Maxxis Overdrive

Price Paid:  $45.00 at eBay

Favorite Ride:
Chicago streets

Bike Setup:
2000 Cannondale H400 outfitted for commuting: fenders, rack, lights, 24sp (triple front, 8-speed rear), custom wheelset featuring Velocity Dyad rims and Shimano hubs (LX front, XT rear), anti-theft skewers

Summary:
I bought these tires as an inexpensive alternative to the Continental CityContact and Schwalbe Marathon Plus - both commuter and touring tires with mild tread, reflective sidewalls and Kevlar belts. I only ride on pavement, so I wasn't concerned with off-road performance.

Strengths:
Smooth, quiet ride. Reasonably good puncture protection. Reflective sidewalls are more effective than wheel reflectors at making you visible at night.

Weaknesses:
Only 700c size is 700x35c, but the ETRTO size of 622-37 indicates that they're actually a little wider. That can be problematic if your bike has fenders, as mine does. Narrow grooves in tread tend to pick up debris like glass shards, which eventually work their way through the Kevlar belt and cause flats.

Similar Products Used:
Continental CityContact and Panaracer Pasela TG

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Price Paid:  $35.00 at HBC

Bike Setup:
Soma Double Cross, my urban assualt machine.

Summary:
This is an excellent city tire. I have hundreds of miles on these and have yet to flat with them. The one thing that really suprised me is it actually corners really well on pavement. Very little wear on them so far. I have taken them on pretty much all types of terain and it does pretty good on all, except mud though I wouldn't really expect it to. This product 100% lived up to what I was expecting out of a city tire. Not the fastest rolling tire but what would you expect on 700x38 but I only seem to lose a 1-2 mph at cruising speed.

Strengths:
Durability, puncture protection, great city tire.

Weaknesses:
Emailed Maxxis twice with question never got a response so lame customer service.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
MTB HT (commuting & trails), Mavic CrossRide, Avid BB7 (185+160mm).

Summary:
(26x1.75 Over Drive @ 3.4bar) The Kevlar belt really works in stopping road rubbish. Got home with a 5mm piece of metal stuck just off centre in one of the grooves. It was well 1-2mm in the tire. Pulled it out. NO Puncture!

Strengths:
Light, grippy for street use.

Weaknesses:
Tires take time to 'stretch' & seat properly when new. Need to re-fit them a few times.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
2003 Gary Fisher Tassajara
Mostly stock, but with clip-less pedals and Maxxis Overdrive tires

Summary:
This is a solid city/touring and light-duty off-road tire. I've ridden these tires about 200km so far, I've been very pleased with them overall. I bought these tires as a replacement for the IRC Mythos tires that came on my mountain bike (excellent general purpose off-road tires, by the way), since I currently ride approximately 75% road and 25% off-road. My road riding is largely done within the city, with all of the attendant hazards (broken bottles, uneven sidewalks, potholes, etc.), and my off-road riding is done in large parks/forested areas with hardpacked dirt, treeroots, some sandy and muddy spots, and some modest hills. I was looking for a durable tire that would perform well on the road, and at least reasonably well in light-duty, off-road applications, and this tire fits the bill fairly well. If I could make one improvement on this tire, it would be to add somewhat deeper tread at the edges of the tire, in order to increase cornering traction off-road.

Strengths:
These tires are very durable, not too heavy, and perform quite well on the road. Their internal kevlar belt seems to do a great job of preventing punctures, as I've ridden through numerous patches of broken glass with no flats. Their light tread pattern holds the ground fairly well in light-duty, off-road trail conditions, including some modest hill climbing and descending on hardpack. They ride through light to moderate mud fairly well, if you keep the bike in a low gear under steady pedaling, but will slip if you apply too much power.

Weaknesses:
They do not provide a great deal of braking traction going down hills on hardpacked dirt. They have a habit of getting "stuck" in sand. They do NOT provide good cornering traction off-road (don't even try to turn at the bottom of a dirt hill... you'll regret it).

Similar Products Used:
IRC Mythos XC; dedicated road tires on my road bike