The 10 most popular clincher and tubeless tires (Part 1)

As the only point of contact between the rider and the road, tires are one of the most important components of a bike. However, as road bike tires often look very similar, it’s not always easy to distinguish between good and bad tires. Upgrading your bike’s stock tires to better ones can transform your riding experience. The good news is that getting the best road bike tires doesn’t have to cost much compared to other bike parts. Each tire on this list retails for around £70 or less and can often be purchased at a discount. As a component that significantly impacts how a bike rides, this is a relatively cheap upgrade for your road bike. We’ve also included a guide at the end of our next article explaining everything you need to know about road bike tires, so stay tuned for more.
This column brings you the best tires for racing, training, and other purposes, as well as a tire selection guide

The best road bike tires in 2024 (for your reference)

 

Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Continental GP5000 S TR is an excellent tubeless road tire.
Price: £69.95 / $98.95 / €79.90 / ¥500 (700x28c, for reference only, the same below)
Type: Tubeless tire
Color options: Black or "clear" tan
Size and width options: 700x25c, 700x28c, 700x30c and 700x32c
Size tested: 700x28c
Weight: 280g
TPI: 220
Conclusion: The benchmark for road tubeless tires for all fast-riding Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR is the German brand's previous road tubeless tire GP5000 TL In short, it's a fast, grippy, and lightweight tubeless tire. It's also compatible with hookless rims - a first for Conti's road tubeless tires - and is tough enough for Paris-Roubaix, with the tire being launched after Sonny Colbrelli's win at the 2021 Paris-Roubaix. It's available in a variety of sizes, including 25mm, 28mm, 30mm, and 32mm.

Schwalbe Pro One TLE

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a high-performance tire for racing and fast road riding.
Price: £69 / $79 / €78 / AU$117 (tested) / ¥370
Type: Tubeless (tested) or Clincher
Colour options: Black or ‘clear’ tan
Size and width options: 700x25c, 700x28c, 700x30c and 700x32c
Size tested: 700x28c
Weight: 267g
TPI: 127
Verdict: Fast-rolling and easy-to-set-up tubeless Schwalbe was one of the first tire companies to adopt road tubeless technology, and this is reflected in its simple installation and compatibility with the latest hookless rims. The Pro One is supple and grippy on wet or dry bends but still feels fast thanks to its low rolling resistance. Schwalbe recommends not inflating the tire beyond 80psi, but the tire is also stable at lower pressures – we tested it down to 55psi without issue. There’s a 14mm puncture protection band, although this didn’t stop us from getting punctures when riding on dirt roads. We tested the TLE tubeless tire, but Schwalbe also offers the Pro One Tube Type for use with tubes.

WTB Exposure

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bontrager R3 HARD case Lite TLR

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The heart of the R3 is its directional 120 TPI casing, topped off with TR-Speed ​​62a durometer rubber.
Price: £50 / $60 / €59 / AU$87 (tested) / ¥368
Type: Tubeless Ready
Colour options: Black or Tan
Size and width options: 700x25c, 700x28c, 700x32c
Size tested: 700x32c
Weight: 310g
TPI: 120
Verdict: Lightweight, flexible tire with decent durability After much experimentation with widths, tread patterns, rubber compounds, and puncture protection strips, Bontrager has hit the mark. Our 32mm test sample weighed well under the claimed 340g, coming in at just 310g (lighter than some 28mm tires). They’re claimed to have 7% lower rolling resistance than previous versions, and we have no doubt they’ll be great on the road. Tubeless setup was no problem either. While Bontrager only offered the 32mm tubeless-ready size at the time of testing, there are now 25mm and 28mm options too, so everyone is covered.

 

Pirelli P Zero Race TLR

Pirelli’s new ‘Speedcore’ P Zero Race TLR is on par with the best tires.
Price: £78.99 / $99.90 / €84.90 / AU$139.90 (tested) / ¥685
Type: Tubeless (tested) or Clincher
Color options: Black (with grey, white, yellow, or red logo) or classic tan
Size and width options: 700x26c, 700x28c, 700x30c, 700x32c, 700x35c and 700x40c
Size tested: 700x28c
Weight: 310g
TPI: 120
Verdict: A compelling combination of speed and ride quality Pirelli’s P Zero Race TLR was already one of our favorites, but the Speedcore update (released in spring 2023) takes its performance to even higher levels. The P Zero Race TLR performed best in our recent rolling resistance lab test and backed up its speed with excellent real-world performance, good riding feel, and easy tubeless installation. It's slightly smaller than expected on our test rims, and it's not the lightest tire in its class, but it's impressive in other ways.

This issue of Superteam introduces 5 wheels for you, and please follow us for the remaining five! TIPS: The right tires are more cost-effective when paired with superteam wheels! Finally, I hope all those who love cycling will reap your happiness on the journey~