Point me to some. The first two event of 2010 are on tyre & wheel eating circuits. The races are only short and I wouldn't want to tear up any of my good stuff.
Ideal would be;
Sub 250g
24/25mm
File tread.
Sub £25
Then ideal for training duties.

continental ultra gator?

If you can find GP4000's anywhere in your price bracket I'd say buy them.

http://www.shinybikes.com/product.php?productid=17138

Although those are folding tyres which personally I'd steer clear of.

25mm as well.

Michelin Krylion.£20 each on CRC.They have 25mm in stock too.

@samuri

Out of interest, why not folders?

dont get anything michelin theyre rubbish with no grip at all.

Either conti GP400's worth splashing the extra cash
or
Schwalbe Stelvios.again nopt cheap but mucking around with cheap tyres is miserable.

+1 to Conti GP4000s. Excellent tyres.

conti ultra race, not quite as grippy as the gp4000 though. I'm riding them to work at the moment as I cant get the GP4season 28c tires onto the rims!

Atrocious on roundabouts though, although nothing wil grip on the gritty, slimy, diesel film that coveres Berkshires roads at the moment.
£16 for the steel, £20 for the folding version.

But GP4000's realy are very good if you can find them cheep, I've had a few sets, bought in the sales, or used once, or bragian bins with no packageing etc etc. Tires although they probably make the biggest difference to a bike, I'm lothed to pay full wack for them so usualy buy them well in advance whenevery I see them cheep.

Can't think of any reason not to use folding tyres, and have done so for many years, sold hundreds without problem etc…

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp – very under rated, nice and fast

Vredesteins always feel good – probably all in the mind!

Friends use the Fortezzas as winter tyres and rave about them (I'm on Pavés, but they'll be too pricey for your intended use).

Have a look at P-X – I'm sure they are doing GP 4000 cheap, though I may have imagined that.

Also, have a look at the ebay shop Highonbikes – often have decent tyres at a reasonable price.

Ive just got some conti grand prixs, not the GP4000s, the normal ones (£20 for the non-folding version on CRC), 24mm and have been very impressed with them so far.

Ah, yes, Pave – need to order some in time for Easter near Gent.

@ cynic-al aP & ourmaninthenorth.

I use Tri comps really good tyre, and pavés.
I know the roads very well that'll I'll be racing on, massive pot holes, gravel, cow poo and grass growing up the middle.

Think I'll go for cheaper Vitorias and take them off a bit later on.

I'm a bit new to the world of road tyres so can someone answer a couple of basic questions for me:

1) Why file tread? Surely all this achieves is lessening the amount of rubber in contact with the road?

2) Do latex tubes offer any advantage, I kind of imagine them being a little like tubeless on a mountainbike, but with a weight saving.

For what its worth I'm running the Schwalbe Ultremo Rs which I got sort of cheap. I really like them but apparently they're not supposed to be very grippy. I must be doing something wrong…

Good questions for a newbie

1) Why file tread? Surely all this achieves is lessening the amount of rubber in contact with the road?

Tradition, and marketing. That and the fact it doesn't actually make any significant difference to the amount of rubber on the road, so it's not a big disadvantage.

2) Do latex tubes offer any advantage, I kind of imagine them being a little like tubeless on a mountainbike, but with a weight saving.

Yes they do – less rolling resistance, and they are supposedly a bit more puncture resistant. Not really anything like tubeless on an MTB though. Against that you have to weigh increased air loss which means you'll be pumping them up every day, and by my reckoning if you pump your tyres up to optimum pressure at the start, by the end of a 100 mile sportive the latex tubes will actually result in more rolling resistance due to pressure decrease.

the vredsteins are marvelous…handmade also which i think does make a difference.ive been riding all winter on fiamante duo comps and not had a puncture…very grippy and hard wearing….
simples….

tread and siping is there to appease the feeble minds who think they will give them more grip.
the road surface is rougher than the tire. the rubber compound and the carcasses ability to deform will mean more grip. the high tpi used in the carcass will improve grip (higer tpi=more expensive)
road bike tyres do not aquaplane. tests have been done and you need to speeds of about 70-90mph to get aquaplaning where siping would be useful to move the water.

gp4000s. has to be the 's' version as this has the black chili rubber. there is a gp700 with black chili this may be a cheaper alternative.

the vredsteins are marvelous…handmade also

You think so? How exactly do you "handmake" a clincher tyre?

@13thfloormonk

File tread is just a personal choice, I found that slicks skidded in the wet a little too easy, both cornering and in the bunch.
I also find that file tread tyres don't cut up as much.
There's no scientific reasoning for the above, just based on donkeys years of experience.
I just use normal Conti tubes.
People comment on weight in wheels and tyres, but in reality you need something that'll take some punishment, if youre racing nose to tail, elbow to elbow you'll end up battering your bike and wheels, and without team sponsorship and back up or lots of cash I think it's sensible to draw some lines.
If I was doing sportives or TTs then I'd go light.
Not tried Schwalbe road tyres so can't comment. Then I can't stand Michelin Pro Races and they are great tyres, but I do look for rough circuits. I'm just about to post about that.

File tread is just a personal choice, I found that slicks skidded in the wet a little too easy, both cornering and in the bunch.

It seems you realise this goes against scientific fact, and I'm obviously not going to change your mind, but you don't think it might have been something to do with the rubber compound of the tyres you were using rather than the tread pattern?

Personally I still remember in the TdF back in ~97 watching a mountain stage finish after a descent in the wet. Most of the front group fell off on a bend – the winner stayed upright. He was using Michelin clinchers (where most others were on tubs) which were definitely slick. Stays in the memory as I bought some of those tyres for my new bike 😉

I've found some folding tyres (and you'll never know until you've bought it), extremely difficult to get on the rim. Not because they're too tight and you need to work hard to get it over the rim, I can do butch nicely thank you, but because they're so floppy you need 4 people to hold the tyre onto the rim at 8 seperate places so you can chase the bead round.

*especially* with continental folders.

edit: And as far as tread goes, I agree with some of those above. Tread on a road tyre is completely pointless. All car tyres would be slicks if we didn't sometimes have wet roads. The tread is purely for getting rid of water, not something you need to worry about on a 25mm wide tyre.

sorry called the importer and your right they used to be handmade,now theyre all made in the far east.except the tubs are still handstitched! 😉

latex tubes are a PITA with ahving to pumpo them up every day.

I use continental supersonic tubes, shop arround and you can get them cheep(ish) arround £4 a tube isnt bad. As light as latex, but doesnt loose air.

Standard Conti tubes in the everyday wheels.

Cheep tubes in the touring/comuter wheels.

Although I comutted on GP4000's and 50g tubes for 3 months without a single puncture.

Michelin krylion from CRC. Excellent combination of speed, durability and cost.

Ah, yes, Pave – need to order some in time for Easter near Gent.

Got my set ready and waiting.

See you in Brugge at stupid-early-o'clock… 😉

Slightly OT question…

I put some folding Conti Ultra Gatorskins on a Boardman road bike (Ritchey rims) and found them horrendously difficult to get on the rim. In the end I had to use tyre levers, and wrecked a tube.

Am I being a weakling, or is this just because some tyre/rim combos are tough?!

Technique.

Some combos are a PITA. Avoid thick plastic rim tape as it can stop the tyre seating in properly.

I must have very, very bad technique then! I am glad I got robust tyres, because when I get a puncture i'm going to be screwed.

Thanks for the answers.

I'm an occasional solo long distancer really, so the bike and the tyres lead a relatively easy life.

However if latex tubes deflate noticeably over 100 miles then I'll stick to normal tubes, although I think I'll be giving the black chilli contis a go next, if its anything as good as their black chilli mtb treads…

Well, there's always one. The sidewall split on my GP4000 with less than 50 miles on it. I won't buy again. Maybe not a tyre for the 'larger' rider.

daveh
GP4000s are great tyres but I wouldn't use them. Like all kit we talk about on here you'll get mahoosive differences of opinion. Pretty well everything these days is good, or good enough.
A split sidewall on a 4000 is odd I can assure you, with plenty of pressure they shouldn't go.

I must have very, very bad technique then! I am glad I got robust tyres, because when I get a puncture i'm going to be screwed.

Gatorskins were near-impossible to get on and off my wheels. Also the sidewalls gashed on both of them after less than a season, so i wouldn't be too sure.

Chaps how on earth are you gashing road tyre sidewalls? Surely they don't come into contact with anything apart from a misaligned caliper.

I'd check what I said about heavy duty rim tape. It can take up too much space in the rim.
Point in case. I tried to put some 38c Landcruisers on Campag rims, now these should almost fall on. However they were flippin hard to get on, so I swapped the PVC rim tape for some cloth type and they went on a treat.

However if latex tubes deflate noticeably over 100 miles then I'll stick to normal tubes

Depends what you mean by "noticeable". I'd be surprised if you could tell the difference in the handling, but it will make a difference to the rolling resistance – not enough to actually feel, but then you can't feel the difference to rolling resistance latex vs butyl tubes make. I've done a few rides that sort of length on my TT bike with latex tubed tubs, and it's not a problem – just one of my favourite things to point out to people who say that latex tubes are an advantage for sportives because of the lower RR.

with plenty of pressure they shouldn't go

100psi is my preferred year round pressure, surely that's plenty.