Giant P-SL1 tyres - worth keeping or upgrade?

[Mububban]

Hi guys

I'm paying off a new Giant Contend that comes with stock "Giant P-SL 1, Front and Rear Specific, 700x25, Folding" tyres. I'll be riding my bike on solo weekend rides and commuting (13km each way). Bike paths near me are bumpy and roads are average, not excellent and not horrible either. I'll never race nor likely do over 50km on a single ride, although one of those week long cycle touring holidays is on the bucket list.

I'm considering upgrading straight away to something rated for puncture protection, but has anyone got any feedback on the stock P-SL1 tyres?

Thanks

[Derny Driver]

I'm considering upgrading straight away to something rated for puncture protection, but has anyone got any feedback on the stock P-SL1 tyres?
Thanks

That would be a downgrade If you're throwing away the PSLRs can I have them?

Why not just ride them until they wear out before putting on some nasty hard slippery gatorskins or whatever?

http://road.cc/content/review/62843-giant-p-slr1-tyre

[Velt]

I can't tell you what to do but I found continental gp 4000's to be a noticible upgrade

[Mububban]

I'm considering upgrading straight away to something rated for puncture protection, but has anyone got any feedback on the stock P-SL1 tyres?
Thanks

That would be a downgrade If you're throwing away the PSLRs can I have them?

Why not just ride them until they wear out before putting on some nasty hard slippery gatorskins or whatever?

http://road.cc/content/review/62843-giant-p-slr1-tyre

Is there a difference between the P-SL1 listed on my bike, and the P-SLR1?

[Duck!]

The SLRs have a softer, grippier racing-oriented compound and a lighter casing. Faster, but less durable. The SLs are reasonable tyres; not fantastic, but not horrendous either. The early versions were a bit ordinary, but the current generation have improved. Ride them until they die, then replace with something that best suits your needs.

Why not just ride them until they wear out before putting on some nasty hard slippery gatorskins or whatever?

Gators are one of the more rideable tyres in that sector. Yes they're harder and less grippy than supple race tyres, but they're considerably more compliant than most other durable offerings (I'm probably supposed to say nice things about Schwalbe because the shop I'm in sells them, but I just can't). You just don't want your first ride on them to be in the wet! Some combination of the tread compound and moulding release agent residue does make them a bit slipperier than others when very new, but they scrub in over a few rides. I've done many thousands of km on Gators, and can't recall the last time I had a puncture.

[Derny Driver]

I know you're a Gatorskin fan Duck. Revving you up

[Mububban]

The SLRs have a softer, grippier racing-oriented compound and a lighter casing. Faster, but less durable. The SLs are reasonable tyres; not fantastic, but not horrendous either. The early versions were a bit ordinary, but the current generation have improved. Ride them until they die, then replace with something that best suits your needs.

Why not just ride them until they wear out before putting on some nasty hard slippery gatorskins or whatever?

Gators are one of the more rideable tyres in that sector. Yes they're harder and less grippy than supple race tyres, but they're considerably more compliant than most other durable offerings (I'm probably supposed to say nice things about Schwalbe because the shop I'm in sells them, but I just can't). You just don't want your first ride on them to be in the wet! Some combination of the tread compound and moulding release agent residue does make them a bit slipperier than others when very new, but they scrub in over a few rides. I've done many thousands of km on Gators, and can't recall the last time I had a puncture.

Thanks Duck, I'll give the stock tyres a go and cross my fingers. And Gatorskins seem to get a lot of votes.

Last question then - folding vs wire bead for the (eventual) next set of tyres? Wire is heavier but has stronger sidewalls from what I've read?

[Duck!]

No effect on sidewall strength, but wirebead does make the tyres slightly stiffer.

[lunar_c]

GP4000 II's and lightweight tubes transformed my Defy 1 .. And then lopping 300g off the wheelset made it a really decent training bike.

The SL's are okay but definitely feel sluggish.

[hamishm]

My Giant TCR Advanced came with these tyres. I had to brake reasonably hard while descending once and slid along the road quite nicely. So now I use these tyres on my trainer. I never had anything like it with years of riding on GP4000, GP4000s and GP4000s II.

Throw the Giants as far and as quickly as possible...

[Arlberg]

I'm probably supposed to say nice things about Schwalbe because the shop I'm in sells them, but I just can't).

What don't you like about Schwalbe tires? I'm thinking of the Schwalbe One clincher in particular which generally seems to get very good reviews.

[Duck!]

Sidewalls are consistently fragile and prone to splitting, "grip" on the heavier duty tyres makes Gatorskins feel like sticky race tyres, and they're frigging expensive.

[bychosis]

If you are worried about punctures $20ish for a set of tyre liners could help, and then you can run any tyre you like with having to look for puncture protected ones. I haven't had a puncture since fitting some Mr Tuffy liners in two bikes.

[ironhanglider]

If you are worried about punctures $20ish for a set of tyre liners could help, and then you can run any tyre you like with having to look for puncture protected ones. I haven't had a puncture since fitting some Mr Tuffy liners in two bikes.

Isn't that odd. I fitted tyre liners and got punctures from the liners!

Cheers,

Cameron

[bychosis]

If you are worried about punctures $20ish for a set of tyre liners could help, and then you can run any tyre you like with having to look for puncture protected ones. I haven't had a puncture since fitting some Mr Tuffy liners in two bikes.

Isn't that odd. I fitted tyre liners and got punctures from the liners!

Cheers,

Cameron

I have been told that sometimes where the tyre liners overlap you can get a wear point and cause an issue. I was told this while repairing a flat in a tube from one of my lined tyres, the hole wasn't in the linered area, was rim tape related. Part of my commute is along a steel fibre reinforced concrete pathway and prior to instally Mr Tuffys I was getting about one puncture per week from the metal fibres in the path. Since installing the liners a couple of years ago I haven't had a puncture from the fibres, but have pulled plenty of fibres from the tyres.

[Bourney]

My Defy came with PSL-1's and I've gotten 2,500km out of them so far with no punctures or issues (watch me put a jinx on myself now)

Granted I much prefer GP 4000's, but I figure I might as well get some use out of these, rather than throwing money to the wind straight away.

I do agree that in the wet they can get a bit slidey, but I wouldn't say it's horrendous.. then again I don't push that hard in the wet.

[Mububban]

I've only done 300km on the road bike so far but I've gone through some broken glass, the usual gutter/kerb cr@p and I went over something yesterday that I didn't see with both tyres that made a loud disconcerting *crunch POP* sound. Both tyres survived though and so far, no grip problems or braking slides (I have a couple of downhill braking zones leading up to traffic lights and a roundabout).

[Mububban]

Copped my first puncture today, with a ~15mm nail burying itself into my rear wheel. I feel like any tyre would have been undone by that!

[Mububban]

My Giant TCR Advanced came with these tyres. I had to brake reasonably hard while descending once and slid along the road quite nicely. So now I use these tyres on my trainer. I never had anything like it with years of riding on GP4000, GP4000s and GP4000s II.

Throw the Giants as far and as quickly as possible...

So, I just experienced this today. Coming downhill approaching a roundabout, a car turned without signalling rather than continuing on straight, and I had to jam the brakes on harder as I was only gently braking. The back locked up and slid, I wasn't going to stop in time and had to power on through before they turned. And that was in the dry.

Partly me not being cautious enough approaching the roundabout, but that was a mild pucker moment.

[chriso_29er]

I have now done 2500km on the SL1 23c that came on my new TCR. Lots of wet rides over winter including mountain decents. Seem fine to me. Not sure of this sliding thing, in the dry my bike will endo if I pull the brake hard enough!

[Duck!]

So, I just experienced this today. Coming downhill approaching a roundabout, a car turned without signalling rather than continuing on straight, and I had to jam the brakes on harder as I was only gently braking. The back locked up and slid, I wasn't going to stop in time and had to power on through before they turned. And that was in the dry.

Partly me not being cautious enough approaching the roundabout, but that was a mild pucker moment.

Any tyre will do that in those circumstances; rear brakes are extremely ineffective in emergency situations (and barely effective at the best of times).

[Thoglette]

If you are worried about punctures

...stop worrying.

They'd have happened by now. Relax and enjoy the supple options.

[Thoglette]

The back locked up and slid,

Derney Driver will be rolling his eyes at this point ("young folk of today" and all that)

If you're stopping HARD the back brake is not doing anything at all. (It's called a "stoppie" when you get the back wheel off the ground - and yes, normal bicycles can and will do this)

[Mububban]

Copped my second puncture in 500km, this time a front puncture this morning, didn't notice it until I checked my bike on my lunch break. The tube had a small hole but I checked the tyre and couldn't find anything. A thorn perhaps?

I also found the P-SL1 tyre to be a real b!tch to get back on (did I mention how skinny I am?) and had to use some washing up liquid as lube to overcome the rubber's friction. Let's hope it's all okay and I get home with no more dramas.

[Howzat]

If you do upgrade, Conti GP 4000s have better grip and better puncture protection than Gatorskins.
Gatorskins are intended as high km, long wearing tyres.