Pbp tyre choice

[Tom]

After a few years out of audaxing (lel 2009 was my last one before this year) the bikes seem to have got a lot racier and I wondered what the current thinking is on tyres. I've so far opted for pragmatism over speed, using a set of 32mm marathon Supremes to complete my qualifiers this year. However, I'm in the 84h group for PBP and am starting to wonder whether I should sacrifice some puncture resistance for something a bit faster.

For reference, my rolling average has been 25.5 to 26.5 kph over the two longer rides (BCM and will p's shifty 400k), so I should be ok timewise, but I just want to give myself the best chance.

 I've looked at that German tyre rolling resistance website and the schwalbes look like they give away nearly 20w per tyre to something like a gp5000! Plus the fact they're nearly a kilo each, vs less than 250g each for the contis. I don't have much experience on the roads of normandy or Brittany, but consensus seems to be that the surfaces are better than here in the UK. I also happen to have a set of new gp5000s in the shed. What are people planning on using, or have used in the past?

Thanks in advance

[Zed43]

My audax bike (650b wheels) has GP5000 in 32mm. Very good so far, and survived bits of gravel, badly broken concrete and block pavement laid down in the 1930's. With my 60kg I find 4 bar / 60 psi doable on smooth roads but 3 bar / 45 psi far better on rough roads.

N = 1 (well, 2  ) but would recommend. Mine were a pain to install though, very tight.

My own choice will be Schwalbe Pro One up front (28-406) and Specialized Turbo T2/T5 at the rear (30-622). With a pair of Continental Contact Speed (anything but fast) as a backup / fast replacement when punctured for the front wheels.

[Tom]

N=2 is a good start 

[LateStarter]

No pbp experience but have used GP5000 (32) for the last 20,000kms and would not consider anything else, previously marathon supreme (!)  and can't believe what slugs they were. My GP5000s have been great for puncture resistance , almost fitted themselves, don't ever seem to wear (first set moved to another bike at 12,000 and wear indicators looked new), can't fault grip and have used them without problems on short gravel bits and the mostly hopeless roads in my parts. I dream of doing 25 moving! but that's me not the tyres.

[Tom]

Great, thanks for the advice. I think I'll chuck them on soon and see how they cope with the gravel, flint, glass and pothole strewn roads of my commute.

[Lightning Phil]

Go for your best (fast) tyres for PBP.  Let’s say your moving time is 50 hours.  Then just 1 km/h faster moving means you’ll be 50km further up the road after 50 hours.  The French roads are pretty good.  Modern tyres are so good now, punctures are rare, outside hedge cutting and big pothole encounters. You’re unlikely to encounter broken glass on PBP itself.

[quixoticgeek]

No pbp experience but have used GP5000 (32) for the last 20,000kms and would not consider anything else, previously marathon supreme (!)  and can't believe what slugs they were. My GP5000s have been great for puncture resistance , almost fitted themselves, don't ever seem to wear (first set moved to another bike at 12,000 and wear indicators looked new), can't fault grip and have used them without problems on short gravel bits and the mostly hopeless roads in my parts. I dream of doing 25 moving! but that's me not the tyres.

Another vote for 32mm GP5k.

A few years ago I was on a 300 from Groningen, due to people having nav failures, I picked up a group of 3 to usher round with my working wahoo ("I navigate, you let me ride your wheel"), across the 4 of us we had 23mm, 25mm, 28mm, and my 32mm. There were a few sections of cobbles on the route, and the moment we hit those everyone just got dropped, and I had to wait at the end of the segment for them to catch up. The 32mm tyres running a 5bar (I'm heavy) rolled over the lumpy stuff so much better than the narrower tyres.

I've been very happy with my GP5000 32 mm tyres. Highly recommend.

J

[Flâneur]

The GP5000 All Season (AS) just released is supposedly a more durable version of the GP5000s, but as with everything Conti-related in recent years, it comes at a premium to what went before…

[frankly frankie]

How fashions do change.  For my first 2 PBPs (a long time ago) I used 17mm Hutchinson folders.  In between I also rode the Paris-Roubaix randonneur event and for that I chose 'heavy' 21mm tyres.

[T42]

My last PBP fling was on 25mm GP4000s II's.  Very comfy but I neglected to top up the pressure on the way round, so that when I rolled into the caravan park after finishing I punctured front and rear on the sleeping policemen.  Lucky it didn't happen any sooner.

That said, I've never topped up on any 1000+ km ride; that was the first time.

[tomj]

For my first PBP (also a long time ago) I used Michelin Super Comp HD 20mm tyres, excellent, super grippy tyres, much missed.

Also remember (not so fondly) Hutchinson ‘blue-line wired-on’ 18mm tyres the default choice at one time.

Trying Continental GP5000 but not impresses with the (lack of) puncture resistance, will stay with Michelin Pro4 Endurance 28mm tyres again this time around. These tyres have performed consistently well over the years, roll well, grippy in the wet, comfy and fewer deflations.

[FifeingEejit]

Having qualified in Scotland and Northern England in 2019, my first surprize was the lack of hand problems.
The section with the "sorry for the shite surface" section was laughably good.

I would be doing it on 25mm tyres that measure 25mm on 18mm wide rims this year if I was doing it rather than the 28s that measure 30mm.

[Lightning Phil]

In 1984 I got my first 10 speed racer and it came with 32mm tyres. What goes around, comes around.

[marcusjb]

Is it too early for the discussions on valve caps?

[Zed43]

Red ones. For speed. And a little easier to spot when you drop them.

Thanks for asking 

[quixoticgeek]

Red ones. For speed. And a little easier to spot when you drop them.

Thanks for asking 

More importantly. I have red valve caps fitted to presta to schraeder adaptors fitted to both tyre valves.

The adapters have been invaluable. On ratn my pump stopped working on the presta side, but I was able to still use the schraeder side. It literally saved my race with a puncture 60km from the finish.

When I went to hell I used the adaptor a lot at gas stations to top tyres up (I averaged one flat every 60km in Denmark). On the 200 BRM I did on the way back I lent one to another rider who was having issues with their mini pump.

They weight next to fuck all, but are really really useful.

J

[Wycombewheeler]

Red ones. For speed. And a little easier to spot when you drop them.

Thanks for asking 

More importantly. I have red valve caps fitted to presta to schraeder adaptors fitted to both tyre valves.

The adapters have been invaluable. On ratn my pump stopped working on the presta side, but I was able to still use the schraeder side. It literally saved my race with a puncture 60km from the finish.

When I went to hell I used the adaptor a lot at gas stations to top tyres up (I averaged one flat every 60km in Denmark). On the 200 BRM I did on the way back I lent one to another rider who was having issues with their mini pump.

They weight next to fuck all, but are really really useful.

J

but two are not more useful than one

[quixoticgeek]

but two are not more useful than one

No, but that's so that both wheels match...

And in case I lose one when I take it off.

J

[Ivo]

No pbp experience but have used GP5000 (32) for the last 20,000kms and would not consider anything else, previously marathon supreme (!)  and can't believe what slugs they were. My GP5000s have been great for puncture resistance , almost fitted themselves, don't ever seem to wear (first set moved to another bike at 12,000 and wear indicators looked new), can't fault grip and have used them without problems on short gravel bits and the mostly hopeless roads in my parts. I dream of doing 25 moving! but that's me not the tyres.

Another vote for 32mm GP5k.

A few years ago I was on a 300 from Groningen, due to people having nav failures, I picked up a group of 3 to usher round with my working wahoo ("I navigate, you let me ride your wheel"), across the 4 of us we had 23mm, 25mm, 28mm, and my 32mm. There were a few sections of cobbles on the route, and the moment we hit those everyone just got dropped, and I had to wait at the end of the segment for them to catch up. The 32mm tyres running a 5bar (I'm heavy) rolled over the lumpy stuff so much better than the narrower tyres.

I've been very happy with my GP5000 32 mm tyres. Highly recommend.

J

+1 for 32mm, the optimum at this moment between speed, weight, agility and comfortable.
And not the Schwalbe Marathon, they are optimised for no punctures on shit roads, with PBP rolling resistance is by far more important.

[Paul H]

using a set of 32mm marathon Supremes > look like they give away nearly 20w per tyre to something like a gp5000! > Plus the fact they're nearly a kilo each

I think you've either got some numbers mixed up, or the name of the tyre.
The Supreme is an excellent touring tyre, around 450g each and a rolling resistance at most sensible pressures less than 20W.  I'm not recommending it as anything other than a touring tyre, but an accurate starting point is a good idea for comparisons, anything else might lead to disappointment..

[Zed43]

Difference between the two (both with a butyl tube) is 5W at ~ 4 bar / 60psi for a single tyre according to bicyclerollingresistance.com Slightly apples to oranges as the tested Supreme is 5mm wider and was tested at 5 psi more than the GP5k

The Supreme 37mm is in the "touring" category whereas the 32mm GP5k is in the "gravel" category btw, you can't compare them directly on the site.

Main take away: don't run the Supremes on 2 bar / 30 ps, resistance increases from 19.1W to 32.3W. The GP5k goes from 14.3W to 21.4W

[Tom]

Sorry, my mistake - it's actually the marathon plus 32c I've got, not the supreme. These are the ones that weigh circa 900g each in 37c flavour and give up 25.5w (not 27w as I mis remembered) to the road. I can't imagine the 32s are a huge amount different? Maybe in the 20-22w ballpark?

In contrast, the gp5000 are 250 and 290g respectively for 28c and 32c and the rolling resistance of each is circa 8w at 100psi and with latex tubes. That's about the pressure I ride (albeit with butyl tubes), so worst case I reckon I'd save 1.2kg and 25-30w by switching to the contis. Based on the kind of power I anticipate putting out for 50 odd hours over 3.5 days, that's a massive saving.

That, and the very much appreciated real world experiences of northern French roads given here all point to going with a faster tyre and giving up a bit of puncture resistance.

Now I've just got to get over the internal struggle of shelling out more per tyre than I spend on my Mondeo....

[Lightning Phil]

At the typical speeds you’ll ride at, you can expect 25-30W saving to gain you 2-3km/h for no extra effort on your part.

[Paul H]

Sorry, my mistake - it's actually the marathon plus 32c I've got, not the supreme.

Well done for the rides so far on them, that's some serious extra training!  I used them when they were a necessity on a glass strewn cycle path commute, I resented every mile.
I think whatever you get is going to feel a lot better, I don't have a recommendation for a fast tyre, I like Conti GP4S but I'm aware there's faster.  Enjoy whatever you choose and if later on you need something more robust for everyday use, you could do a lot better than going back to the Marathon Plus.

[perdido]

I just finished a 1000km brevet with 25c Vittoria Corsa something something. Fast, light tyres but 3 flats when riding through a storm and dirty shoulder. On the plus side they were very easy to pop off and on the rim.
For PBP I'm going with continental 4 season 28c if they fit. I was also considering Hutchinson Fusion 5 tube type for the Kevlar puncture protection.

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