With winter coming on northern hemisphere and excellent TrainerRoad outside workouts feature, what tires you will be using on your road bike this winter for training?
I’m a huge fan of the Continental GP 4Season… those things are bulletproof. I use the same set for 2 years now, with something like 4000 miles including hundreds of miles on super gnarly gravel. Zero punctures.
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I ran Bontraeger AW2 28mm tubeless tires on DT-240 rims when I was in Albuquerque and had constant punctures. I had those put on and did not have a single puncture the rest of the trip and kept going on them. It’s labeled “hard case” but does not ride like it. Again, this is coming from a guy who rides Corsas and likes it for the feel. I’d like to try GP5K and the new Corsa tubeless.
On my CX bike for road duty I now run Panaracer Gravel Kings with no tread (32mm on this wheel, measures 35mm) and quite happy with that.
I will stay indoors this winter.
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Panaracer Evo A 25mm tubeless on carbon rims for nicer days and IRC formula pro rbcc 28mm on Al rims for nastier days. Have never flatted the panaracers in thousands of miles including gravel even though they aren’t gravel tires. They are not as fast as gp5000TL but have much more sidewall protection. The IRCs even more bombproof, just a bit slower.
Hutchinson Fusion in 28, no complains, but was deciding betwen them and the Specialized Roubaix in 31 and wish I’d gone for them. Our roads are rubbish, I run 35mm tubed tyres before, and the 28s feel quite a bit rougher. After having a couple of slides on wet roads I was mainly after a tyre with a lot of grip.
Spesh roubaix 30/32
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Corsa controls in 28-30. Unfortunately no tan wall, though.
It depends on what bike I’m riding. 
I use my gravel bike for most outdoors road rides I use a Schwalbe G1 Speed 700x32. It’s good enough for most road and multi surface rides I’ll do during the winter. And in case you’re interested, on my fat bike most of the time it’s a Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 26x4.8. I’ll swap out to whatever the least expensive studded tire I can get this year when needed.
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Went with Conti GP 4 Seasons and Vittoria latex tubes after all. With no Conti tubeless all-season tires on the market and all the faffing with sealant/instalation of tubeless, it can wait.
Maybe I’ll try GP5k TL in spring. Until then, these beauties are waiting for first Trainerroad outside training session on Sunday.
If anyone cares, these GP 4 Seasons 700x28c measure 29.6 mm on Mavic Ksyrium Elite UST wheel (20C inner width) and have 2160 circumference at 80 psi.
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Last night I mounted Conti GP 4 Season 700x25c on Enve 5.6 disc wheels, this morning they measure 27.4mm at 80psi. Really happy with outside width. My 5000 TL 700x28c got a little wider over time, if buying again would definitely go 700x25c.
Also picked up some Conti race light tubes with 80mm stem, removable valve core but stem not threaded. Had some Panaracer R-air with threaded stem to stop valve rattling against wheel, but valve core not removable. Had been thinking of adding some sealant to tube, hmm.
I’ve been considering these tires. How do you think they would handle some simple gravel? (mostly dirt roads with some loose gravel on top. Nothing crazy.)
I’ve used them for the same thing. Handled it no problem. Slap in some latex tubes and you get a butter smooth ride. Or better yet, go tubeless and the world will be your oyster.
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sweet, now just to decide on 28s vs 30s for my allez sprint disc.
If you go 30s, report back if they fit. I think they will, but just want to be sure.
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will do! Just ordered the 30mm tubeless. first time with road tubeless so I am looking forward to it!
Rear tire already has a slow leak… Confirmed - I’m the Bermuda Triangle for flats on both tubeless and tubed tires.
Group ride tonight - gonna put in a Conti tube and some sealant and see if that helps. Roads have a lot of debris, won’t get better until the first heavy rain.
When I was commuting, I tried Continental 4-seasons as they were supposed to be tougher at expense of rolling resistance - I found they were no better than the summer tires for punctures - just like summer tires, got flats every 1000 miles or so with very little room for error between pinch flats at lower pressure and higher pressures being easily punctured by small debris. Punctures would then start to happen in close succession even when I hadn’t worn the full life of the tire down. They were a waste of money and I’m using one of them now as a trainer tire.
Hopefully it’s at least good for that…
Never a problem over 10k miles after going tubeless - but the learning curve installing them is no joke. I’ll plug this tool once again as a huge huge help on installing brand new tires - best $12 I ever spent on a bike tool:
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Well, I’ve had unfixable flats with tubeless over the last two years… at least twice a year I’m inserting a tube from a large gash. And I’ve had a bead failure (Hutchinson Sector 28) and a bad sidewall blowout (Schwalbe Pro One), both required calling for a ride home. Like I said above, call me the Bermuda Triangle of tire problems 
Thanks for plugging the Koolstop tool, although I haven’t really had any troubles getting tires installed as long as they are warmed up first. I’ve got an air compressor and learned all the tricks from a mechanic.
What is this tool? Any Link?