2023: Going back to Clinchers-> Best Tire?

[Zerobot1337]

If you want something devine try Veloflex Record 23mm with latex tubes.
They feel so subtle and insanely fast. No wonder at 130g. I never rode anything faster and I tried all the TT tires.

You can not however do an emergency brake as they will explode as soon as the back tire slips. If you do not break trought them they can endure 2000km.

For everything else I also would opt for GP5k.

[calleking]

I can chime in on the boring recommendation but all things considered: GP5000 S TR with latex tubes

Does everything extremely well. There are some edge cases where you can sacrifice aspects like durability or subjective feel but all in all it's the best tire out there for me in Scandinavia with the weather and road conditions we have here.

[frostorama]

Interesting that people are saying Turbo Cottons wear quickly......I do not have that experience. My previous set lasted 10,000km before replacement and my current set are on 5,700km. In all cases I run latex tubes (Vittoria or Silca) on Alpinist CLX rims. These are on my dry weather bike, so not much winter/wet rides.

I weigh about 73kg during the summer months and the tyres are used for solo, fast group, chaingangs and TT's on UK roads. The current set also spent a week in Mallorca.

[Pyotrump]

I can chime in on the boring recommendation but all things considered: GP5000 S TR with latex tubes

Does everything extremely well. There are some edge cases where you can sacrifice aspects like durability or subjective feel but all in all it's the best tire out there for me in Scandinavia with the weather and road conditions we have here.

But why gp5000s tr? not just 5k clincher? According to BRRs test result with TPU tubes, it seems much better to use 5k cl(for higher puncture protection) with latex or TPU tubes. That combination shows as low resistance as 5Ks TR tubeless setup.

5ks TR paired with latex may show super low RR but 5k TRs puncture score is almost 3/5 of that of 5k clincher.

[CampagYOLO]

I can chime in on the boring recommendation but all things considered: GP5000 S TR with latex tubes

Does everything extremely well. There are some edge cases where you can sacrifice aspects like durability or subjective feel but all in all it's the best tire out there for me in Scandinavia with the weather and road conditions we have here.

But why gp5000s tr? not just 5k clincher? According to BRRs test result with TPU tubes, it seems much better to use 5k cl(for higher puncture protection) with latex or TPU tubes. That combination shows as low resistance as 5Ks TR tubeless setup.

5ks TR paired with latex may show super low RR but 5k TRs puncture score is almost 3/5 of that of 5k clincher.

A quick look on Wiggle shows that 2, 25mm GP5000 clinchers cost £10 less than 1, 25mm GP5000 S TR. Some of the prices for new tubeless tyres are getting silly, another reason to go back to tubes.

[calleking]

I can chime in on the boring recommendation but all things considered: GP5000 S TR with latex tubes

Does everything extremely well. There are some edge cases where you can sacrifice aspects like durability or subjective feel but all in all it's the best tire out there for me in Scandinavia with the weather and road conditions we have here.

But why gp5000s tr? not just 5k clincher? According to BRRs test result with TPU tubes, it seems much better to use 5k cl(for higher puncture protection) with latex or TPU tubes. That combination shows as low resistance as 5Ks TR tubeless setup.

5ks TR paired with latex may show super low RR but 5k TRs puncture score is almost 3/5 of that of 5k clincher.

That's a very good argument. Not much to add really. I usually nail the details but you caught me off guard on this one

I guess I could argue that roads where I live are super smooth... It's also cheaper like mentioned above.

[Vuong05]

Interesting that people are saying Turbo Cottons wear quickly......I do not have that experience. Myy previous set lasted 10,000km before replacement and my current set are on 5,700km. In all cases I run latex tubes (Vittoria or Silca) on Alpinist CLX rims. These are on my dry weather bike, so not much winter/wet rides.

I weigh about 73kg during the summer months and the tyres are used for solo, fast group, chaingangs and TT's on UK roads. The current set also spent a week in Mallorca.

Wow, you may be the first person to get that kind of mileage out of a Turbo Cotton tire! I consider where I live to have decent roads. But after 3000 kms, I start to get punctures quite often on Turbo Cotton tires. I must be doing something wrong... lol.

[warthog101]

A quick look on Wiggle shows that 2, 25mm GP5000 clinchers cost £10 less than 1, 25mm GP5000 S TR. Some of the prices for new tubeless tyres are getting silly, another reason to go back to tubes.

I don't have any reason to back tubed apart from this.
Tubeless prices sh it me.

[HBike]

I think PZero Race has just updated to "2022" edition, which should be produced in the new Italia factory like the 4S?

I ride the Pirelli P-Zero Race 4S clinchers (28c) at the moment. I really like them. BRR tested them and they scored quite well. Good grip wet or dry, light. Mounted to my 21c ID Syncros Capital 1.0 50mm wheels they inflate to 28,5mm at 5,1 bar (OD of rim directly on top 28mm, 30mm at thickest part of the rim, so aero enough in the wet and cold season ).
In summer I will either use a 25C GP5000 up front or try the new S-Works Turbo T2/T5 clincher, as I don't like the color of the TC (I like the transparent color of the new T2/T5 2BR). My experience with Specialized is great, (e.g. Pathfinders on my gravel bike), so I always look at Specialized components.
The TC look nice on paper (excluding the color), nevertheless - does anyone know how they measure on an 21mm ID rim?

[Indyx]

Road the GP 5000s with TPU tubes today after 2 years on GP 5000 TRs tubeless. SO much more supple and road feel is much improved.

Ridenow TPU tubes survived their first ride, so far so good.

[JPJ]

I was using TC's, went through a few sets. Puncture protection and wear is dependent on where and when I ride, not surprisingly!
Just fitted a set of Challenger Strada Pro 'open-tubular' clinchers, which are on first ride impressions, very similar to the TC's.
Very supple and smooth, on the same tubes and same pressures as the TCs, and at less than half the price.
Will see how they wear, but first impressions are fantastic.

[Tifosiphil]

Interesting that people are saying Turbo Cottons wear quickly......I do not have that experience. Myy previous set lasted 10,000km before replacement and my current set are on 5,700km. In all cases I run latex tubes (Vittoria or Silca) on Alpinist CLX rims. These are on my dry weather bike, so not much winter/wet rides.

I weigh about 73kg during the summer months and the tyres are used for solo, fast group, chaingangs and TT's on UK roads. The current set also spent a week in Mallorca.

Wow, you may be the first person to get that kind of mileage out of a Turbo Cotton tire! I consider where I live to have decent roads. But after 3000 kms, I start to get punctures quite often on Turbo Cotton tires. I must be doing something wrong... lol.

I got about 6-7000km on my TC's. Running latex tubes but I hover between 66-70kg and don't do anything alpine, just UK last year

[froze]

Perhaps consider the Vittoria Corsa if you want that cotton type of tire; or the Corsa Control if you would rather have a bit better puncture resistance, but still uses cotton just a bit thicker tread which will also wear longer.

I've always liked Vittoria over Conti tires, but that's just me.

[Eggyeggs]

Can give a solid vote to the 5000s TR with tubilito TPU inner tubes. Only been on them a few rides but very pleased with them.

[fbonde]

Cotton tires are fantastic riding, very sticky which makes them handle like they're on rails, combined with latex tubes and they'll rival cotton tubulars easily. The downside to cotton tires is that they wear out very quickly, you might get 800 miles tops, but they are made for racing so the longevity of the tires is not important in that regard, and of course, the other issue is that cotton tires flat easily as well, something you need to be prepared to handle. For everyday street riding, I think they're too impractical.

hmmm... a couple of points above with which I must take issue.

"800 miles (1300km) tops"? Perhaps this depends on which tire exactly, but to use the very popular Vittoria Corsa as an example, while a big rider can kill a rear tire in about that distance with lots of hard accelerations and aggressive climbing out of the saddle, typical riding should see double that distance. Front tires double that. FWIW I put 2000 km on Vittoria Corsa Controls in Northern Spain this past summer - so loads of steep out of the saddle. Rear is 50% worn, front is only 10 - 20% done. Tires will trade places and be used for another 2000km in the Pyrenees this summer. Not bad for a 77kg rider. To be fair I did once wear out a rear Corsa in about 2000km of climbing.

"cotton tires flat easily"? Again that depends on the tire, and again, to use the Vittoria as a benchmark, the level of puncture protection is adequate enough to eliminate it as an obstacle to its use in most situations. Yes there are certain regions with certain types of debris on the roads that can be tougher on the Vittoria as compared to some vulcanized clinchers, but in my experience those situations are the exception, not the rule. You could easily make any cotton tire as durable as you want by loading it up with protection belts, thick hard tread, etc., but then it wouldn't ride like a cotton tire.

To address the OP question, I share the same sentiment of Ichobi and others. Unless you have some specific reason not to use a supple cloth tire, IMO the superior ride feel is worth the very minor and arguably questionable deficiencies in cost, weight, speed, and/or durability. And most important to me, I have never felt better traction than with the cloth tires I have used. (Vittoria, Rene Herse).

Brilliant assessment. I totally agree. My experiences as well.