Tyres are one of the most important – if not the most important – components on a bicycle as they are only point of contact between your bike and the road. Your tyres play a part in keeping you upright, they influence your speed and your bike’s ride quality and, of course, will be what brings you to a screaming halt when you inevitably puncture.
So choosing the right ones is a very important decision. Ultimately, the perfect set of all-round road tyres will have an ideal balance of rolling resistance, weight, grip and puncture protection. Each will come at the expense of at least one other, so achieving that is easier said than done.
Most tyres will come in a range of sizes, which has increased in recent years, with the traditional narrow tyres a thing of the past and some brands now offer their designs up to 35mm or more – an unimaginable size for a road bike not too long ago. Before upgrading tyres, it is important to see check how much tyre clearance your bike has. Some older frames, or those with rim-brake callipers, may be quite limiting here, with 28mm the most voluminous you’ll be able to get away with.
These days, the most popular tyre size is either 25mm or 28mm, which tend to be perceived as offering the best compromise of speed and weight alongside puncture resistance and grip.
However, the current thinking of some is that wider tyres at lower pressures are fastest, although crucially only when paired with wider rims. Several wheel brands – Zipp and Enve among them – recommend moving on from 25mm, while many tyres are only compatible with the latest hookless rims in 28mm width or greater.
We also appreciate that tubeless technology is becoming more widely used and available on road bikes, with some brands even supplying bikes tubeless-ready from the box. While many of the options below are tubeless-compatible, we have put together a more detailed guide to the best tubeless road bike tyres and how to set them up.
Additionally, the tyres listed below are the best on the market for all types of riding, so if you’re after something that focuses on being robust and hardy for commuting and bad-weather riding, then you’ll probably want our guide to the best winter tyres.
The best road bike tyres at a glance
- Continental GP5000 S TR
- Vittoria Corsa Pro
- Vittoria Corsa Nex.T
- Schwalbe Pro One
- Pirelli P-Zero Race
- Hutchinson Fusion5
- Michelin Power Cup
- GoodYear Eagle F1
- Specialized S-Works Mondo
- Maxxis High Road
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The best road bike tyres 2025
Continental GP5000 S TR
£65.49 (RRP £74.95) | View offer
- Sizes: 25mm to 32mm
- Weight: 275g to 350g
Conti is onto its second generation of the GP5000 with the GP5000 S TR claimed to offer a faster ride and lower weight than the original. At the same time, there's hookless compatibility for the 28mm width, and wider tyres for the first time. Much of the tech from the first generation GP5000 is carried over, including the BlackChili rubber compound and Vectran puncture protection belt. Continental claims improved sidewall durability too.
The original GP5000 clincher for use with inner tubes (link to review below) is still sold, if you want a lower weight and aren't converted to tubeless. The range has also grown to the GP5000 AS TR (for all-seasons use) and GP5000 TT TR (with lower weight for time trials) if you're looking for something more specialised.
- Read our review of the Continental GP5000 clincher tyres
- GP5000 tubeless or clincher, what’s faster? Read the testing
Vittoria Corsa Pro
£59.99 (RRP £90) | View offer
- Sizes: 24mm to 32mm
- Weight: 265g - 320g (claimed)
The Vittoria Corsa Pro offers an upgrade on the previous generation tyre and, as its name says, is a pro choice. Vittoria has kept the 320 tpi cotton casing for a supple ride, but now 'lightly vulcanises' the tread rubber onto the casing using electricity, rather than gluing the two together.
As with the Conti GP5000, the Corsa Pro tyre range has grown, with the Corsa Pro Speed up to 45g lighter than the standard tyre and offering a claimed 5% reduction in rolling resistance.
Vittoria Corsa Nex.T
£46.99 (RRP £59.99) | View offer
- Sizes: 24 mm to 34mm
- Weight: 260g - 340g (claimed)
While the Corsa Pro sticks to Vittoria's high thread count cotton casing, the Corsa Nex.T swaps this for 100 tpi nylon. This is the same tech as used by the competition and lowers the price versus the Corsa Pro tyres - and the competition.
There are 24mm, 26mm, 28mm, 30mm, 32mm and 34mm sizes in tubeless and tubed variants, so there's plenty of choice. We weighed the 28mm tubeless tyre at 302g, similar to the competition, while the ride feel was at least the match of them.
- Read our full Vittoria Corsa Nex.T tyre review
Schwalbe Pro One Evo
£47.85 - £48.91 | View offer
- Sizes: 23 mm to 32mm
- Weight: 215g - 310g (claimed)
The Schwalbe Pro One is another tyre available in a wide range of formats, including this tubed tyre and the tubeless Evolution variant. There's a wide range of tyre widths as well as transparent or black sidewall options. All use the same supple Super Race 127 tpi carcass and feature the Addix rubber compound and V-Guard puncture protection.
Schwalbe's tyres are generally reckoned to be among the most sweet-riding tyres available, whether you run tubes or tubeless, with the brand claiming that it's developed its tyres to prioritise that quality, which it calls 'souplesse'.
Pirelli P-Zero Race
£38.99 (RRP £66.99) | View offer
- Sizes: 26mm to 30mm
- Weight: 205g to 245g (claimed)
Another tyre available in both tubed, as featured here, and tubeless, the P Zero Race offers low weight and Pirelli's SmartEvo rubber compound. Originally developed as a tyre for Formula 1 cars, Pirelli transferred much of the performance benefits of its P-Zero car tyres into the development of its cycling counterparts and to great effect.
The three widths on offer should cater for most riders, although topping out at 30mm, they may be a little narrow for anyone riding a modern road bike or all-road bike. The tubeless P Zero Race TLR pushes that up to six sizes, topping out at 40mm. What the tubed tyre loses in widths, it makes up for in logo colouring though, with no less than nine options available, as against the TLR's four.
Hutchinson Fusion5
£39.99 (RRP £50) | View offer
- Sizes: 23mm to 28mm
- Weight: 255g (claimed)
The Hutchinson Fusion5 tyres are incredibly impressive. Independent testing from a Finnish company called Wheel Energy found the new 11Storm compound used by Hutchinson to roll 14% faster than the previous iteration and be 11% grippier in the wet.
They are also pretty light, tipping the scales at 255g for a 25mm tyre, and are tubeless-ready, even being sold as part of a set that includes the necessary components to convert from clincher to tubeless. But, most importantly, the Hutchinson Fusion5 tyres are incredibly affordable at a recommended retail price of just £35.95.
In April 2024, Hutchinson announced the successor to the Fusion5 tyre. Called the Blackbird, it is claimed to be faster and more durable, with a new rubber compound and new casing structure that reduces the layers under the tread from three to two.
Michelin Power Cup
£34.99 | View offer
- Sizes: 23mm to 28mm
- Weight: 205g to 255g (claimed)
The Michelin Power Cup is the latest addition to the Power tyre range and available in both tubed, as shown, and tubeless variants (and as a tubular too). While the tubed tyre widths stretch from 23mm to 28mm, the tubeless tyre starts at 25mm, goes up to 30mm and is hookless compatible.
The slick tread means lower rolling resistance and the tyre uses Michelin's Gum-X rubber and an Aramid breaker. The Power Cup range sits alongside the Michelin Pro All-Season in Michelin's Competition Line, while the Racing Line sits above it and includes a time trial tyre and the aforementioned tubular.
Goodyear Eagle F1
£37.13 (RRP £55) | View offer
- Sizes: 25mm to 34mm
- Weight: 190g to 345g (claimed)
The Goodyear Eagle road bike tyre range was updated in 2023 and now offers a frankly bewildering array of options - 47 different tyres in all. The tyres stretch from the F1 Supersport R via the Eagle F1 R to the standard Eagle. All the tyres are available either for tubed or tubeless use, plus you can choose between tan and black sidewalls. That's before you consider width options, which range from 25mm up to 34mm, dependent on the tyre model.
The Eagle F1 tyres use a new rubber compound called Dynamic:UHP and an R:Shield puncture protection layer, as well as Goodyear's unique short ply 150 tpi casing. Goodyear claims improved grip, rolling resistance and durability coupled to lower weight.
Specialized S-Works Mondo
£50 (RRP £55) | View offer
- Sizes: 28m to 35mm
- Weight: 310g to 360g (claimed)
Designed to marry grip and low rolling resistance with durability and puncture protection for training rides, the S-Works Mondo tyre sits between the S-Works Turbo and Roubaix tyres in Specialized's range. While other tyres come in 25mm or narrower widths, Spesh has put its money behind the wider-is-better mantra and started at a 28mm, heading in two hops up to 35mm. It's also gone tubeless-only, so there's no tubetype tyre.
When we reviewed the S-Works Mondo tyres, we reckoned they lived up to their billing, with a fast ride and nary a puncture over 1000km-plus of riding. Wear rates and ride comfort are good too.
- Read our full Specialized S-Works Mondo tyre review
Maxxis High Road
£29.99 (RRP £44.99) | View offer
- Sizes: 25mm, 28mm
- Weight: 210g (claimed)
Raced at pro level, the Maxxis High Road tyres are expensive but proven in terms of performance and now come in tubeless and tubetype variants.
Maxxis claims that its HYPR compound has reduced rolling resistance by 16% but increased grip by 23% over its predecessor, specifically in the wet. It also says that its K2 Kevlar fabric has notched up puncture protection despite the tyres weighing a respectable 210g.
The only limiting factor is that the High Road tyres are only available in 23mm and 25mm.
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