The topic of tyres and tyre choice comes up frequently in the Australian Cycling Forums and it occurred to me that a data page recording bicycle tyre wear and puncture rates would be useful, hence this post. I have decided to sort the tyres by brand rather than by bike. Hopefully this makes it easy to see how they have performed. An overview of my experience with various tyres is provided below, You can click on the links for more detail in respect to the various brands and models.
Latest Update – Friday June 3, 2016
Updated Tyres Currently in Use Table
Bicycle Tyre Wear and Puncture Record – Tyres Currently in Use
This table provides bicycle tyre wear and puncture data on the tyres that I am using on my bicycles.
| Tyre brand and model | Bicycle tyre is fitted to | Usage | Kilometres ridden | Puncture rate (number + kilometres per puncture) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS428 47-622 28 x 1.75 | Surly Long Haul Trucker | Front | 4,601 | New fittment to the Surly Long Haul Trucker in preparation for the Dreaming Tour. | |
| Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS428 47-622 28 x 1.75 | Surly Long Haul Trucker | Rear | 4,601 | New fittment to the Surly Long Haul Trucker in preparation for the Dreaming Tour. | |
| Vittoria Zaffiro 700 x 25C | Giant Defy 1 | Front | 1409 | ||
| Vittoria Zaffiro 700 x 25C | Giant Defy 1 | Rear | 1409 | ||
| Maxxis Mammoth 26_4.0 | Salsa Mukluk | Front | 7 | ||
| Maxxis Mammoth 26_4.0 | Salsa Mukluk | Rear | 7 |
Bicycle Tyre Wear and Puncture Record – Tyres No Longer in Use
This table provides bicycle tyre wear and puncture data on the tyres that I have used in the past, that is the tyres have been binned.
| Tyre brand and model | Number of tyres used | Average kilometres per tyre | Puncture rate (number + kilometres per puncture) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michelin Lithion 700c x 23 | Two | 2,483 | Three @ 1,655 | Low cost, low milage tyre. Average performance in the wet. A nothing special tyre. |
| Continental Grand Prix 4000s Black Chilli | Three | 1,720 (Last tyre was retired at 4,560 km) | Two at 601 km | The two tyres with only 601 km got sidewall cuts resulting in their early demise. I now believe the issue was my Crud Roadracer Mk 2 mudguard rubbing the tyre sidewall. |
| Kenda Blue Groove Stick-E | One | 1,814 | No punctures | Used on the front |
| Kenda Nevegal Stick-E | One | 1,814 | No punctures | Used on the rear |
| Vittoria Rubino Intrepid PRB Kelvar 3D Compound | One | 958 | One @758 km | OEM fittment. Removed due to deep cut through the tyre. |
Bicycle Tyre Wear and Puncture Record – Tyres In Storage
This table provides bicycle tyre wear and puncture data on the tyres that I have in storage ready to be used at some time in the future on one of my bicycles.
| Tyre brand & model | Kilometres ridden | Puncture rate (number + kilometres per puncture) | Comments | Tyre review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continental GP4000s with Black Chilli 25 mm | 1,914 | 1 @2,901 km | Gone into storage as will not fit with the SKS Raceblade Long mudguards not fitted to the Kinesis Racelight Granfondo Ltd | |
| Continental Grand Prix 4 Season V | 2,929 | NA | NA | |
| Schwalbe Marathon Cross HS 334 | 2,474 | NA | NA |
I have reviewed a Schwalbe Marathon Plus that I ran in a 700×28 on my Surly Steamroller for 10,016 mi (with photo). Tommy Williams, a guy I work with, challenged me to run one for the full 10k miles as a rear tire (which sees way more wear and tear than a front tire). They’re heavy, but I had very, very good success with them.
http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/marathon_plus#comment-3882
I have also run a Continental Gatorskin 700×28 as a front tire for 10,000 mi in the past too. It was eventually replaced because it had too many cuts in the tire, despite still having plenty of tread life remaining otherwise.
Thanks Kris for your feedback. That is impressive milage with the Schwable Marathon Plus. My preference is to use them for touring rather than commuting but 🙂
With regards to the Gatorskins I lost faith in them a few years back and haven’t gone back to them since. It would take a lot of convincing to try them again. I prefer the GP4000S for commuting and Audax riding.
Fit tyre liners. No flats through the tread since 1997 despite running over the bottoms of broken bottles and slashing the casing. One flat from a curved broken tail light lens that flipped up and jammed under the edge of the rim and speared through the sidewall next to the beading. Three on new Vittoria Montreals — in a week in 2003 — and one Continental City blowing out — after only 200km not long after — when the beading decided to stretch and come off the rim.
Maxxis Override 700 x 38 have done 10,000km suburban commuting on a hybrid. Continental Marathon 26 x 40mm did 9000+ km on the rear and 26 x 35 Marathon did 7000+ km on the rear including the 2009 Bike Vic Great WA Bike Ride. Marathon Plus 20 x 35 on the rear of a Moulton APB did 7000km including the 2012 Bike Vic New Zealand ride on tough surfaces on highways. All without a flat.
Two blown tubes from the valve getting skewiff in the hole.
One bent Presta valve that could not be fixed 10km from home — it was a long and boring two-hour walk home.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on tyre liners but they are really not for me and given the number of punctures I have. I think I will stick to decent tyres as being my approach.
Hi Andrew very interesting blog. I just wonder how you would rate the GP4000s vs. the 4 Seasons vs. the Durano purely from a rolling view point. I would expect the GP4000s to roll much better but how noticeable is it
Thanks for the hard question Richard! 🙂 I cannot really recall riding on the 4 Seasons but can comment on the CGP4000s versus the Durano. It is early days on the Durano and not on my “fast” bike but my gut feeling is the GP4000s roll better and I would suggest it is noticeable. However we are really not comparing apples to apples here as I am using the mid-range Durano and maybe a more fairer comparison is the Durano S against the GP4000s.