We’ve been riding different sets of Duro Tires for a few months now to see how they stand up – Because ultimately we won’t sell stuff at VeloGuys if we don’t believe in it enough to ride them ourselves. Duro Tires are a Taiwan based manufacturer that has historically been known for making pretty standard whitewall commuter class tires with weird tread patterns. In 2011 the company hired a new management team and have started trying to move upmarket with their product lines. we were skeptics… Show We ran into the Duro Guys at Interbike last year and after a long conversation with their sales rep, decided that it’d be worth trying them out because they’ve made some manufacturing improvements and were displaying some pretty nice looking 120 and 150 TPI models for road, cross and all mountain. We have to admit that we’re impressed with the price to performance ratio in everything tested. We haven’t ridden everything that we stock from them and we only stock a small portion of their 700c and 29’er lines. One thing that Duro does that’s nice is that they use the international standard of measuring rubber hardness to rate their tire compounds. The term Durometer is both the instrument to measure this as well as the unit of measure. The nice thing about this is that once you have a feel for what durometer measurements actually mean you can get a sense of what the tires best use may be before you ride it. Mosr road tires tend to be between 50A and 70A on the durometer scale: 50A – Really sticky tires great for cornering – But fast wearing 60A – The middle ground between a sticky and durable tire 70A – Really durable and long wearing road tires – But, less snug in the corners This stuff is important in all tires – but is good to have a handle of it when looking at road tires especially. It also helps when assessing the difference between rubbers in a multi-compound tire. Unfortunately not all manufacturers rate their tires with this standard and with the introduction of synthetic blend rubber compounds the relationship between rubber hardness and tire performance isn’t equal. But, it’s a guideline. These are the tires we’ve been testing so far: ROAD  The Slickster Ultra is the 150TPI version and is a 23mm, single compound tire and a durometer rating of 60A. The claimed weight is 185 grams which actually makes it one of the lightest road tires in the world with a solid puncture protection layer. we’ve weighed a few of them and they do fluctuate a little. But, this is to be expected in a tire of this cost. The one thing you need to watch out for on lower cost tires is tread roundness as it’s quite common to get tires with a speedbump ridge or oval tendency around the tire as a whole. But, we haven’t noticed these common issues in the Slickster Ultras at all. We haven’t ridden this tire enough to have a really good sense of it’s abilities. But, it’s a great lightweight training tire with good puncture protection. The Primera is a single compound training tire with a hardness of 70A which means that it’s a long wearing and durable tire. Similar to the Slickster the Primera has great manufacturing quality, roundness and tread consistency.The only complaint that we have with these tires is that this 23c tire is actually a 25c. The packaging even says 23c. O’well…at 25mm they really make a great winter training tire and we’ve enjoyed riding them for months. We plan on putting the Slickster Ultra and Primera though through their paces in the next few weeks in Hawaii and will have an update then. FIXIE Duro makes a really nice tire in the FixiePops line. They’ve invested in a little bit of kitch and marketing It’s a good tire. I commute on my fixie rain or snow and I ride it for fun in the summer evenings probably doing dumber things than I should. The first thing you notice with this 24mm 60A tire is that it’s not all just extra air – it’s more like half air and half tire rubber which gives the tire increased comfort and puncture protection. Duro really markets this to the full-on fixie crowd stating that it’s a great skidding tire, which it is ! But, These things actually ride nice and smooth which makes them a great commuting tire with really good protection. I ride them at 95psi over everything and I’ve never bottomed or pinch flatted due to their thicker casing. They’re faster rolling than most fixie specific tires and are half the cost. That’s pretty sweet. One other nice thing is that they actually hold nicely on ice and slick surface. It’s winter right now and we don’t really get snow here. But, we get black ice in places that you don’t expect it sometimes. These tires handle those conditions better than my road slicks or any other fixed specific tires I’ve used. A little bit of increased traction combined with the control of a fixie has prevented me from eating &$it a few times now. That’s all “thumbs up” from my point of view. CYCLOCROSS The HUP is the high end of Duro’s Cyclocross tires while the MoeJoe CX is a good all round cross training tire. At 150TPI HUP a nice smooth rolling tire. with a supple sidewall that you can run at pretty low PSI which actually makes it a good candidate to race on if you don’t own a set of race day tubulars. Unfortunately Duro Tires don’t have any plans for a tubular tire which is a shame. 29er We haven’t ridden any of the 29’ers yet – I know…weak! But, we’ll definitely let you know when we try these out ! PRO ATHLETES RIDING DURO Duro sponsor a lot of novice athletes as part of a development program – But, admittedly not many Pro athletes are using their products. However in 2010 the company sponsored Pua Sawicki-Mata who won the US National cross country championship on Miner29ers and who is now a part of Team Sho-Air. Andrew Ingram placed 2nd in the USA Cycling Downhill National Championships in 2012 riding Duro tires. So, there aren’t many high caliber victories – But, placing is a numbers game and Duro Tires are definitely capable of taking Pros to the finish line. We think it’s only a matter of time before more people are riding Duro and the company starts coming out with some higher end tires that really start capturing wider areas of the market. How good are Duro tires?I have had these on for hundreds of miles now. So far they do it all; great traction, still have tons of tread, and provide a smooth ride. I will buy these again. Who makes Duro tires?With more than 70 years' devotion to tire manufacturing, Hwa Fong Rubber Group is your reliable partner providing DURO tires with best quality. Where are Duro ATV tires made?About Duro ATV Tires Originally established in 1945 in Taiwan, Duro manufactures tires for just about every vehicle from golf carts to forklifts, including ATVs. Now Duro has multiple locations across Asia and a plant in Covington, GA since 2000. Where are Duro trailer tires made?Based in Taiwan, hand in hand with factories in Thailand and mainland China, our manufacturing capability spans the globe, and our sales network is worldwide. Together with OEM service offered, we have your entire tire needs covered. |
