection. Schwalbe Marathon GT: 3 The Schwalbe Marathon (a.k.a. Marathon Greenguard) is a good overall performer at a reasonable price point. This is an excellent commuter tire unless you have a good reason to opt for the Marathon Plus. Which one should you get? If you are riding on tarmac only, you would probably be better served by something like the Continental 4 Seasons.

Weight: 540g (700c | 28mm), 690g (700c | 35mm), 790g (700c | 42mm), 900g (700c | 47mm), 660g (27" | 1-1/4") For road.cc readers (and writers), the Touring Plus will suit some bikes... but not the kind of bike that you would ordinarily fit with 24mm tyres. In 42mm on an urban dreadnought like a Pashley Roadster? Sure. In 35mm on a short-hop folding bike (if such a size were produced)? No problem. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and try to strike the right balance yet appeal to a different type of user. These tires are among the best in their class regarding puncture protection, which makes them very dependable and great for commuting.Pay close attention to this detail if you encounter many thorns or sharp glass on your route to work. A puncture-proof tire can save you a lot of time and headaches. Since I ran these tests on different days, other factors, such as slight differences in tire pressure, temperature, wind, and humidity, played a much more important role in determining my average speed. All of these tires have reflective sidewalls, which make them stand out at night and are very safe to ride at night. Every commuter bike needs to have these, in my opinion.