Clincher Racing Tire Selection

I’ve recently been doing some research to support my next racing tire purchase. I’ve run out of miles on my 2 year old Continental Grand Prix Supersonics. Unfortunately they stopped making the 20mm in the 650c, so I’ve got to find my next best option.

I posted the question to the Roadbikereview forum and had both the Michelin Pro2 Race and the Tufo Jet Elite (which is a tubular that fits on a clincher rim). Both came in 23mm 650c, the same that Continental now offers with the Supersonics.

So I found myself trying to balance between weight, puncture resistance, rolling resistance, max PSI, aerodymics, etc. Here is a link to an article that was useful in this process: link

I ended up going with the Supersonics for the following reasons:
– they have worked well for me in the past
– none of these are known for longevity, so I will only be using them during races
– race courses tend to be ‘cleaner’ and I won’t have to worry as much about road debris
– the only significant downside to these tires when compared to the other tires is puncture resistance; in all other categories, I believe these to be better tires

One of these years I’ll probably make the leap to the tubulars, but I’m not ready just yet.

Anyway, thought I would share.

Follow my Ironman Journey Blog here: Ironman 2007 and feel free to post comments / advise.