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Best Road Bike Tires

Updated May 2022
Bottom line
Pros
Cons
Best of the Best
Continental Grand Prix 4000s II Cycling Tire
Continental
Grand Prix 4000s II Cycling Tire
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Most Comprehensive
Bottom Line

Excellent all-around road tire with comprehensive features for touring, racing and commuting.

Pros

Durable and rugged road tire reinforced with enhanced road grip for improved stability, especially when riding downhill courses with sharp turns. Resists flats from punctures and sidewalk splits. Lightweight/easy to transport and store. Made from a trusted brand in top flight road racing. Stylish design easily matches most bikes.

Cons

Tire sizes may run large and fit too tightly to frames and fenders.

Best Bang for the Buck
Schwinn Replacement Bike Tire
Schwinn
Replacement Bike Tire
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Bargain Pick
Bottom Line

Handy replacement bike tire - for hybrid and leisure bikes - resists normal wear and tear on medium or low-impact rides.

Pros

Reinforced outer casing resists flats. Stable and secure. Treads navigate pavement and off-road park trails. Durable steel support frame. Trusted brand in leisure bikes. 26 by 1.95 inches. Easy to transport and store for use when needed.

Cons

Not designed to coast, so cyclists will have to exert more energy to maintain swift speeds.

Continental GatorSkin DuraSkin Tire
Continental
GatorSkin DuraSkin Tire
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Customer Favorite
Bottom Line

A mid-priced folding bike tire that can tackle most road conditions when riding at reasonable speeds.

Pros

Earns praise for how well it handles rough terrain as well as paved roads. Resists punctures. Not too challenging to put on a rim.

Cons

Not the most robust tire for speedy rides.

Vittoria Zaffiro Pro G2.0 Foldable Full Black Tire
Vittoria
Zaffiro Pro G2.0 Foldable Full Black Tire
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Customer Favorite
Bottom Line

Lightweight and durable training tire for serious cyclists, praised by customers.

Pros

Easy to store and transport on support vehicles or in a garage. Reinforced treads maintain tire integrity and resist punctures/splits. Strong, stable and reliable. Lightweight, durable and long lasting. Made for high impact training sessions on rugged courses.

Cons

Width may be inadequate for cyclists who prefer a wider tire.

Fincci Foldable 120 TPI Tires
Fincci
Foldable 120 TPI Tires
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Portable Convenience
Bottom Line

Foldable road bike tires, ideal for road races, and easy to store and transport.

Pros

Ideal replacement for worn out road and racing tires. Best used with 700 centimeter wheels. Made from durable nylon material and shock absorbent rubber material. Foldable tires ensure easy transport and storage. Gains and maintains speed with ease, unimpaired by treads or weight.

Cons

Fits only select wheel sizes, within a small range.

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BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and all opinions about the products are our own. About BestReviews  
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. We buy all products with our own funds, and we never accept free products from manufacturers.About BestReviews 
HOW WE TESTED

We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections.

30
Models
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159
Consumers
Consulted
22
Hours
Researched
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Buying guide for Best road bike tires

Plenty of casual bike riders give little thought to the tires that are carrying them around, at least not until one goes flat, splits, or shreds. Suddenly, it’s time to buy a new road bike tire and you’re faced with a dizzying selection.

Figuring out the right size and type can be confusing for many reasons: for instance, two measuring systems are used, metric and English. There are two types of air valves on the market. There are tires designed to be folded up and carried along on touring trips and tires that can’t be folded at all.

Don’t let all of the options daunt you. We're here to help.

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Soft or hard rubber? Soft rubber tires grip smooth road surfaces better, while hard rubber is more durable.

Types of road bike tires

The type of tire on your bike depends on the kind of bicycle you have and its intended purpose. If you have an expensive composite racing bike, the tire is an integral part of the entire wheel system (and priced to match). An off-the-rack road bike from a local retail store isn’t quite so specialized.

There are three types of road bike tires on the market today: clincher, tubular, and tubeless.

Clincher

This is the most popular type of tire and one that can be found on most retail bicycles. The inner tube fits inside the clincher tire, which then hooks onto the inside of the rim. When the tube is inflated, the clincher tire presses tightly against the rim, holding everything snugly together. While clincher tires have issues (see below), these tires are inexpensive compared to the other two types on the market, and they are easier to replace.

Clincher tires do succumb to problems like punctures, sidewall splits, and pinch flats.

  • Punctures: Road debris like nails and glass shards can puncture the tire and cause a leak. Small punctures can usually be repaired with a patch, but neither the inner tube nor the tire will stand up to multiple punctures.

  • Splits: An aging, weakened or damaged sidewall can split along the diameter of the tire. Tires with deteriorating sidewalls should be replaced as soon as possible.

  • Pinch flats: These occur when the inner tube gets caught between the tire and the wheel rim. As the inner tube is inflated, the clinch tire presses against the inside rim with increasing force, damaging the caught bit of inner tube and usually requiring that it be  replaced.
     

Price: A single clincher tire ranges in price from $20 to $55.

Tubular

Lightweight and less prone to punctures, tubular tires are often the tire of choice for road bike racers. This type of tire has no inner tube, hence much less bulkiness and weight. But there’s also no bead to lend it structure, so the tire is rarely perfectly round. And tubular tires are glued in place and so require specially made rims.

Price: Tubular tires range in price from $24 to $79.

Tubeless

A newer type of road bike tire, the tubeless tire, takes the best features of the tubular tire and shifts them to clincher-style wheels. Without an inner tube and outer tire, the tubeless tire is much lighter. Rather than being glued to the rim, the tubeless tire is set in place in a similar way to clincher tires (often with the use of a conversion kit). The advantage to this is that the tubeless tire can be changed quickly if you get a puncture.

Price: The price for a single tubeless tire ranges from $36 to $90.

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Did you know?
Inverted-tread tires have better grip than slicks and offer improved traction on poorly maintained roads.
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Tread

Once you decide on the the type of tire, the next decision is the type of tread you need. How and where you use the bike will determine the tread that works best for the road conditions you encounter most often.

Treadless

Often called “slicks” by the bicycling community, treadless tires are smooth. An inexperienced rider might think that no tread equals no traction, but the opposite is true, thanks to the way the rider’s weight is distributed between the wheels. Treadless tires conform tightly to the road or track and are wicked accurate on curves.

Tread

Commuters and casual riders might prefer road bike tires with some tread. These are available in a number of patterns and thicknesses. The tread can be as simple as a slightly thicker outer tread with a wave or “V” pattern threading through it. It might have a “puncture-resistant” layer to ward off flats. Or it can be a slimmer version of a mountain bike’s knobby tires.

Hybrid

For riders who travel along roads of varying quality – from smooth suburban pavement to pothole-ridden side streets to gravelly back roads – tires that offer a blend of smooth and patterned tread can provide traction on varying surfaces. Hybrid tires also have longer tread life and get fewer punctures.

"Road bike tires with high tire pressure are under plenty of stress. These tires are reinforced with an interior mesh, or casing, of fabric and composite materials. The higher the thread count (tpi) of this mesh, the more durable the tire. Typical thread counts run between 60 and 100 tpi."
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Size

If you’ve been shopping for tires already, you’ve seen a confusing difference in measurements. Some use “c,” some list sizes millimeters, and others show measurements in inches. For example, a common racing tire measurement is 700c x 25mm. But check out a hybrid-tread commuter tire, and the measurement may read “26 in x 2.5 in.” (The first number is the diameter of the tire, and the second number is the width.)

The reason for this disparity in measurements has its origins in the early days of cycling. Simply put, the popularity of racing and touring bicycles in Europe eventually led to almost all bicycles in these two classes sporting metric measurements. Mountain bikes, popularized in the U.S., are measured in inches.

How do you figure out which tire size is right for your bike? The easiest way is to check the existing tires. The measurement is typically molded into the sidewalls of clincher tires. On thinner racing tires, the sizing details might be printed on the sidewall or tube. Some specialized rims print tire size alongside the rim measurements on the outside of the rim.

Width

The width of tires can vary from just a few millimeters to three inches or more.

  • Thin tires: The thinner the tire, the lighter and faster it tends to be, making it desirable for racers looking for an edge in speed. Thinner tires have less “rolling resistance” because they make less contact with the road and meet less air resistance. They also are less comfortable, have a much higher tire pressure (pounds per square inch, or psi) – 75 psi or more – and are more prone to punctures or failures at the sidewall.

  • Wide tires: Wider tires offer a more comfortable ride thanks to the wider tread and lower psi (35 to 70 psi). These tires offer more rolling resistance, which isn’t great for racing but is really appreciated when rolling over a gravel-strewn road or pushing through mud.

Diameter

The outer diameter of the tire plays an important role in the speed at which the bike travels and how well it handles on the road or over obstacles. Hybrid and commuter bikes might use tires with diameters of 26, 27, or 29 inches, similar to mountain bike tires.

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Expert Tip
There are two types of valves on road bike tires: Schrader and Presta. When purchasing tires and inner tubes, be sure that the valves fit through the rim properly. Schrader valves, for example, are usually too wide to fit through a rim hole made for a Presta valve.
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Tips

  • Foldable bike tires use Kevlar bead rather than a stiff wire bead to allow the tire to flex so it can be folded. These tires are somewhat lighter than tires with wire bead.

  • When replacing a clinch tire, it’s a good idea to replace the inner tube at the same time.

  • Can’t find the tire size on the sidewalls or the rims? Go to the bicycle manufacturer’s website and look up your bike model for its tire specs.

  • Most road bike tires should last at least 500 miles before needing to be replaced. Some hybrid tires last well over 1,000 miles, which is considered a very good lifespan.

  • Sometimes a clinch tire or inner tube doesn’t quite fit, even if the tire and tube are the right size. Try inflating the inner tube about halfway before pressing it into the tire. Mount them onto the rim together and then fully inflate the tube. This should help set the tire properly against the rim.

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Front and rear tire sets are often available for road bikes, making replacement much simpler.

Tips

Q. Can I use a tubeless tire on my commuter bike? Is it worth the price?

A. Tubeless tires are more often used by road racers and triathletes, but they have attractive advantages for commuters. For one, they don’t succumb to pinch flats. Ride quality is improved, as is overall comfort, because tubeless tires can roll along at a lower tire pressure, reducing those spine-jarring jolts over bumpy surfaces. On the negative side, tubeless tires are much pricier than clinch tires, trickier to install (even with an adapter kit), and can be more difficult to patch or repair.

Q. My road bike has wide tires. Can I replace them with narrower tires?

A. In most cases, yes, but be aware that you might have to purchase new rims if you’re dropping to a significantly narrower width. It’s a good idea to purchase tires that have the same width as the ones you’re replacing, or as close to the same as possible. Once the new tires are mounted and trued, make sure your brakes are adjusted to contact the rims correctly.