Best road bike tyres: five picks for UK roads and racing

The default choice for fast club riding, and the tyre most riders end up on after a season of trying alternatives. The S TR is the tubeless-ready version and is approved for hookless rims, and it keeps the traits that built the Grand Prix reputation: low rolling resistance, dependable grip in the damp and decent wear for a race-weight tyre.

It comes in 25, 28, 30 and 32 mm, so the same model works on a crit bike and on a winter frame with mudguard clearance. It is not cheap, and the bead can be a tight fit on some rims the first time you mount it — worth knowing before you rely on it at the roadside. If you want one set of tyres for everything from a fast Sunday run to a damp commute, start here.

Vittoria's cotton-casing race tyre, and the pick if you care most about how a bike feels over broken tarmac. The supple carcass and silica-based tread compound give a ride that damps buzz and holds a line through fast corners in a way stiffer casings struggle to match, and the tubeless-ready versions are hookless-compatible.

That suppleness is also the weakness. The sidewalls are easier to cut on flint and glass, and the softer tread wears quicker than an all-round tyre, so using it for every ride gets expensive. Best kept for race days, fast summer chaingangs and good surfaces — and paired with a tougher set for winter.

Pirelli built this one around wet and cold conditions, which makes it a natural fit for British racing and fast winter riding. The SmartEVO tread compound is the headline, and the tubeless-ready carcass is approved for hookless rims. Cornering feel is predictable and progressive, so you know where the limit is on a damp descent rather than finding out suddenly.

It is not as supple as a cotton-casing tyre, and it costs as much as the premium competition, so it earns its place only if grip in the wet is your priority. For riders who race through an entire season of doubtful weather, that is a fair trade.

The tyre that keeps winter bikes and commuters moving. The Gatorskin is a tube-type clincher with a thick polyamide protective layer and a hard-wearing compound, which is exactly why it shrugs off glass, flint and the general debris of a British B road. It comes in widths from 23 mm up to 32 mm, so it suits older frames and modern all-road builds alike.

The trade-off is feel. It is firm, slow to spin up and gives less wet grip than a race tyre, so treat it as a tool for training and commuting rather than something to enjoy on a fast Sunday ride. Run it with good inner tubes and check pressures weekly — most winter punctures come from under-inflation, not the tyre.

A folding clincher that sits well below the race tyres on price and lasts far longer. The tread uses a harder centre to keep wear down and softer shoulders for cornering, with a sensible layer of puncture protection underneath. Available from 23 to 30 mm, it is the obvious choice for riders doing high mileage on tubes — club runs, audaxes, daily commuting.

It gives away suppleness and wet grip to the Corsa Pro and the GP 5000, and the ride is noticeably firmer. At the pace most club riders actually travel, though, that is a reasonable trade for a tyre that survives a full winter and still has tread left.