would you suggest anything else, I can go to Ā£100 for the pair without pissing off the wife too much at this stage
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sorry to answer the question with a research project, Iād start here:
The Vittoria Corsa Speed (open TLR) is the fastest on the chart, but I havenāt used them. The Continental Grand Prix TT and 5000 are both very fast, not sure how much it costs in the UK because Iām in the US. I have a lot of experience with Continental Grand Prix 4000S II and as mentioned earlier if you have the money Iād go with the newer 5000 and save a few watts. I generally like the 4000S II, and as heavy rider usually logged 2000-2500 miles on a pair (swapping front/rear at 1000 miles).
I have more experience with fast tubeless tires now, maybe a few others will chime in and offer suggestions. Ride quality on tubeless (Specialized S-Works Turbo, Schwalbe Pro One, etc) is much better than 4000S II.
Iām pretty sure someone once lost an Ironman race due to riding Gators. Literally if heād been on some faster tyres heād have won!
@Simo429 both of these tires are paper thin and meant for one specific purpose. Fast comes with a tradeoff of high # of flats. The 4000 series is fairly robust but, still āfastā. The 5000 might be a little more supple and it is a touch thinner so less Crr but, they have been cutting and wearing noticeably faster than the 4000ās. Honestly, for the $ the 4000ās are a really good option.
Only other tire Iāve used this year was the Michelin Power Competition. Felt good out of the box but, IME wears even faster than the 5000.
Another tire I thought felt super supple and fast was the Specialized Turbo Cotton. IME they flat easily too and the second flat in a race on new tires I was done with them. All the open tires handle great but usually are very thin. Just to much of a PITA and not worth the extra money in tubes and time for me.
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Continental Supersonics have been my race tyre of choice for a good number of years. Not hugely expensive and have survived well on UK roads in the time Iāve used them.
Gatorskins are slow enough that as long as you are reasonable at changing tyres you could flat twice during an IM bike leg and still be quicker on different tyres.
YMMV of course 
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I find Gatorskins are quite responsive tyres due to their wall construction, this is where advantages end. They wear square, very harsh to ride and lethal in wet!
Iāve been a die hard gatorskin guy for 5ish years. Iāve done mainly long group rides with a local race or 2, I only had 1 or 2 flats. After listening to the specialized podcast on how good the Conti Grand Prix S2ās are I switched. Itās night and day and feels like a new bike. Handling, cornering and roll up is sooooo much better. Not one flat either in about 3 months. Definitely is faster too, without a question. Iām 155 pounds and run 95 psi on stans rims.
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I rode a gatorskin once, came on a bike i bought. Not only slow, the grip is terrible IMO, doubly so in the wet
Do yourself a favour and get a nice tyre. I figure life is too short to ride slow tyres. Id rather have an extra flat couple times a year than ride slow tyres 100% of the time. That said Ive been on tubeless for a couple years now, has been great preventing flats.
Looking for suggestions on the latex tubes. Thanks.
I was riding corsa speed g+ tubeless last year. Most of my training is on the trainer. I would basically use them as race tires - maybe ride 50 miles on em prior to a tri to make sure they were solid then use em for a race and discard after. They are paper thin. I never flatted though using them this way and they are fast. Use them only as race tires and they can work well.
Trying 5000 gts this season tubleless Noticing thicker than the Corsas but supposed to be more puncture resistant and within a watt or 2 of the corsas. I found them more comfortable at lower pressures too. The corsas didnāt feel good under 85 psi but the 5000s feel great at 70 psi. (I weigh 185lbs). The 5000s fit tighter though. I almost gave up. Literally snapped a tire iron getting them on.
I switched from Gatorskins 700c x 23mm to 4000SII 700cx25mm. Had one flat on the 4000SII right off the bat but none for two summers now, about 1000 miles per year. I also lost 25 pounds, down to 182 right now. The 4000SII are a more supple tire and ride better due to the composition of the tire as compared to the Gatorskins. I also lowered the tire pressure to 90PSI on rear and 85PSI on front and the ride drastically improved (was running 100/95 PSI). Thereās good information on tire pressure on the Flo Cycling podcast #21 and on rolling resistance on podcast #23. I also switched to latex tubes (Silca) a month or so ago.
Lowering the tire pressure to 90/85 PSI made a huge difference per the information I gleaned from the Flo Cycling podcasts. It was surprising to me how lowering the tire pressure has helped my overall endurance, smoothed out the bumpiness, and increased my average MPH. Along with lower rolling resistance tires, latex tubes, and lower tire pressure, using TrainerRoad for a bit over a year now all have contributed to going faster with less energy expended. Happy day for me!
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You should be able to get GP4000SII for Ā£60-70 somewhere my other ārace tyresā are Vittoria Rubino Pros which I got for half that at Wiggle.
Itās a few watts though - marginal gains here. I wouldnāt go hungry to get a pair.
While I do use GP4000, and the GP All Season over the winter, you do have to factor in how much time a puncture may cost you*ā¦
*one of the reasons waiting on a race leader who has punctured is BS - equipment choices has to factor in robustness.
Sorry for what are probably ridiculous questions but if my current tyres are 25mm is that what I need now? 23 seem to be cheaper and arenāt they more aero?
What are the downside other than cost for latex tubes?
Also can anyone point me in the direction of latex tubes with an 80mm valve on, I can only find them with 60 at best
Whether 23 more aero than 25 depends on rims width, but aero isnāt everything, comfort is important too. Rock hard tyres would not make you faster on rougher tarmac, while 25 may shine there.
Latex tubes lose air quicker, you probably will have to inflate them every ride. For some reason latex tubes make tyres more puncture resistant, I donāt know why.
I havenāt seen commonly available latex tubes with long valves, need to use valve extenders unfortunately.
Also to add, latex tubes do not work on tyres that have any kind of wall damage, they seem to sip through tiniest gaps and explode. They also cannot stand too much heat generated by braking hard.
Right this is what I have placed in my amazon basket, appreciate all the help in here, will this all mesh together and with my wheels (which are above)
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Narrower are generally more aero but again this can depend on the width of your rims. To throw another spanner in the works the advertised width of the tyre is rarely the actual width the tyre becomes when inflated. It may well be that the 23mm tyres you buy actually inflate to 25mm on the rims and the 25mm tyres even wider. What you want to avoid is your tyre protruding over the width of the wheel rim like a lightbulb.
They can be harder to install - make sure there is absolutely no inner tube protruding outside the tyre casing when you inflate them otherwise theyāll go bang very loudly. Buy at least one spare for when that happens! They need inflating before each ride but once installed need no extra special treatment and tend to be more puncture resistant than butyl tubes.
To the best of my knowledge they donāt exist. The Vittoria ones youāve linked to do have a removable core to install valve extenders if you need to whereas the Continental latex tubes donāt.
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this.
@Simo429 what wheels do you have? Do you know the external width? The Continental 4000S II inflate wider, the 25-622 measure about 28mm and not 25mm. My Continental 5000 in 28-622 measures 28.4mm almost identical to 28mm advertised size.
have a look at post number 11, all the details are in there. All the help is much appreciated.
These? http://planetxireland.com/products-page/clincher-wheels/planet-x-52mm-carbon-clincher-wheelset/
Disappointingly I donāt see specs for outside width.