[Cpk]

Having had all three tires, the Michelin Krylions, Continental GP4000s and Schwalbe Duranos, on my bike in the last 3 weeks, here are my impressions.

The 4000's and the Krylions are very close in how they roll with the nod going to the Krylions by just a hair but I think the 4000's are a touch comfier. Haven't rode the 4000s in the rain but the Krylions where pretty stable. At high speeds both the Krylions and the 4000s feel very nice and stable again with the nod going to the Krylions by just a hair but it is very close. I ran the Krylions at 105f/115r and have run the 4000s at that and 110f/120r and I think I will be staying with the latter for the 4000s as they felt a bit better then when at the lower pressure.

My gripe with the Krylions is that the rear squared off pretty quickly, at around 500-600 miles, maybe that is typical but I thought it was a bit quick and it also showed what I can only describe as what happens to rubber when exposed/aged be the sun. It gets cracked and that was what was happening on the sidewalls and again the rear seemed to be worse then the front. Perhaps they were laying around a bit before the shop were I bought my bike put them on but I don't think that tire is a very long running model so I don't 'think' I should have been seeing the 'sun-aged' cracking effect.

The Schwalbe Durano's are just 'ok' in comparison to the other two. They are supposed to be a very long lasting tire but they will not be on my bike for the length of time necessary to verify that. I ran them at 105f/115r and they felt really sluggish. BTW the Duranos and the Krylions are supposed to be the same weight with the 4000s coming in a good 25-30g lighter. I ran them at intervals up to 120f/130r and they did roll better at the higher pressures but still not as good as either the Krylions or the 4000s. My biggest issue with the Duranos was they were squirrelly esp. at higher speeds but in general they were much less confidence inspiring. Bombing a downhill with the Krylions on was grin inducing, with the Duranos it was a bit scary.

I have to give a very slight performance edge to the Krylions only time will tell how durable they are for me. At some point I plan on giving the Prorace3's a try and the Vittoria Open Corsa's.


:thumbsup:

 

[Kerry Irons]

Stopwatch?

The 4000's and the Krylions are very close in how they roll with the nod going to the Krylions by just a hair but I think the 4000's are a touch comfier. Haven't rode the 4000s in the rain but the Krylions where pretty stable. At high speeds both the Krylions and the 4000s feel very nice and stable again with the nod going to the Krylions by just a hair but it is very close. I ran the Krylions at 105f/115r and have run the 4000s at that and 110f/120r and I think I will be staying with the latter for the 4000s as they felt a bit better then when at the lower pressure.

Given that actual testing has shown that riders cannot tell how fast a tire is by feel, we'll need some stopwatch results to confirm your claims

 

[Cpk]

nope, this was purely subjective, so of course your mileage my vary ;-)

 

[framesti]

How long is break-in for this tire? In my limited experience it didnt have much grip. It grips/rides like plastic and it feels like plastic

 

[acid_rider]

re krylion tyre square-off on rear tyre after 600 miles. Normal. Dont worry, they will last longer than GP4000 in general, I have been through about 3 sets of each, so far. Krylion will last well over 10,000km on the rear, IME, perhaps even close to 15,000km. Front will last much longer than rear. Or you can rotate, put brand new tyre on front and the old-front tyre on rear.
You did not say anything about your own weight but unless you weigh a lot (>90kg) I would say you may be over-pumping both GP4000 and Krylion tyres.
I weigh 155# (72kg) and ride my front krylion (and GP4000 btw) at 90psi and rear at 100-103psi (=7 bar) for best comfort/performance mix. No issues on either GP4000 or Krylion at that pressure. This is for 23mm tyre width, btw. I even tried 90psi on 23mm rear tyre for a month and never had a problem but the rear did feel a little squishy at 90psi so I went up 100psi again. You did not say how wide your tyres are, so I assume its most common 23mm width also. At 25mm width you can safely drop another 10psi from front and rear.

 

[Cpk]

I am 162 lbs and a hair under 5'10". When I had the Krylions I played with pressure starting at 90f/100r and then rode at varying pressure, changing by 5 lbs increments and ended up liking 105f/115r the best. To me the lower pressures felt 'bouncy' and not as precise handling. This, of course is just my impression and I am sure that other factors, like saddle, which changed a few times from the krylions till the GP4000s's and saddle position could have played into it. For the gp4000s I tired the 105f/115r and ended up running at 110f/120r and like the ride a lot. At some point I will probably give the Prorace3's a spin but for now I need to curtail unnecessary bike expenditures.

 

[acid_rider]

FWIW

here is a recent quote from http://www.roadbikerider.com/

Pro insight: In a recent tweet, Team RadioShack's Levi Leipheimer told a questioner, "Depends on tire rating and rider weight, but I like 100/front 105/rear." He's talking about tire inflation pressure for training rides. Levi is a light guy and uses much less than the 120 psi (or more) "maximum recommended pressure" stamped on the sidewalls of most road tires. "Maximum" means don't exceed this pressure, not inflate to this pressure. In fact, for many of us riding on 700x23 or 25 clinchers, 90-95 psi front and 95-100 rear will produce the most comfortable and efficient ride. Experiment, of course, to see what works best for your weight and road conditions. But unless you are a Clydesdale at risk for pinch flats, optimum pressure will be way short of 120 psi. Testing behind this recommendation can be found in the RBR eBookstore -- All About Tire Inflation, an eArticle by Frank Berto.

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There was also an item on cyclingnews.com from Cervelo Test team (early this year) who are also saying that there is a major tendency to over-inflate tyres. Plus they are starting to use 24mm and 25mm width tyres for racing, instead of 22-23mm.