Decent tyres will set you back a few quid, but as the only contact point between you and the road it is an integral part of your bike set-up – and should never be just an afterthought.
At the end of the day, crap tyres are crap tyres. Some people like to say life’s too short to ride sh*t bikes. That’s right. But life’s definitely too short to spend time in the hospital after bailing out on a corner because your tyres don’t grip well enough.
Challenge’s Paris-Roubaix Open Tubular tyres cost north of £50, but you get plenty of bang for your buck. And plenty of width too, for that matter. If you want to follow the trend for wider rubber, Challenge only offer the Paris-Roubaix in 27mm. They’re big, they’re chunky and they have a 300tpi casing meaning they’re surprisingly supple for something so substantial.
Italian brand Challenge have earned a reputation as a manufacturer of quality tyres across the spectrum and the ‘open tubulars’ here are actually clinchers. They’re an open version of Challenge’s eponymous tubulars, in fact, and weigh in at 325g. They’re not light, but then you wouldn’t buy these if you want to fly up climbs.
