The Best Road Tires for Road Bikes: Top 3 (or 4) for 2024 

Which tires am I missing on this list? 👇🏻 LMK.

I gave up on road tubeless a long time ago. The Conti GP5000 28mm with TPU tubes is very fast and tubular light. The ride is excellent.

Conti GP 5000 clinchers with latex tubes. Carry a TPU tube as a spare. The best combination I've tried - including tubulars. Fast, feels supple, long-lasting and I rarely get any flats. It's simple and hassle-free (no sealant to deal with). Over a 2 or 3-year span, there have been a handful of teammates either not making the Saturday group ride or had to turn around because of tubeless mechanical issues. I feel bad for the guys with hookless rims...

Since I started riding GP 5000s on my road bike, I forgot what a puncture actually is. Just incredible. Not in the market for any alternative. It just works.

Running 30cc GP5000 S TR mates to 40mm deep mavic wheels on my soloist. Super plush road set up that’s reliable and fast rolling. Win win win.

Continental GP5000 S TR 30mm and no complaints whatsoever! Happy with the performance I’m getting from it. Grippy, fast, and just reliable.

Loved the Am Classic Timekeeper 30's. Went through two sets and loved them. Currently running the Gravelking slick 32's and I'm never going smaller.

I’m really liking the Corsa N.Ext

Last month, i replaced my 28mm gp5000 STR to 26mm sworks turbo rapidair t2/t5 and I noticed immediately the comfort and grippiness from Sworks. I also felt that its faster than gp5000, maybe because due to its weight and grippiness. The only downside is that it gets worn out faster after 1000km ride compare to continental. Thus, the sworks t2/t5 is best to use in race due to its grip, light and confort. 😉

I switched to Continental GP5000 AllSeason TR and absolutely love them. I got the 35mm thicc option and run them tubeless. They feel fantastic and are resilient enough to handle my curvaceous figure and weight just fine. But I’m not fast and don’t really care about peak performance-feel and puncture resistance have more impact on my enjoyment. :)

I used Vittoria tubs in my racing days, and now use Vittoria Corsa Pros, I love them. I love the old school amber walls too.

I borrowed a wheelset for a few days with the P-Zero Race TLR (tubeless) and was immediately impressed. Beyond what you mentioned here, the traction in the rain was excellent. I’ve been happy with GP5000 and the Pro One too over the years (tubeless).

Been running the GP5000 28mm tubeless all year around for the last few years. I live in the uk where are winters are mainly wet with a lot of debris on the road and they’ve been fantastic. Fast and reliable.

Hey @outdoorbros_ thanks for the content I really enjoy it. What did you think about the eagle f1 supersports? I saw you listed them but didn’t mention any remarks about them ? Greetings from Costa Rica 🇨🇷

american classic has a few tires i hear good things about, the timekeeper is probably the one for racing, a few others for gravel and off road too. really like the videos.

Specialized Sworks Turbo are my favorite tires. High end tires are like shoes-when you like the fit, you keep wearing them.

Highly recommend the 'Pirelli Cinturato TLR Road Tyre' slightly heavier than the top 3 in video but better puncture resistance. Good in dry/wet and long wearing.

I've tried them all, I like the Rene Herse slicks

Nailed it.

Hi Chris Fully agree with you on Pirelli and Conti! My number three is the Schwalbe Pro One buying superior durability and puncture protection with some extra weight (279 g for 28mm).

Im running the 30mm 5000's and they are the bomb!

Agreed about the Corsa Pros, they're great and good for a season. Summer has just ended here in my region and so did my Corsas 😔 Just put on the new Pirelli Speedcores TLRs which should get me about 6 months?

I'm running 30c Challenge Strada Bianca tires on 50mm wheels and it's a plush ride. I'm don't think it's got great puncture protection, but I haven't had any issues yet (knock on wood). They are light and the casing is super soft. I don't ride that hard so it does the trick of giving me a nice ride.

GP 5000 Str. I get around 3-5000 miles to the wear dots. 30s. I would tell you about the flat history but would jinx myself.

I really like the ride quality of the Michelin Power Cup 25c clincher version

With a grand total of 176miles on them so far (Still in the 'warranty period'), I'm really liking the GP5000 S TR. After years of riding 25 and 28mm Gatorskins on my road bikes, I was moving to wider 32mm, tubeless setup and decided to listen to the data about the Gatorskins (they are slow, slippery in the rain but last forever without puncturing) I've been really pleased. They went on easily enough. Tight but popped on immediately. Running them at 65psi (I'm a clydesdale) the comfort level difference is stunning. But yet they still seem to roll fast as predicted. Set a few PRs on my regular routes already (new bike energy perhaps?) Now to see a) if they hold up as predicted b) if 'high pressure' road tires in tubeless is actually a good idea.

I've been using the GP 5000 S TR in a tubeless setup since they came out on a few of my bikes. I've tried 32mm, 30mm and now I just put 28mm. I've only had 1 flat on the 32mm ones, but it was really huge slice (about 2cm), never saw how or what did that slice but overall I have more than 20000 kms with all the GP 5000 S TR in total and I am extremely happy with the tires. Every time I am about to buy new tires, I would be curious to try other brands, but I just don't want to take the risk and eventually end up with the GP 5000 S TR. Expensive, but great tires.

GP5K is my tire of choice. I'm 187lbs and ride in NYC, and it's the most durable race tire I've found. If durability were no concern, I like the Vittorias, but also love the ENVE tires. Even though I have had more than my share of punctures (including some that took three or four dynaplugs to seal up), I have never - in ~25,000 miles of tubeless road riding - had to get a ride home. What happens that causes a ride home?

Top 3 tires for me: GP5000 with discount, GP5000 and did I mention GP5000? I live in Germany so we have discount on them about 40% all year round 😊

I have the S Works Turbos on my Tarmac SL7. At about 1,000 miles right now and I dont' think they will last much longer. I made the mistake last weekend of taking the bath path North through a rough area and there was a lot of broken glass on the trail. You can only steer around so much of it. I now have a few slits in my tires with pieces of embeded glass in the tire. I picked up a dental metal tooth pick so that I can take out the small pieces and we'll see how long I have until new tires are on the fix list but overall I"m not too impressed with the longevity of the Turbos. Even before before the glass my front tire looked like it was prematurly wearing, and more so on the right side than the center. This is my second set of Turbos. I got 6,000+ on my Roubaix from them and was convinced they were the best. Same trails, same air pressure, different bike.

You can train in them, you can race them, you can have zero fear going through the city roads with all its damaged roads. The GP5000 S TR does it for me. They are also a very repairable tire. I've patched them before on bigger punctures, and they go on to ride for a long time with no problems.

I'm thinking of trying a pair of Challenge tires.

Michlin Power Cup!

Ive experienced two mystery blowouts, both on GP5000’s. One was coming down the Alpine Loop. Scary. Never had issues with GP4000’s. Can’t trust the GP’s anymore.

I have 3k miles on my GP5000 S TR and they’re still going strong.

My fave are Michelin Power Cup clinchers in 25 and 28mm. Seem more robust than Conti 5000 clinchers.

Would be interesting to hear why the others didn't make the list like the Goodyear's and Specialized. The Goodyear Supersport R tests well but guessing there are some other issues.

I really like my Schwalbe Pro One TLR

Everybody raves about the Conti's and I've had nothing but trouble with them flatting and never sealing. I ride Vittoria (Rubino or Corsa) simply because they actually seal after a puncture. Perhaps the Conti 5000 is an improvement over their other options?

Pirellis P zero TLR one of the best tires hands down; very durable and fast , oh and extra bonus they are the easiest tires to mount

Vittoria tires & latex tubes in Campy Bora wheels (no rim tape required) - fast, smooth & reliable. TPUs for spares/repairs.

To me nothing feels better than a corsa pro. But 1000 miles goes quick. Ive been rotating them at 750mi and I usually get 1500mi+ out of them. For winter I got some 30mm Corsa N.exts and I already hate how they feel 😂

Conti GP5000 with latex... durable, grippy in all conditions, fast. You'll almost forget what a flat is.

Schwalbe pro one.. seem the best for hookless enve wheels. Never seem to leak. From sitting to long.. and they feel faster to me then the GP 5000 str.. i have both on different enve wheels. Kind of hoping i go through the GP5000 str quickly so i can replace them with schwalbe. 😂 Gp5000 were definitely my favorite with tubes.. & the New Str are great but definitely give me more headaches with my enve wheels..

The new Enve SES Race tire scored better than GP5K S TR and very light. Cant wait to try it.

I love tubeless.....Also like ENVE SES tires. Conti GP 5K S TR is my standard, the ENVE's are tied in my humble opinion.

I'm still using 23C tires because I like the feel. It's what I'm going to keep using until I can't get them any more, they are really cheap right now. To use wider tires like everyone else would mean I would need a new bike to fit them. I don't need a new bike because mine works just fine. As long as I have stuff that works the marketing hype won't work on me. And you should see what my retirement looks like. Instead of giving my money to the bicycle companies I banked it. I enjoy riding my bike probably more than most and I don't need to keep up with the latest trends to get the benefits from riding. I certainly don't want a $12,000 bicycle.

Challenge Strada Pro. The absolute most sublime ride. Ever. Downside(s) - the absolute hardest tire to mount, and IF you get 1000 miles you live the good life and God has rewarded you. I've ridden Conti Gatorskins (tubed) for ever, so my first foray into tubeless-land was a Conti GP 5K TL (prior generation) in 25 mm. On an extremely hot day and with 80 psi of pressure, well within the stamped limits, the rear tire blew off the rim, shortly followed by the front tire exploding (as in catastrophic failure of a tire "seam"). I will, however, go back to them because of my experience with the Challenge tires. No ride quality is worth an hour of grunting and cursing to simply mount a tire on a wheel.

Why does the cliche of feeling guilty / ashamed / bad for calling your significant other to save you off of a mechanical exist? I genuinely don't understand it. I've had to make that call a few times now. She NEVER complained. I never felt embarrassed.

Yup, my experience exactly. One road tyre for all I do, GP5000. Only time I would pick other tyre is for race, Vittoria Corsa Pro. Tyre to try, Veloflex Record TLR with big downside, size only 25.

100%!

How do you rate the Continental Gator Hardshell?

I continue to use and enjoy the “tubed” version of the gp5000 with latex tubes and as long as I don’t compromise the sidewall they are rock solid, fast and supple. BUT….BUT I have had terrible luck with the TR. Last year I was close to just quitting them but I held on. During a tour in late May I punctured the front. The sealant worked but the culprit was still in the tire… a very tiny thorn that would be measured in a couple millimeters. The rear has punctured and sealed, punctured and sorta sealed and… well if they weren’t so expensive I would just trash them. To make a TR last you will need to put a ton of Stans in it and that sort of defeatist at least one of the perceived benefits. Just my experience but I have a new side of P ZEROs ready to go and for now I would not recommend the Conti tubeless. (Oh,they are MUCH easier to mount than the V1 tires.)

i jet washed my bike (i know, i know) the jet wash blew a hole straight through the side wall. soft as butter. i was never particularly impressed by them, GP5000s are awesome, an unknown, underrated tyre is the Yksion PRO UST tyre, not the Elite and not the newer one with the tred.

I absolutely love my Corsa Pro's! Currently running them in 32s. I agree with the 1K Mile mark. That's usually when I swap the Pro's. My GP5000 S TRs (in 32s as well, 🙂) seem to be holding up a lot better. I have about 1.2K Miles on the GPs. Two tires I'd like to hear your feedback on. Veloflex Corsa EVO TLR and the Michelin Power Cup 2s. The VeloFlex'es I personally did not like. They were *SUPER sticky! Probably the grippiest tire I ever rode but they were also very spongy. That's what I did not like about them. The Michelin's I never rode before. I'm debating putting them on my Ostro VAM. We shall see. #RobbArmstrong

Veloflex. You should give them a shot…they feel so silky smooth, I really like the way they look (😊), and the tread seems very grippy. Get the 30c…I bought 28c but they measure 27 on my rims. The sealant dried up quickly which was annoying, but then I moved them to my other bike and just used TPU tubes which was the easy way to go. I’ll try tubeless again when I get some 30’s

Ditto the comments on tubeless, I’m not a fan. Running Corsa 28’s on my SL7 & SL5 Tarmacs (latex tubes), 32’s Conti 4 Seasons on the winter road Diverge (Maxxis lightweight tubes) and 28’s S-Works Turbo on my Allez S-Works just for the look, but they ride great (latex tubes). Also have GP5000’s on my Venge and Columbus steel custom build, in 26’s. Also great. Quality tyres all seem too notch these days. Not tried Goodyear or Pirelli, but might do now.

26mm Turbo cottons + latex tubes. 👌

I spend a 100 on a set os Sworks turbo, they would not sit correct, both tyres, i use a Roval wheelset, they were the Tightest tyre i have ever fitted. I had to cut the off from Carbon rims.

can you put a Conti GP 5000 s TR 30 mil on a botrager Aeloes 35 (28mil)????

enve tires are fast. have you tried those?

I think tires in general we should go for 28+mm, with norcal cycling testing that 32 is even faster, more supple than 28..Norcal states that 34 is where it kinda gets too wide. Plus I personally have been running GP5k STR--I did not have a good experience with the 25mm--but the 28mm have been great. Sealed a couple w/ muc off sealant too.

I didnt see Cadex tires on your list????

Conti gp 5k .. tubeless 32 Pirelli centurato velo tlr 35 Conti top contact winter tube 42

Can I ask if you run 32 mm GP5000 on a Tarmac SL8? I've Tarmac sl8 frame coming and hope to run my 303 firecrest that have 32mm S TR but they measure more like 34 and so I'm wondering if they'll be to big

Are we talking pure road race tires, or road tires in general? Pirelli's TLR series are to me the most supple and liveliest feeling tire, but it takes just one idiotic driver to make you skid your rear wheel under emergency braking, at which point that tire is flat-spotted and soon headed for the bin. Realizing that I do not need to eke out ultimate speed on my bike, I've opted for Vittoria Corsa N.Exts. They are fast, tough, long lasting, and they feel better than Pirelli Cinturato Velos. Haven't tried tubeless Contis, but I used earlier clincher versions of them. Their Gatorskins felt heavy and lifeless, and their GPs soon developed that brown sidewall frizz that had me wondering about casing degradation. BTW, I'm also an 87 kg ex-sprinter. Your weight plays a big part in deciding which tire works best for you.

Technical Descending in ROAD is insane, lets be honest this is not a thing that actually exists. what is the tecnical part of a flat road. thanks for the video, nice info

The Bontrager r4 tire

Challenge Strada pro HTLR

I use the clincher Victoria corsa control 25 C. I do more than 2000 Miles on these. Be aware that conti had 2 different versies of the GP 5000 clincer and you can’t tell the difference. One version is often use as first installation on new bikes and by retailers sold on discount. This version is simply rubbish, 5 punctures within 200 Miles. The other version lasts forever without punctures. Why does’nt Contido something about this? I also use the Michelin Power cup Tlr 25c without any problem. Had One small puncture which sealed itself, only had to inflatie a little.

Clinchers are (way) lighter tyres. Never understood why people always claimed tr’s are lighter. The tyres themselves are about 100gr lighter (pair), and with tpu inside you again are lighter (approax 30gr tpu vs 60gr tr milk per tyre). That’s roughly 160gr in total. I admit i live in a country with decend to very good roads, maybe one puncture per 5 years or so. But even then, new tpu in (lighter than al reserve tr materials you carry) and the ride continues. With tpu or latex the riding resistance is very very small compared too tr.

Michelin power cup is awesome

Good stuff. Michigan roads = GP 5k ✌️

How about the Michelin power cup TLR?

Conti are great all round, Scwalbe Pro One are better when it’s wet!

Only the Specialized has ever left me on the side of the road wore so fast....

gp5000 str headache free

Did you photoshop / paint the speed sniffer to the SL7 at 4:12?

For me there's no point in running a tire less than 32mm on a modern road bike. My all time favorite so far is the Rene Herse Stampede Pass.

Please consider Tufo !

Damn I was hoping to see the graffiti paint job on the bike in the thumbnail... yeah you got me click bait...... damnit... hahaha

Conti 5000s are too difficult to mount. Conti should really address that issue in a newer updated version. Started riding Vittoria N.EXT which actually have a much better ride feel and are very easy to mount. No longer a Conti fan.

Your bike is a beauty - what is it?

Turbo Cotton 28 what else…

I’ve never had any tyres fall apart after 1000 miles. Vittoria Corsa 2.0 tubed lasts forever. Love Veloflex too, but don’t last as long. Road tubeless was a waste of time for me, no benefits just messy.

SCHWALBE PRO ONE!!! 28MM TUBELESS

Power cup tlr

GP 5 = 5 stars

8000 miles a year! How did you make your money man so early in life? An early investor in google??

No way the Contis beat out the Pirellis

This is a really really long way of saying “thicker tires last longer.”

Top 3 tires for me: Non tubeless: Sworks turbo cottons 28 - pirelli tubes. If u haven’t tried them on your sl8 you missing out. They last 300 miles max. Be carful on super sharp downhill turns, since they slide if you are not planted on the bike. Otherwise on the flats and climbing they are by far the best tires in the market, they are in a category by themselves. They don’t fit my hookless Enve 4.5 otherwise I wouldn’t ride anything else. Tubeless: Continental str 28. Sworks turbo 28. I tried 30 str’s i just can’t do it. I don’t know why but for me 28 strs they feel more in control than 30. I don’t give a shit about hookless compatibility, 700 28 str’s work perfect. All you have to do is learn how to f set them up correctly. I see retard mechanics taping the walls of the rims to have “better” f sealant protection. F stupid. There is a reason why Enve provides their own tape which if properly installed leaves the inside walls of the rim exposed so the rubber touches the carbon wall instead of f tape. Tape covers the f rim wholes. Thats it! Don’t f tape the walls… Anyways i “ digress”, :) Sworks 30 I didn’t mind. But all sworks tires just don’t last. Max 1k, same as corsa’s , if I am Not mistaken sworks and vittoria they are made both my vittoria.

Pirelli p zero road !

SCHWALBE PRO TLE ADDIX