Schwalbe Durano Plus

[Foghat]

Well I got some of these in 25mm folding (measuring bang on 25mm using digital calipers on Open Pro rims), and have to say I took them straight off again after a 40-mile ride.

They're about as comfortable as riding on solid tyres, even at the lower end of the recommended pressure range.  Every time I rode over a a largeish bump the bike would be jolted due to the lack of give in the tyre, usually causing the front light to rotate downwards and switch itself off.  This was having changed from '28mm' Gatorskins (measuring 26.5mm wide), which are light-years ahead in terms of comfort, and with which none of the unpleasant jolting and front light problems occurred.

How the people here running them at their stated high pressures stand this goodness only knows - their road surfaces are presumably not as god-awful as mine.

So it's back to the Gatorskins for the time being.  Whilst the Gatorskins have been very good, I'm still keen to ride with slightly more robust tyres during our grit/gravel/mud/flood-strewn winters if possible, but only if they are not as stiff as the Durano Plus.  I'm considering the Gator Hardshell 28mm, which like the Gatorskin looks like it has a considerably larger volume of air, and hence better cushioning, than the Durano Plus.  I think one of the contributory factors to the Durano Plus's problem is that the actual volume of air is more equivalent to a 23mm tyre, with the extra width and height taken up by the thick protection strip - combined with the extra-strong sidewalls, this means the comfort price paid for extra puncture resistance is just too great for me. I suppose the 28mm Durano Plus would give more volume, but at 150 grammes per tyre heavier than the 25, I won't be trying it, and there probably isn't enough clearance anyway as it is no doubt close to 28mm.

Maybe the 28mm Gator Hardshell will be a better compromise - has anyone ridden both this and the 25mm Durano Plus and therefore got any anecdotal evidence for their relative levels of comfort?  A bit of research suggests the Hardshell 28mm also comes in around the 26.5mm mark, so it should fit.

[phantasmagoriana]

I now have all 3 of my road bikes in Durano Plus. I probably shouldn't say this, but 1 visitation in 14,000 miles is testament to how great these tyres are 

Whereas I've had two in the first 600 miles.

[Glover Fan]

Whereas I've had two in the first 600 miles.

Swings and roundabouts. On my current Gatorskin 23mm's I got 2 punctures, 1 in each tyre within the first 300 miles. 3000 miles later I haven't had another.

Let's face it, we can wax lyrical about puncture protection, but some of my punctures have been from thorns that I don't think many tyres, bar a marathon plus where you pay a large tradeoff with weight and rolling resistance would have stopped a puncture happening.

All you can really do is pump near to max pressure as stated, decreasing for comfort/weight and avoid (if possible) anything that could puncture the tyre.

[TimC]

I have had 28mm Durano Plus on my Kinesis Racelight T since the beginning of the year. I've only done around 350km on them, but I have to say I'm impressed so far. I like the ride - much more comfortable than the preceding Krylion 25s -  and I feel more confident about them surviving the scogged-up lanes that surround us in the outer wilds of the Essex/Suffolk borders.

[Hot Flatus]

Happy with mine too. Been using them for quite a few years. Almost no punctures, no sidewall failures like the gators, and infinitely better grip in wet.

They won't give you a pipe and slippers ride like Pro 3s.

[Oscar's dad]

I am a big Durano Plus fan. Like TimC I ride the scrog laden lanes of Essex and Suffolk. Yes, I have had the odd p-thingy but given the dreadful surfaces I ride on they have been few and far between.

I ride a alloy framed, carbon forked Ribble so not some uber comfy (allegedly ) steel or Ti flyer.  Plus I ride 23c tyres pumped up to about 125 psi and think they are perfectly comfortable.

[Sergeant Pluck]

How do these compare with Krylions? I'm about to fit the last of my "stock".

[Hot Flatus]

Totally different type of tyre, much much more robust. I ramp mine down flinty tracks. I wouldn't do that with Krylions.

Duranos are not lightweight training tyres.

[Oscar's dad]

Totally different type of tyre, much much more robust. I ramp mine down flinty tracks. I wouldn't do that with Krylions.

Duranos are not lightweight training tyres.

Absolutely right. In my view a Durano Plus tyre is a fast Marathon Plus.  You use them because you want a combination of speed and reliability and in my experience they deliver this.

[martint235]

Been using 23mm Duranos on the best bike for over a year now. 2 visitations, one by something that would have cut through any tyre. I don't think I'd have the nerve to do a long solo ride on any other kind of tyre now, I just find them so dependable.

And when I told the nice man at Schwalbe that I was planning on using them for LEL, he sent me a new pair for nowt!! 

[Oscar's dad]

I am dad to eight bicycle wheels and seven of them are shod with Schwalbe tyres.  The exception being the back wheel of the tandem. Nuf said.

[clarion]

Just bought another pair of D+ in 25.  They're the 'London' branded ones, but they were a bargain.

[mrcharly-YHT]

They're about as comfortable as riding on solid tyres, even at the lower end of the recommended pressure range.  Every time I rode over a a largeish bump the bike would be jolted due to the lack of give in the tyre, usually causing the front light to rotate downwards and switch itself off.  This was having changed from '28mm' Gatorskins (measuring 26.5mm wide), which are light-years ahead in terms of comfort, and with which none of the unpleasant jolting and front light problems occurred.

My experience tallies with yours.

However, *because* the road surfaces are so bad, with so much debris, I'm considering fitting a D+ on the front as well (currently only on the back).  I don't worry about pinch flats or glass, or chunks of car shredding the tyre.

[The French Tandem]

Maybe the 28mm Gator Hardshell will be a better compromise - has anyone ridden both this and the 25mm Durano Plus and therefore got any anecdotal evidence for their relative levels of comfort?  A bit of research suggests the Hardshell 28mm also comes in around the 26.5mm mark, so it should fit.

If you love the Gatorskins, you'll love the Gator Hardshell too. We tried both types on the tandem, 25 mm front, and 28 mm rear. The difference in comfort is hardly detectable, but the hardshell are less prone to tears and cuts on the sides. Both types tend to last over 2000 miles, which is exceptionnally long for tandem use.

I can't comment on the Durano Plus, have no experience with them.

[TimC]

Totally different type of tyre, much much more robust. I ramp mine down flinty tracks. I wouldn't do that with Krylions.

Duranos are not lightweight training tyres.

I run Krylions on my Racelight Tk3, and did on my Racelight T before I fitted the D+. Krylions are great; light, fast-rolling, and reasonably durable on good roads. But they are a world apart from the D+ in terms of survivability on shitty, flint-covered back lanes. I rate my 28mm D+ as at least as good as 2.2" MTB tyres in terms of cut resistance and general, smug, 'just do it' ability. If that makes any sense!

[Oscar's dad]

I think it was the back end of 2011 that I took the wheels off my Ribble.  I hadn't upended the bike for ages thanks to the lack of visitations.  I was amazed at the state of the D+ on the rear wheel.  There were loads of cuts and holes plus bits of flint embedded in the rubber.  How the tyre hadn't punctured I'll never know. 

Suffice to say I binned the tyre and installed a new one as it was clearly only a matter of time before the poor thing gave in.  It might have been worth seeing how long it would have lasted although sods law says it would have punctured miles from home on a cold, rainy night and I'd of been as pi55ed as a fart 

[anotherdeadhero]

I regularly ride my durano plus 28's round Ashton Court and Leigh Woods. I also semi-frequently take it down the unsurfaced Strawberry line, as well as laughing at the shell-hole ridden streets of Bristol twice a day on the commute and all the audaxing I do. They also seem to manage OK on ice, for a slick. Dependable in the wet, excellent wear.

The fact they don't feel or roll like a race tyre is neither here nor there IMO of this kind of usage.

Meanwhile, I've never found a conti tyre I like. At all. On or off road. I had some 4 seasons, it was like riding on ice. The gatorskins lasted about 2 months.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Totally different type of tyre, much much more robust. I ramp mine down flinty tracks. I wouldn't do that with Krylions.

Duranos are not lightweight training tyres.

Thanks - not quite what I am after then, the Krylions were a happy medium between durability and ride quality.

[Foghat]

If you love the Gatorskins, you'll love the Gator Hardshell too. We tried both types on the tandem, 25 mm front, and 28 mm rear. The difference in comfort is hardly detectable, but the hardshell are less prone to tears and cuts on the sides. Both types tend to last over 2000 miles, which is exceptionnally long for tandem use.

I can't comment on the Durano Plus, have no experience with them.

Thanks - this looks like enough for me to try the Hardshells out.....

[Glover Fan]

I wasn't particularly enamoured with the Gatorskins when I initially got them, but I'm definitely not going to use them again. Whilst in the dry they are fine, in the wet there is next to no grip whatsoever. I don't feel confident at all on these.

[Hot Flatus]

I stopped using Gators after a bad crash involving a front wheel sliding out.  Wasn't icy. As you say, the grip is non-existent.

[Glover Fan]

I stopped using Gators after a bad crash involving a front wheel sliding out.  Wasn't icy. As you say, the grip is non-existent.

My front slid out on greasy surface a couple of weeks ago. On Sunday my rear was noticeably snaky on a greasy road.

I don't care how puncture resistant a tyre is, I would rather ample grip.

[Feline]

I find that whilst faster riders on racier tyres might shoot off from the start of an audax faster than me on my Durano Plus's, I tend to overtake a bunch of them 5 miles up the road when they have their first puncture. A price worth paying IMO, and I probably wouldn't be epically fast even on race tyres!

I have to say I've never had any comfort issue with them, even on my least comfy aluminium bike. That said, I haven't tried many other tyre brands to compare them to. I particularly hate the fact that when I pump up contis on Simonp's bike I cannot read the text telling me what pressure range I can pump them up to. Contis are so shit in this respect that when I recently got a torch and rubbed at the tyres Simon did PBP on the see what I could pump them to fr him I actually discovered the bike shop who supplied his bike had accidentally given him a 25 on the back and 28 on the front. He had no idea, and thought they were both 25. You virtually need to do a crayon rub imprint on a sheet of paper to read them. Hate hate hate! Schwalbe use white paint on their writing and you can always clearly read it.

[Hot Flatus]

Well, I finally had not one but two punctures today on my rear Durano. Fair play. Its been on there at least 3 years and has done some hefty mileage.

Strangely, I couldn't find the cause of either puncture.

[Oscar's dad]

After me singing the praises of Durano Plus boots Sods Law got invoked yesterday.  Half way through a 145 mile Easter Arrow training ride I had one fail on me.  The tyre was on the front wheel.  I'm not entirely sure the damage occurred yesterday or beforehand, I suspect it was yesterday.  I'm also not sure what caused it.  I put my spare on and that was fine except a tube failure caused another deflation an hour later. 

The damage went most of the way round the tyre so it must be some sort on abrasion ...





Thank goodness I always carry a spare tyre!  That's the third time it's saved me in as many years although it's never had to save me from a D+ failure until yesterday.