Tyres

Onza is a Swiss brand producing tyres mainly for commuters, BMX and mountain bikes, plus a few road options including this Preda folding clincher. It's a lightweight tyre with impressive performance and good puncture protection, making it ideal for summer training, sportives and entry-level racing.

The Preda also comes in a wire-beaded version, but we're testing a pair of the Kevlar-beaded folding ones here. They went onto a pair of Mavic Open Pros easily, but without being sloppy, and sat nicely on the rim when inflated.

Schwalbe's Durano is 'for mile eaters': a training specific tyre. As a dual compound, folding tyre and at 235g, it is slightly more than this, a true utility tyre but how does it fare?

The first thing you probably want to know about a training tyre is what its puncture protection is like. Included is Schwalbe's premium level protection: RaceGuard, a synthesis of rubber and nylon moulded into the standard rubber. Schwalbe say this adds very little to weight and rolling resistance.

Bontrager's road 'R' tyres come in a range of four options - top of the tree being the R4 with these R3s a notch below.

Out on the road the low weight of 185g per tyre makes them easy to whip up to speed while the 120tpi casing has enough suppleness to iron out small road imperfections, even pumped up to their 125psi maximum.

Hutchinson make a lot of road tyres, they also make a lot of mountain bike tyres, and squeezed between the two are just a few cyclo-cross tyres with the Toro being one. With its pattern of small, square knobs it looks like a mountain bike tyre but smaller, which comes as no surprise as it's based on Hutchinson's Toro MTB tyre.

Schwalbe's ZX versions of the popular Ultremo are competition tyres, they provide good grip and they're very, very fast.

Notice, though, that I described these as 'competition tyres', and Schwalbe do the same. The tread really isn't thick, hence a weight of just 190g per tyre on our test pair (even lower than Schwalbe's claimed 195g). The rubber doesn't wear away particularly fast, it's just that there's not much of it to start with, so if you're after longevity, these ain't the tyres for you.

Hutchinson Intensive Road tubeless tyres are excellent off-season tyres, offering a good ride and decent puncture resistance.

Tubeless tyres have been around in the mountain bike world for a few years, but are still new territory for road bikes. Hutchinson is one of several manufacturers adopting the new technology, with tubeless-specific options including the lightweight Atom and the mid-weight Fusion. Recently added to the collection is the Intensive, a heavier tyre designed for rough roads in both wet and dry conditions.

Need a tyre for your wheelbarrow? Kenda make one. Need a tyre for your wheelchair? Kenda make one. Need a tyre for your fork-lift? You can get one from Kenda. Need a tyre for your bicycle? Kenda can help out there too, thankfully no matter what the bicycle they even have a selection for cyclocross bicycles which includes the Kwicker.

Vittoria's Open Corsa is a cracking road tyre with a supple feel and good all-round grip. It's not the hardiest through a thorny winter but it's definitely one to consider for your good bike.

Given that the RRP for these beauties is £50 a pop you'd expect them to be packing some tech to justify that price tag, and they are. The carcass of the Open Corsa is as close to that of a tubular as you'll find in a clincher tyre.

The Kenda Kontender is a road bike tyre that's ideal for winter training rides or indeed as a good reliable commuting tyre. It's not the lightest or sprightliest tyre in the world, but it is sturdy and puncture resistant - which is just what you need at this time of year when the roads are covered in slime and debris.

For 'Deluxe' substitute 'Commuter' and you'll get a better feel for what the Freedom Racine Deluxe is all about. Deluxe it isn't. It's not expensive and it's heavy for a 700x25C tyre, partly (50g or so) because it uses a wire bead. On the other hand, it's tougher than it looks.