Published June 6, 2016 09:19AM
The Roundup: Tires For Training And Racing
Tires are an often overlooked component, but they can completely change your riding experience.
Tires to meet the various demands of training and racing.
Tires are an often overlooked component, but they can completely change your riding experience. From flat protection to supple ride quality, tires have various characteristics that can make it difficult to pick the right ones for your needs. Find the tire suited for you from these six high-quality options.
Racing: Specialized Turbo Cotton
$80, Specialized.com
Best for: Pure speed fanatics
Why choose it? It provides unprecedented rolling resistance, a smooth ride, excellent grip and mates well (aerodynamically) with many of today’s race wheels.
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Racing: Continental GP4000s II
$70, Continental-tires.com/bicycle
Best for: Double duty in training and racing
Why choose it? The GP4000 line has been the benchmark tire for many years because it has everything a good racing tire needs: It is lightweight with fast rolling resistance and aerodynamic qualities, yet it also employs Continental’s Vectran puncture belt to reduce flat occurence.
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Racing: Clement LCV
$80, Clementcycling.com
Best for: Keeping the rubber on the road
Why choose it? While Clement may have a history in cyclocross and adventure tires, its new LCV brings great performance to the road. With a 240tpi casing and high grip tread compound, the LCV is great for blowing through the field on a twisty decent.
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Training: Zipp Tangente Course R28
$55, Zipp.com
Best for: Versatility seekers
Why choose it? With new 28c and 30c widths, the Tangente Course is a solid training tire choice. Bigger tires (as long as the bike has enough clearance) are more comfortable, have better rolling resistance and offer better grip than their counterparts, and the Course is no exception. This, along with Zipp’s aerodynamic, water-shedding tread pattern, make it ideal for training and racing.
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Training: Schwalbe Durano DD
$67, Schwalbe.com
Best for: All-season training
Why choose it? The DD offers two forms of protection: The Raceguard belt and the Snakeskin sidewall fabric make this tire very flat resistant without compromising weight or ride characteristics. With dual compound rubber, it not only grips well, but also has excellent durability.
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Training: Vittoria Rubino Pro Endurance
$56, Vittoria.com
Best for: High-mileage riders in all conditions
Why choose it? The revamped Rubino Pro line now uses Vittoria’s new G+ compound, and offers puncture protection underneath the tread, as well as on the sidewalls. The Endurance tire has a high-mileage tread design and offers great grip even on icy roads.