Brooklyn by Bike » Specialized Armadillo http://www.brooklynbybike.com bike culture from Brooklyn with love Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:06:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Choosing a durable tire for your city bike http://www.brooklynbybike.com/choosing-a-durable-tire-for-your-city-bike/ http://www.brooklynbybike.com/choosing-a-durable-tire-for-your-city-bike/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:53:48 +0000 anita http://www.brooklynbybike.com/?p=1484 ]]> I recently wrote about my flat tire woes and turns out my bike was seriously overdue for new tires. I had been running my stock Ritchey SpeedMax Cross for about 2.5 years with continuous commuter use. I knew I wanted to replace them with some flat proof, bomb proof, whatever you want to call them proof tires since I bought the bike but had been too cheap to do so until now.

You will want to think about speed, cost and durability when looking for a new city tire. Most people complain about rolling resistance with durable tires but in a city full of potholes, I personally am not so concerned with speed on my commuter bike. Durability and cost however are my top priorities.

Specialized Armadillos and Continental Gatorskins are always at the top of the urban tire recommendations but are a bit overpriced as you pay for the brand name in my opinion. I turned to the #bikenyc Twitter community once again for recommendations to see what else they had to say.

1. Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Supreme $37.11-51.65/tire – (pictured above) The other most commonly recommended city tire. I currently run the green-guard version on my commuter bike and have been loving them for the past month. I know the Paris Velib bike share uses these as well.

“Schwalbe used to make Stelvio Plus, my faves. Now it’s their Marathon Plus.” @jimdyer

“Loving Schw. Marathon Supremes. Far better than regular Marathon.” @bespokecycles

2. Continental Grand Prix 4000 or Four Seasons – $58-74.99

“Conti GP 4000 or 4 seasons….Armadillos for maximum puncture resistance, but bear to change if you do flat.@billytall

3. Michelin Krylions and Pilot City -$36.45-59.99

“I still stick w/ my Michelin Krylions, haven’t had a flat on them in 2 years & they have much better road feel than contis” @jefflegasa

“Michelin Pilot City. Not the lightest; but no flats since I installed in October. Pick 1/4″ glass shards out regularly.” @marcuswoollen

4. Vittoria Randonneur Pro - $31.99

“Vittoria randoneur w/reflective sidewalls. they are quite tough and very visible at night” @danaflops

5. Maxxis Refuse - $28.42-53.18

“ would say maxxis refuse are the toughest i’ve used. not great on skids if you ride fixed though.” @dpatrick1a

 

Did I miss your recommendation? Add it in the comments below!

]]> http://www.brooklynbybike.com/choosing-a-durable-tire-for-your-city-bike/feed/ 1 Flat-Proof Road Bicycle Tires for All Your City Jaunts http://www.brooklynbybike.com/flat-proof-road-tires-for-all-your-city-jaunts/ http://www.brooklynbybike.com/flat-proof-road-tires-for-all-your-city-jaunts/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:06:56 +0000 anita http://www.brooklynbybike.com/?p=733 ]]> Yesterday I got my first flat on the 3 month old Surly bike. The pinch flat was my fault as purposefully hit two curbs in a row. C’est la vie. I’ve been riding around on stock Ritchey SpeedMax Cross tires mainly because I’m too cheap to shell out money for new tires. I also rather like that they spit out gravel when I hit a rough patch of road and given their knobbiness, the tires are pretty fast.

I figure I will cave in after a few flats and invest in city proof tires. NYC is full of glass, potholes and the like so I turned to my Twitter friends for recommendations.

In order of most recommendations we have the following city proof bicycle tires.

1. Schwalbe Marathon – Price per tire $25-32

@feedmeshow “Tough, high-mileage tires, with a reflective strip for better nighttime visibility.”

@BicycleFixation“tough, comfy enough, not too slow.”


2. Specialized Armadillo – Price per tire $45-60


@marcmayer “I use armadillo tires. One set of tubes for the entire season. Worth 80 ish for a pair.”

@misterarthur “Armadillos are bulletproof but are like riding on train wheels. (YMMD)”


3. Continental Gatorskins now called Hardshell or Top Contacts – Price per tire $28-45


@mlascarides “Riding Continental Top Contacts. Con: A bit squirrely when riding parallel to painted lines. Pro: Good feel, indestructible.”


Other mentions include Bontrager Hardcase, Michelin Hardterrain, Hutch Fusion 2 and Vittoria Rubino or Randonneur Pro.

What do you recommend?

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