After yet another flat on the way home, I’m thinking about going Tubeless. Unfortunately my current Panaracer Paselas don’t have that many miles, so it is a bit of a shame to chuck them, as they are not rated TLR. Looking for something with a similar urban/touring tread and not that heavy or sluggish. The previous Conti Top Contacts wore forever but were slow. Can fit 35 or 36mm tires with my fenders on.
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One question is what kind of urban commuting. A lot of people think oh it’s commuting so I need tread; but tread is useful if there’s gravel sand mud etc. But on pavement, even very broken pavement, a slick tyre is likely safer and with more grip especially in the corners than any tread pattern - more rubber on the road. In which case the only further considerations are cost and puncture protetction that prevent you from getting a nice smooth rolling tyre. I would have thought that the latest Pirellis P-0 general race tires, which are rated very highly for puncture protection (more so than the Contis I run) and are up wit the best for rolling, would be a great choice for commuting in a 35mm size, unless of course cost is an issue, coz they aren’t cheap…
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I’d consider either the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR in 40mm (It’s less of a race tyre than a high-performance commuting tyre compared to the rest of the Race TLR line-up) and the Pirelli Cinturato Evo in 40mm.
I’ve run the Cinturato in 30mm on a bike that occasionally saw some silly gravel roads and had no issues. I’ve also run the Race TLR in 30mm and they were a much livelier tyre and a tiny bit less puncture resistant
Rolling resistance compared both. I recommend jumping to the bottom and having a read of their conclusion first.
What type of terrain? As @David_Braddon-Mitchell1 says, if you’re solely riding on pavement/asphalt/tarmac/whatever you call it, you don’t need “tread”. The fact that most “urban” tyres do have a tread pattern is just psychology and marketing - people expect that type of tyre to have tread, so the manufacturers put a tread on, so people continue to expect it.
I currently have Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR on my commuter/winter road bike, and have been perfectly happy with them. Mine are about due for replacement after ~5,000km and in that time have only had a couple of punctures, all of which sealed by themselves without even needing to top up the air.
A couple of other options to consider would be the Conti GP5000 AS TR, or the Vittoria Corsa N.Ext.
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Another Pirelli fan her. I have used both the PZero Race 4S TLR and the PZero Road TLR in 32mm for commuting. Both are good commute tyres. The Road TLR is my top pick, mostly because it’s cheaper than other PZero Race variants and has a tougher & slower rolling carcass more suited to commuting. The only puncture I’ve had is from an 8G roofing screw, I don’t think any tyre would’ve stood up to that.
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I commute on Thundero HD’s, no complaints at all and they aren’t crazy expensive.