Winter riding should be a fun time when the pressure to push hard is less and the joy of riding comes to the fore.
Yet we all know that it can be wet and slippery out there so fitting the most appropriate tyres is a must to maximise grip and minimise stops for punctures.
It’s not an easy balance to make – the compromise between grip and wear, feel and durability – because much of the time they are mutually exclusive, and different manufacturers – as our testing proved – tend to prioritise one virtue over the other.
We asked seven suppliers to send us suitable tyres that were 25mm wide with a focus on winter use to see what they offered and how they compared.
What we got was a wonderfully wide range that highlights all the choices open to you and will help you to make a more informed choice when working out what to dress your wheels in.
Vittoria Rubino Pro Control
It’s no easy task selecting a tyre from the Vittoria range, as there are so many excellent options. We went with the Rubino but it could easily have been the Corsa with its greater race bias.
Most of the range has now been upgraded to include Graphene in the compound, promising superior grip and durability without adding rolling resistance – Vittoria is pushing this miracle substance as the holy grail for tyres.
Rubino is all about puncture resistance and for those nasty winter days it has a 120TPI, reinforced casing topped off with the 3C rubber compound that has a slightly harder centre and softer shoulders with the aim of extending wear life, all of which worked well in testing.
At 309g it’s a one of the heaviest options on test; we measured the width at 24.9mm.
Verdict: Great puncture protection and good performance on the road despite its weight. 8/10
£35, vittoria.com
Panaracer Race D Evo 3
Japanese-made Panaracer tyres continue to impress as they evolve.
As the name hints, the Race D is aimed at the durable end of the race market so they are high on grip in either wet or dry conditions, which is thanks mostly to the ZSG dual-compound rubber.
Evo 3 is the latest version of the Evo design, with a bead-to-bead layer of ‘3D casing’ material plus a Pro Tite breaker belt to stop intrusions penetrating the main body.
This does a good job of minimising punctures, and at 262g that’s clearly not at the expense of excessive weight.
Using more rubber in the centre section gives a slightly triangular cross section and should result in a longer lifespan for this tyre, which we measured at 26.3mm wide.
Verdict: Outstanding grip in all conditions, and impressively hard-wearing too, with good puncture protection. 8/10
£45, zyrofisher.co.uk
Neos Arisun Allure C2 Pro K3
We've previously been impressed by Neos's summer tyres, so we were keen see how its winter option would compare.
Listed as a race tyre for mixed road and weather conditions, it has slightly less puncture protection than the Rapide but trades that against the grippier C2 Pro rubber, making it more applicable here.
A 120tpi carcass gave ample suppleness to the ride and the inverted tread plus rubber compound inspired confidence in mixed conditions.
As you could well expect, the surface was slightly marked during the limited riding done but was certainly within expectations. Our test tyre weighed 224g and had an inflated width of 24.6mm.
Verdict: A good value tyre that performs well on wet roads and offers good puncture protection. 7/10
£32, neoscycling.co.uk
Continental Grand Prix GT
‘Made for British Sportives’ says Continental’s strap line, so Continental’s GT tyres sound ideal to us.
With the same Black Chilli rubber compound as Conti’s top race tyres plus the three-ply sidewall construction of the most durable offerings, it’s an ideal contender.
The extra layers of the side wall give slightly more friction as the GT flexes it’s 25.7mm width but obviously increases protection, whilst the main tread also runs with an extra wide PolyX breaker underneath to hopefully stop sharp objects getting through.
Thanks to the Black Chilli compound and minimal tread, mixed-condition grip is high and inspires confidence. Despite the triple puncture protection layer, the 180tpi construction never felt too draggy on our 276g test tyre.
Verdict: Lives up to its promise of being a good choice for British road conditions. 8/10
£40, conti-tyres.co.uk
Schwalbe Durano DD
Carrying the name of DD or Double Defence, we should rightly be expecting a lot of the Schwalbe stalwart.
This latest version has been updated with a new fabric that Schwalbe calls Snakeskin, which runs across the whole width of the tyre.
This is a monofilament fabric that is said to offer improved cut resistance as well as stopping pinch punctures, this combines with the RaceGuard breaker belt making double D one of Schwalbe’s most puncture-proof options.
At 24.7mm wide and 312g it’s one of the heavier tyres in our round-up so it’s of little surprise that it feels a fair bit slower, but then its protection should more than make up for that and the compound gave trustworthy grip on wet roads.
Verdict: This evolution of a longstanding favourite offers superb puncture protection but isn’t the fastest. 7/10
£41.50, schwalbe.co.uk
Challenge Strada Open Road 25mm
These days, ‘hand-made’ can send out mixed messages, but Challenge very much promotes it as a benefit because it means its tyres are not vulcanised – instead treads are glued on by hand.
What this means in practice is that the rubber remains softer, which is great news when you rely on that rubber to give you grip.
As you’d expect, it does bump up the cost though. Available only in 25mm, they are listed as 300tpi and have one layer of breaker (PPS) to stop punctures; ours weighed 269g each and measured 26.4mm.
A herringbone contact patch gave good all round grip and confidence, especially over road debris with the suppleness of the side wall one of the standout features of the Strada along with tread durability.
Verdict: The performance benefits of a hand-made tyre come at a price but one that’s worth paying. 9/10
£54, paligap.cc
Bontrager R3 Hard Case Lite TLR
It would be remiss if we didn’t include at least one tubeless tyre.
The R3 sits one step down from the pinnacle in Bontrager’s range. It’s a great and supple performer, available in 24 or 26mm widths – we opted for the larger size and yet it measured just 24.3mm on our wheels.
Constructed with Bontrager’s Hard Case Lite protection built into the carcass, there was a surprisingly supple feel to the tyre.
As with all tubeless tyres, you can afford to run a slightly reduced pressure to give more traction as well as comfort without adding rolling resistance.
A treadless design hints at a more racy target market, as does the 329g weight – bearing in mind that there is no inner tube to add.
Verdict: A great introduction to tubeless tyres, with fast, grippy performance in all conditions. 8/10
£50, trekbikes.com