mrlobber wrote:Turbo Cottons are really nice rolling (+ fast) and subtle tyres, but their sidewalls are catastrophically fragile, in fact, I've never seen any clincher close to that (from Schwalbe, Michelin, Conti, whichever). After 1500km, I had to replace the rear (as the tube was finding its way out) and now the front is almost in a similar condition already.
And that's from me who still rides Veloflex tubulars (including Extreme/Sprinter) really frequently, which aren't the most durable tyres, but resist cuts significantly better.
I'm going to ride the Cottons next season as well, but only as a fast race tyre and perhaps just for that one epic ride. No daily training miles on them.
That's interesting. I've only run mine for a few hundred miles but will have to keep an eye on them.
One tricky thing about fast tires is that they all have -- to varying degrees -- flimsy sidewalls. It's the only way to get the rolling resistance out of them. It's especially tricky if you do really the only logical thing once you start running fast tires, which is use latex tubes.
Conti gp4000s have been remarkably robust for me in just about every way except one: an off-center strike on a rock with at least some edge to its shape.
The latex will seep out of a hole that may or may not quite be big enough to make the tire a throw-away... and then it will wear and within a few hundred meters or a few miles, the bit sticking out will wear and pop.
In many cases a standard (non-latex) spare tube will work in the tire....
If the cotton turbos are significantly worse that would be pretty bad. Because there is really no point in getting a tire that fast without using latex.
CBA = Chronic Bike Addiction
