What’s the current thinking of best all-round fast(ish) road tyre? Considerations are performance, puncture resistance, durability and cost (in that order). Tubeless, probably in 30mm.
I’m thinking GP5000 S TR or P-Zero Race RS. Should I give the SL-R a go? Any other options?
SL-R got a good review on BRR. Road Bike Tire Test: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR SL-R 28
No personal experience with it.
Yeah, I saw that. Definitely tempted. Main sticking point is price and question marks over longevity. A quick google suggests SL-R is available for ~£85, whilst GP5000 and RS are both more like £50. If it was all upside with the SL-R I’d probably go for it, but sounds like the tread is pretty thin (BRR report 1.9mm total tyre thickness, Vs 2.4mm for both the GP5000 and RS). If that translates to replacing the much tyre more often, not convinced it’s worth it for me.
And given it’s a fairly new tyre, there’s not much real world user feedback, which is another reason I’m a little hesitant.
I was suffering from a lot of punctures (commuting in London) with the GP5000TLR on the sumer bike. My mechanic recommended Vittoria Corsa N.ext as more durable and i really like them. I’m not racing though, so can’t speak for top end porformance. Certainly more durable than GP5k.
Simon
You didn’t mention this in your criteria, but I had all sorts of problems getting Vitoria Corsa (Pro, not N.EXT) to seat when running tubeless. They were just a total PITA and wouldn’t pop. GP5000 just popped on first time (both the S TR and AS TR flavours). I’ve been very happy with 28 and 32mm GP5000.
Reserve wheels for reference.
I’ve run the P Zero raceTLR RS in 30mm for the past 10 months. Previously on the GP 5k TLR. Pirelli’s seem at least equal to the Conti.
Possibly better wet performance for P Zero but that could be confirmation bias
FWIW my N.EXT tires seat ok. Using reserve Fillmore valves which (I think) help the blast pump.
The N.EXT construction is quite different - theyre much, much nicer to fit than most other tubeless Vittorias. And I think they actually put some silica in the rubber compound too. Probably the only Vittoria road tyre I would consider using.
Hutchinson Blackbird might be worth a look? I used the previous model for a while and was quite impressed.
On the strength of Ronan’s tire testing article* and the reviews in BRR I got some P-Zero TLR RS’s a few months ago to be my wet spring and early summer gravel tire, and they’ve been good so far. The wet grip definitely feels comparable to and/or better to a GP5k AS but in a tire that feels faster. I got the 32mm and fair warning it balloons out to 35mm on 23mm iw rims.
*I know they’re just the baseline for the protocol, but I was sold anyway
I’ve been really impressed with the Michelin Pro 5. Comes in a watt or two slower than the GP5k but in return you get super easy mounting, great grip, solid durability, and about a third off in MSRP terms.
nero show latest has a 45 minute discussion with Joe from panda podium about tyre widths. might be worth checking out
I’m a 1000 miles into my second set of Conti GP5000 AS TR in 32mm on 24mm internal rims, running tubes.
My first pair lasted 6000 miles of crappy UK back roads and lanes, which I thought was good for a premium tyre, bought for less than £60 each.
They have had plenty of grip through the winter and summer and roll well. I find that the sidewall ‘black’ reflective layer adds an extra degree of sidewall protection from flint and stone cuts, with clear marks from prior hits.
I have been testing the SL-R against the 5000TT and they are fast tires. I can’t speak for puncture resistance and I have not finished by they should be on your radar
Just had a listen, and was somewhat underwhelmed. Yes, rider weight and road surface are relevant when picking tyre sizes - since when is that revelatory??
FWIW I’ve tried various tyre sizes from 25mm to 35mm on the road (plus wider on gravel/MTB), and I’m happy that ~30mm is about right for me and the riding I do (on this bike). Although to be fair, I weigh a bit more than Joe, but less than Jesse, so 30mm does actually come out in the right ballpark for me using Joe’s “kg weight per litre air volume” metric, as dubious as I find that approach!
I’ve had really good luck with a pair of Vittoria Corsa Controls, now called Corsa Pro Controls. I ride through Philadelphia with them. I use 28mm, but a wide variety of sizes is available. I have no complaints.
Love my stock, clincher GP5000 30s. Montreal is not exactly friendly to bike tires and they’ve held up like champs.
Well, in considered conversation, yes, hardly revelatory. However there are a lot of people (including media) that will just blanket announce stuff like “(tyre type) tyres are always better” and people do indeed get the wrong impression from that. I’ve seen it in many you tube shows, from Nero, to GCN, to Bike Radar where someone just says something like that, without qualifying it, e.g. “for a male rider of average height and weight”.
They also go into things like the ratio of internal and external rim width and tyre choice. Plenty of outlets will just state flat out that bigger internal rim width is always better – which is not true if you want to run 26mm or 28mm tyres for example (or, for that matter, you want to run 38mm tyres).
I’m 84kgs, 180cm, and I use 30mm Pirelli P-Zero Race RS with TPU tubes on a rim with a 23mm internal width. I find this combo excellent. I only have the one bike, which is a road bike, not a gravel bike.
I have used the gp5000 str before but had lots of issues with punctures. Not sure if it was bad luck, because the gp5000 clincher was always fine.
Have ran the pirelli pzero race tlr until the casing showed on the commuter and that one is absolutely bomb proof. Running the rs version in my race bike and that one has been fine as well and feels much faster then the non rs version.
edit:
All of the pirelli tyres were very hard to mount on different rims, but then again I did not have to remove them until they were done 
I just got a pair of P Zero Race RS in 30 mm and I’m finding it impossible to even fit the first side of the tyre on my wheel (24 mm internal rim width).
Would moving up to 32 or 35 mm make it easier to fit on this wider rim?
Not mentioned in previous replies. Hutchinson Blackbird range, excellent value and brilliant rubber. Have Race, Performance and All Season models. I used to be on Vittoria and Continental and would never go back. Only model I stock and fit with customers (unless they request something else!)