I've been riding Conti Super Sport IIIs since they came out. Daily commute, around 13,000km a year. I find them very puncture resistant. They just feel great on the road, and right from the beginning they felt fast. Your test confirms why. Don't worry about flats, they're just great tires for the price!
Every group ride I've been on where someone got a flat they were riding Super Sports. Had a set myself once and I have to agree w you on their road feel. They do feel fast. Every flat I got on them was from an impossibly small bit of glass or rock and I got tired of it.
@@uglyoldfart839 This, conti's grandsport race is actually better, and they don't even cost that much more. Even better TPI casing at 3x180 and a puncture protection thread. I use them with tire liners for extra protection, I have never gotten a flat in over a year of riding, at 5000 km. And that's with TPU tubes.
Great original content video! Just a note on the Conti Ultrasports 3, Continental's tpi numbers are always over exaggerated and misleading compared with other brands as they are 3 layers of 60tpi (=180). Don't be fooled!
@@JeffreyWilliams-dr7qe it depends on the advertiser, some switched on sellers like BikeBug here in Australia list the Conti Competition tubular as 3/180 TPI which is effectively 3 layers of 60 TPI
I am riding the Ultra Sport for about 3000km now. And had no puncture yet. Would not worry too much. I am only a recreational driver though. But pretty happy with the tyre and think it rides very good. BTW, the "e" in Schwalbe is not silent ;) It is pronounced like the "e" in "pet".
I use the "obsolete" Vitorria Rubino Pro III. The last version before the newer ones with graphene. When tested, they have lower rolling resistance and still the same puncture protection as the later ones. 150TPI tire. Still sold online. Highly recommended
I have Conti UltraSport II on my commuter, love them to bits, comfy, fast rolling, good grip and after 4,500 miles about 50% worn and so far zero punctures despite my commute being country lanes with Hawthorne hedges and across a university campus with frequent broken bottles.
I have these too, on different bikes and in different sizes. They are very nice for their price. But they are definitely not as fast as GP4000 or 5000. They cope great with gravel, at least at the front, for the rear wheel on my everyday singlespeed I use Sport Contact II (latest model called Contact Speed).
Thanks for choosing 25c tires for your test. I'd wager that a lot of recreational and club-level cyclists -- maybe the majority -- are still running rim brakes and narrow inner-width rims, and are thus more interested in tires narrower than the currently trendy 28-30c. As a club rider, not a racer, I go for a balance between puncture resistance and good road feel, so the Goodyear or the Schwalbe would be my choice. I have the Continental UltraSport on one of my wheelsets; I'm not that impressed. EDIT: I bought a new-to-me Italian steel bike that's fitted with Conti UltraSport tires in 23c. It's a different bike, so not a true comparison, but this set of UltraSport tires feels great.
I have a 2006 carbon bike and 28mm tyres literally just don't fit at the fork so 25mm is the largest I've gone so far so yeah I have the Michelin lithion 2 and been getting a lot of punctures lately so might go down a bit more resistant road
my bike is from 2016 and the only size that fits well with the 17C Rims is 23mm. Real 23mm. 25 is ok too but then it also get harder to put the rear wheel out of the frame and they bulge over the rim. making them less aero. and yes in hobby race you see all kind of road bikes. lot´s of rimbrakes, most on 25mm because 23mm gets harder to find. in licence races they all run new expensive bling.
@@cappaculla If a video title says "use one of these tires" it should also tell me how big or small the difference to the more expensive things are that are usually recommended.
I put a pair of Eagle Sport on last night, replacing my heavy and slow Marathons which I've had on for 6 months. Can't wait to test them out in a couple of hours!
I'd like to see these compared to top-end tires like the conti GP5000 etc. Curious how they stack up, and how much more (or not) performance you get for a much higher price
great point. on my (still expensive Specialized Roubaix) with butyl tubes vs a similar wheelset (it does seem a bit faster no matter the tire though) vs. continental gps 5000... my personal experience is i get about an extra 1 to 1.5 km per hour. i am heavy and slow. average speeds for me are in the 22 to 25 km/hour range. Yes i am considering same route and weather conditions. No power meter data though. Moreover, the FEEL and sound and perceived rolling resistance of the Continental BLOWS AWAY the specialized Roubaix. The only drawback was the first set i had were damned near impossible to put on. Had to resort to water and soap trick to seat the beading. 2nd time mounting was ok. I just got a new continental gps 5000 tire to replace the rear (nearly worn out, and had a puncture... likely due to incorrect high inflation and a sharp rock. Note: with laytex tubes they do leak overnight so you need to pump them up a bit each day. IN MY OPINION, a great tire like the continental (or i hear, but have not used, Vittoria) combined with laytex tubes makes a far more enjoyable, speedy, grippy, and "feel the road" in a positive way. use a cheaper set like he recommends for early season / winter / or day to day stuff. I just have one carbon road bike with two wheel sets. lots of people have two or more road bikes though. for clunking to the tennis court or something short i have a KONA hybrid with big tires. hope this helps, please let me know. ps. the tires go on sale online fairly often for 40-45 % discount.
Why would you skimp on tires? It's literally the most cost effective purchase you can make it you want to go faster. Gp5000's or a similar tire in the same class + latex or tubeless and you're saving a good amount of watts. Save money on everything else!
If you want an ultra sport with puncture resistance get the grand sport race. Same compound, similar price. I've been using it for awhile now and my only flat was a pinch flat from accidentally smashing my wheel against a rock.
Adding this, I use it on my gravel bike (on gravel lol) as it comes in 32c and it got less punctures than my gravelking ss despite having more mileage.
20 watt versus 30 watt that's a big gap. Now of course if you stand still with a puncture on your expensive tires, you're also not happy. Really like these tests! Good work!
It may seem ironic, but I'll take all this on board, as I load my Mr Tuffy tyre liners and quality tubes (continental, shwalbe, specialized) into whichever tyre I'm replacing. I've never seen tyre liner rolling resistance quantified, but puncture avoidance is always a priority. You can always cover a lot of distance on any tyre, in the time you might otherwise be dealing with a puncture. Quality tubes? A high number of flats have come from tube failure - pinholes opening up on the seam, unrelated to any puncture or abrasion.
I'm on my 5th set of Continental Ultra Sport series tires. The centre tread is quite thick making this tire very puncture resistant - which is why I keep going back to them. Also, the rubber compound is simply amazing in all conditions, especially in the wet.
What size width? I am planning to buy also another pair of Ultra Sport III but in 28c sizing. The problem I have is the measured width. I want them to be 28mm or higher, but I have found in some cases they are also lower than 28mm
I have found that with Continental tires, they will stretch out with time. I have purchased 28c that measured 30mm on a 18mm rim but only after some riding and allowing a few deflate cycles. @@florinovidiumatei4233
I've been using the Lifeline Prime Armour 700x25c tire for 2 years now and it usually lasts for 5 to 8,000 kms. It really does perform phenomenally especially for it's price which is sold here for only 12$. The tire provides good grip when cornering and through wet road conditions. It also has kevlar protection which saved me from stapler, broken glass, and even nail punctures. Although, admittedly it rolls considerably slower compared to my old tire which is a continental grand sport race.
THANKS to your recommendation l got the Schwalbe Lugano II for my race bike and THEY ARE GREAT SO FAR getting up to 20+mph on these is easy compared to what l had before DAY NIGHT DIFFERENCE !! l ll update on how it goes as l put some miles on them :)
Maxxis Persuer...I've been hugely impressed by the quality and price of this tire!It's fast, has a great road feel and it holds up very well. impressive... I paid £ 12 here in Taiwan. Brilliant cheap tire.
I got the Specialized Roadsport Elite 28c tyres at a discount. Before that it was the Michelin Dynamic Sports. They are each other's opposite: the Roadsport is heavy, and slow, but confident, comfortable, and saves inner tubes.
The Michelin dynamic sport was horrible IME. Crappy feel like was mentioned, but worse is that I got punctures nearly every other ride for about a week until I finally gave up. And this was on my front wheel where I can normally get away with thinner tires (I run back tires out fairly quickly) and were on my regular routes so it wasn't like I was in worse roads than normal. Just glad it was cheap.
You keep talking about the 40kph value, but for the kind of riders that buy these tyres (and pretty much everyone else too), the 24kph value is much more appropriate!
Thanks for the scientific testing. Very helpfully and quantitative results. That’s what I love about CW compared to gcn and others. Keep this great content coming..your tubeless sealant testing was a very informative video also. Thanks CW
Interesting video. I ran the Vittoria Zaffiros after a pot hole trashed my Hutchinson Fusions and the Zafs never missed a beat over 2500 winter kms and at £14 per tyre they were great value and rode well too. How about a similar video on lower priced tubless ready tyres?
conti ultra sports are better than most tires of double the price. they feel supple w the high thread count and the huge central siphons on the tread makes them deflect a lot on descents giving a lot of grip and confidence.
Nice comparison video, but you need to know two things, wider tire dont add contact patch, is the same. And lower presure in a wider tire )more volume) dont add comfort, the tire drop is the same.
I've been riding the "zaffiro pro g2.0" on my commuter throughout the seasons and I've had zero punctures or any issues of that kind. But the ride is not super supple and I don't think the grip is that great great in corners or wet conditions. I have the conti ultrasport on my road bike and definitely love the feeling on them, grippy and fast. no punctures either but I tend to ride the bike in good conditions only.
i switched to some more ofroad tires on my bicycle with the idea of abit better drivability on some short patches of gravel , it did not help with the gravel ridint as much but extra thread on tire sure to help protect inner tube from geting punctured. i bought continental tires for like 50 euros for both
I love tests like this. I have the Conti Ultrasport and I think they have very good puncture protection. But then I drove the Tufo Calibra Lite before that and compared to those every tyre has good puncture protection. They were extremely fast though and weigh only 150g. 😆 Anyways excellent video. You've got a new subscriber. 👍🏽
Interesting. The next step is to compare the winning tyre(s) with higher end tires. Those trees along with TPU tubes may be well worth the small investment.
Michelin lithions and the pro4 are imo great tyres for the money. on my fast bike I have tufo very light clinchers with pu tubes. I don't punctures probably as I run high pressure and I tend to replace tyres before they get too worn out
Ultra sport in any case, summer, winter. Never had a puncture, they come in a lot of sizes and colours. Also good grip in both wet and dry. Stay away from any of these lifeline tyres.
I've got a flat almost every ride with Ultra Sport. I don't know what to do. I was thinking of ordering anti puncture rubber that goes between the inner and the outer tube
@@emdblues it’s like ultra sport 3 with punture resistance, just asked guy and he said he never get flat in first 8000km of these tires then got flat every 5km so he replaces every 8000km and it’s perfect
That was a great review but the choice of tires was slim with Lifeline taking up the bulk of the tires tested. The best tires to buy for around $20 is to find higher-end tires that are on a closeout sale. Recently I bought 2 pairs of Vittoria Open Pave CG III for just $20 each. The cool thing about those Vitts is that they are the most comfortable tire I have ever ridden since I stopped using tubulars over 35 years ago. So just keep your eyes open for closeouts, and buy a much better tire than those tested here.
I was gonna lose my mind if the examples of "budget tires" here are more expensive than my racing tire (Continental Grandsport RACE, best racing tire I've tried btw), but I'm relieved to see the budget tires are actually in the reasonable range. During the first 3 months of 2022, I've bought Ultrasport IIIs 3 times once per month. I ride fairly smooth roads and there's a big gaping slash on the sidewall of my tire after about 1000km. I ride 90 psi, 48kg and avoid potholes at all cost, it's just continental being stingy and making a bad tire at their budget range. I've experienced/witnessed no such problem in the Grandsport Race, GP 4 season, Gran Prix, GP4000II, and the GP5000.
@@SangNguyen-ew5hp You like never get a flat for months, then when the tires start getting worn understandably you start getting punctures every 5 km lol. If I were to describe it it's like immortal but with a limit.
@@SangNguyen-ew5hp still grand sport race, it works really well for the first 5 months so I just replace the back tire aftern6 months or roughly 8000km. It's like the puncture protection lining wears away with the tire as you use it
@@dan_lazaro impressive, I only ride roughly 5000km/year, I think the grand sport race is more suitable than the duraskin which is 4 times more expensive
I ride the Continentals, Michelins, and Zaffiro. All ride well for me. One noteable BIG difference is that the Zaffiro DRY ROT on the sideways within 1-1.5 years. I have ridden 3 generations of this tire, and the first two generations both dry rotted quickly. Generation 3 i have not had on the bike long enough to decide. My Zaffiro dry rotted before the tires were worn out. very inexpensive tires that ride well, but in my experience, do not last. check your sidewalls if you ride them for cracking. in defense of the Zaffiro, they are by far the least expensive tire to ride and cost half as much as the goodyears in this video. The michelins are cheap to buy also. Conti 3 have gone up in price recently. I preferred the Ultra sport gen 2 tire over the gen 3 tire. had a better feel to me.
Useful you’ve gone for 25c tyres for these budget choices. My 10 year old rim brake bike (with mudguards for all year round riding), is limited to this size. Always gone with gatorskin hardshells, which are bullet proof, but a bit pricey and heavy. I’m tempted by the Lugano 2’s, especially for the summer. I’ve a,so got a cheap hybrid which came with budget Schwalbe tyres with the k-guard lining in them, and I’ve (maybe luckilly) only suffered 1 puncture with them, so I do rate k-guard as bing very decent for the price. .
Another great tyre in my opinion is the Spesh Roubaix Pro. I'm running the 2bliss version which sizes up around 33mm on my 17s. Pretty quick, great in the wet and respectable on light fire trails. Highly recommend! ✌️
Nashbar used to have a tire called the Prima Plus. I could always get them for sale for less than $15. The Plus part is a puncture resistant belt. They were fairly lightweight too. Have them on both my road bikes but I dont think they make them anymore.
I ride the Jack Brown Mile Munchers from Planet X for both my road and commuter bikes - over 10,000km with no punctures! At £20 per tyre I wouldn't go anything else. They seem fast rolling as well, but it would be great to see it in a test like this one
It is interesting to me how the online bike accessory vendors are slowly eliminating these budget (lower cost) tires. I can see the trend over the past couple of years.
Should have included the conti grandsport race, a few dollars higher than the ultra sport but has puncture protection and faster with better grip, even in the wet. A budget racing tyres that you can daily drive
I really appreciate the work that went into this video. Reasonably priced tires don't get the attention they deserve. I have some IRC Jetty Plus tires I love. Same for Continental Super Sport Plus, Bontrager AW1, and Continental Grand Prix (you know, the bottom rung member of the Grand Prix line). Never had a flat w any of these and never seen them tested anywhere either. Good on you for this test and I'm looking forward to more. Tread puncture resistance would be a really nice test to see too....
I know that I am in the vast minority here, but I just go all-out (for clinchers), and run Vittoria Latex tubes inside of their Corsa G series, 25C tires. Even though yes, latex tubes absolutely help the; response, rolling resistance, saves watts, etc. in all of the very popular, 'go to' low TPI nylon cased tires out there, it just seems like a waste to me to use them in those tires and give up the ultimate ride. Cost, and longevity for these be damned! (Even though mine do not puncture over some horrid shoulder shrapnel, and some rough roads, and last longer than their 'full race' compound would seem to indicate. 😉)
I had a pair of Michelin Dynamic Classic tires with tan sidewalls and they worked pretty well for me. I would've liked to see how they stood next to these or even the other Michelin tires.
I would go for the Goodyears, Michelin or Vittoria. Those Continentals are not worth bothering about if they have no puncture protection. Even Continentals with PP puncture every 10 miles and with only 1 watt saving over the Goodyears, it's not worth it.
I’ve ridden several sets of the Vittoria zaffiro tires. The only negative downfall I have against these is the tread life does not last. I get about 600 to 700 miles and the tread has worn smooth and I have to replace them.
Like to see test of the same tire by the same manufacturer, but different sizes..and same manufacturer different say road tires, by cost. It was enlightening to see the response of tire to different road surfaces. Thank you!
Useful and interesting, despite the combined blinking and hand waving. None of the tyres are fantastic. Perhaps the top four could be compared with others in the next price bracket.
I run Goodyear eagle sports at the moment and I like them a lot. I have run Conti Ultra sports before and I do rate them highly, but after approximately 1000 km or so I began to get punctures , so I think they may ride nicer than Goodyears but at a cost of longevity. I may be a bit mad but I did notice that the Goodyears after a short period of ride time began to feel faster than when new??? This is something that is often not considered when testing rolling Resistance.
Been riding ultra sport and zaffiro and I can say just the best. Even do US "doesn't have that much puncture protection" I've never, ever had puncture. Not even my friends after 7000km on them. Only dissadvantage is weight.
I ride around 2500 miles anually and use whatever is cheapest in Decathlon. I cannot tell any difference in any of them. Currently on Zaffs they were less than 20 quid a pair or I would not have bought them.
I use the Continental Ultra Sport that you tested. They were such an upgrade when I first switched last autumn, but a spring and summer of riding has seen them worn out. I have punctured twice in the last month, simply because the rubber has been worn. I would recommend them though
The best upgrade you can do for a bike: have a bmi of 20.5-21.9, lighter wheels, latex tube, and better tires. Every bike comes with cheap, crappy mountain tires that could be adding 20-30 extra watts of force into your commute.
Personally tires should be a priority for safety, ride and puncture protection so like with cars don't skimp on them they are the only thing that has contact with road so winter tire 4 seasons Cont or. Bontrager R3 or Michelin Power Endurance and summer Cont 5000 GP ! Want more puncture resistance go bigger tire run lower pressure like summer+28mm and winter 3#mm+. Since going up 3 years ago not had a puncture with tubes!😁
I'm using the same Continental Ultrasports for 3yrs now since 2021 and never once got a puncture. I had more than 2000miles on them and is still fitted on my training bike (outdoor) up to this day. I also use GP5000 on my race bike and the difference between them is like night and day.
I used the lugano 2 and they were the worst tires I've ever used, sluggish and flat all the time, even a cheap kenda was better. The best cheap tires I've used are the continental ultra sport 2 and 3, good traction, comfortable, fast and never got any flat with them
I had a set of Luganos, and they got flats from looking at them. When I started using them for daily commute, I got 3 punctures in 2 weeks. The worst tyres I've ever had in terms of puncture resistance. Got myself a set of Marathons instead, I couldn't be happier.
Tried the Lugano 2 and one tire was ok but the other developed a big bubble and was basically trash. Ended up getting a set of the conti ultra sports and never had a puncture.
@@ArteUltra1195 What would you rather see - a test of all the best premium tyres OR a test with some GP5000's set up with normal tubes, lightweight butyl tubes, tubolitos, latex tubes and tubeless?
Wanna share that here in mexico a brand named HUNTER sells the most durable of 700x28 tires and guess how much? $5.00 us dollars, yep a bit heavy but come on at that price and supper durable!!!
Excellent video. My tires are not cheap. I use specialized roubaix 700x25 with butyl tubes on one wheelset. On my “fast” wheelset ( honestly i don’ know why but giant sl2 seem faster than shimano ultegra.. both very old models) i use continental gps 5000 700x 25 with vittoria laytex tubes. The ride and feelof the continental blows away the sspecialized. Over three ( not winter) years i have one puncture. On the continental. I think i out the tire pressure too high…should get a digital gauge…i just go by feel/sound all my life). I hit a sharp rock. Despite cleaning out the tire and wheel with a cloth the spare immediately punctured too. Fortunately near a highway turnoff. Had to walk about 30 minutes then called a cab. Now i carry Two tubes! Sometimes i even bring a spare tire. For me a patch kit is useless as i need a bucket of water to find a small hole. So definitely puncture resistance is a worthwhile feature…depending on how much road debris on where you ride. My first thousand km i use my slow set of wheels then i switch to my continental set… i just LOVE the ride feel. Ps i just bought a set for 45 percent off online sale…so that is an awesome savings
Could be better test configured so energy input at the axial into the wheel and tire driving a dyno drum watt meter connected to an electronic load. This way we can tell input power versus output power to deduce tire efficiency and tire dissipation.
I hate to ask, but why didn't you throw one or two a higher-end tires on the machine for use as a control? I understand the importance of comparing them to one another, but I'd also love to see in concrete terms how this crop of budget tires hold up against (for example) a GP5000 S or a Vittoria Corsa G2.0. I think it would lend more context to exactly what kind of value you're getting from the tires in this roundup.
Hello, Thank you for doing these tests and posting the results which are very interesting and helpful. What is the margin of error on the measurements? The fact that you give power levels to two decimal places implies that the power measurements are accurate to the order of ± 10 mW. Did you repeat the measurements, maybe with other samples of the same tyres, to get an estimate of the spread in the results?
Continental Ultrasport 3 is NOT 180tpi. Its 60 x 3 layers (3 layers like all the other tires here). That's why they write "3\180". It's lying in their marketing. It's actually a 60tpi.
That "180" had a lot of placebo effect on our presenter's impressions. Pity you guys don't have the intelligence to question something that sounds unbelievable and investigate further.
Lugano 2: these being 26.5mm wide, should have had slightly lower pressure to make up for that, meaning an extra 1-2w in lost efficiency. And for the 24mm, should have gotten a bit more pressure, for 1-2w better efficiency. You should measure them, then adjust inflation pressure for width, to get truer numbers.
I made the mistake of buying the latest Schwalbe One tyres. They have terribly poor puncture protection. Constant punctures. I later realised they split the range into a “pro” the non-pro versions. Obviously they think non-pros don’t care about getting multiple punctures on a ride 😕
