Ok, this isn’t a full review as I’ve got barely 10 miles on these tires, but I’ll write what I know and will update this later as I form a stronger opinion.
Before I begin there are some caveats that may completely invalidate my opinion.
- These are the first set of 700c/23mm tires I’ve used.
- These are the first set of folding road tires that I’ve used.
- Price Reasonably priced at $16.95 each from http://biketiresdirect.com
- Looks I got red tread thinking I’d use them on my commuter, but they ended up on my green LeMond. The red is actually a slight orange, which happens to match the red accent on Bontrager parts. My color scheme looks a bit cyclocross-ish, but I think I’m liking it for now.
- Installation - This is a tough tire to mount. I’m not sure if that’s due to it being a folding tire, or 23mm, or something particular to this model. After one bead is seated in the rim, it’s nearly impossible to rotate the tire on the rim. If you practice the fine art of aligning the tire label with your valve stem, you’ll have to plan ahead before you mount it. Early this morning I also learned that folding clincher tires are much more susceptible to pinch flats
- Ride quality - A much rougher ride than the 25mm Bontrager Race tires that came stock on my bike. I’ll blame the tire size for this though.
- Speed – I went down Lea Hill as normal this morning. The rolling resistance is much less than my previous tires, as my top speed was a few mph higher than normal. This isn’t scientific, but I do descend down this hill each day and am pretty consistent about my route.
- Handling - These tires are almost tacky, but I think I like it. I didn’t push the fast turns harder than normal as I didn’t want to risk being surprised, but they seemed to hold their line very tightly. With a little practice, these should let me dig into big corners a bit harder.
I primarily purchased these as a spare set of utility tires. The price was right, they’re made from a very reputable company and I wanted something faster. Eventually I may splurge and try out some Gran Prix 4000, or Pro 2 Race. Those would be a much better side by side comparison with the Ultra Sport.
