Pirelli

For some reason, the "classic" tan wall of these tires were much, much harder to mount on my Roval wheels than the same exact tire I bought last year that was in a different color (black). Makes no sense to me either.

Black tires, mounted both in 45 minutes. These classic tan wall tires? Took me a day and a half. Not joking.

But the tires are excellent once mounted, extremely durable and puncture proof and the rolling resistance is right up there with the very best I've used in that regard (GP5000).

I commute at not great hours of the day, in all sorts of weather. One thing I don't need to deal with is a flat. I usually use the Cinturato Velo, which is one of the worst feeling tires I've ridden, but in terms of what I need it to do, it's awesome. But, I was wondering if I needed to go that nuts on a tire.

This all season tire seems to be a good balance between a performance tire, and a bombproof tire. I can also tell you, it's super easy to mount, did it with my fingers, but of note I can get a GP5K S TR on with my hands. The Cinturato though, that thing is impossible, and what I always worried about is at 4am, in the dark, in the cold, that it flats on me, and I can't get the tire plugged, and then can't get it off the rim easily out in the field.

This seems to be more day to day usable, which I do like. It rolls faster too than the Cinturato, that thing is SLOW. The 4S tire is also pretty comfy, not GP5K comfy, nor GP5K fast, but I wreck those tires on day to day miles, not worth it.

Admittedly, coming from the Pirelli M45 - the RC45 should be faster. But, I didn't realize how much faster a "fast" tire is. So then the testing was on...Ramblers, Terreno Dry, M, and the Conti RK have all been "tested" on my varied gravel test loop. RC's beat them all handily. I will admit the Dry's felt amazing - a compliance I absolutely loved, but it definitely scrubbed speed. So it comes down to this - if you have a bike and geometry that allows you to "get away with" a speed tire, try the RC's. If you are tentative in the gnar/chunk or have a bike that is not all that stable, be safe and ride a grippier tire.

I recently bought 4 Continental Grand Prix 5000 tires with 6 Pirelli P Zero TPU tubes and I wish I made the switch sooner. Put them on your bike - I'm sure you'll be impressed.

I've been riding bikes since the 1970s and got into cycle racing in 2005 in the Salt Lake City area. (We left Utah because of the crazy shutdowns, even though I love riding up the mountains there)

These Pirelli tubes make riding noticeably more comfortable on the rough roads in the Safford Arizona area. I think it's the single best performance upgrade I've made in 20 years.