Best Value 700 x 23 tyres

SimonE beat me to it - Schwalbe Blizzard Sports are a good tyre for the money. Didn't have any more or less punctures than usual and didn't have the sidewall gashes that have plagued every Gatorskin (and Grand Prix) I've owned. They're pretty grippy, even in wet weather, I ran them on my winter bike for a while.

Another vote for Vittoria but the cheap Rubinos, non folding of course but the Kevlar/Aramid breaker strip does indeed work. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vittoria-rubino-road-bike-tyre/rp-pro...

I would not touch Spesh kevlar folders with a barge pole as I had a rather pricey pair of them not just puncture but explode, they seem to suffer from the problem that when they do get a puncture and the glass or thorn is still in there plugging the leak the escaping air from the tube gets between the layers of rubber and kevlar that form the shoulders of the tyre which creates a big air filled blister. Then they go bang leaving a inch and a half patch of de laminated tyre tread. Fortunately it did not happen at speed.

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp or Schwalbe Durano. No troubles with both. Plenty fast, durable and grippy. I recall my mate descending Ventoux on the Vredesteins!

I would recommend you look at Specialized Espoir Elites.

Available in 23c (260g) and 25c (270g) at £25 a each from any Specialized dealer (eg Evans).

I run them on both my winter and summer bikes and despite regularly picking embedded flints and glass out of the tread, zero punctures in two years. Originally recommended to me by the local semi pro team who use them as their training tyres.

I picked up some Conti 4000s in the sales are they're cracking.

I'm easy regarding brands so the Michelin Pro4 Service Course will do me next time.

I'm currently riding Vittoria Zaffiro tyres - they came with the bike. So far I have no complaints (or punctures). I'm sure there are plenty better tyres out there, faster rolling, more comfortable, better puncture protection, harder wearing etc but at the current price of £7.50 from Wiggle you certainly get good value for money.

It all depends on your definition of value for money I guess. Some people may see £20 as good value for a tyre, I would say that's my upper price limit.

I'm putting in a vote for the Conti Grand Prix, great in summer and winter in the 24-mm size. Only difference with the 4000 is that the casing is polyprop rather than aramid. The 24-mm size originally offered was not popular and has been replaced with conventional 23-mm and 25-mm sizes. Remaining stock was offered at <€15 by the German discounters, so I bought a stack of them. Can use it on the back in place of a Conti Force too.

Have read too many negative comments about Gators so would avoid.

For value you would be hard pushed to beat Schwalbe Blizzard Sports. A supple 240g tyre with good grip, >3,000 miles, under £10 each. Only downside: token puncture-resistant layer (this seems important to the OP), though I had 1 puncture in that time and I ride a lot on crappy lanes with hedge cuttings and so on.

The kevlar version might be good. I was going to buy those but Spa Cycles have 700x25 rigid Durano at £15 each so I bought them instead. The Durano is considered one of the best training/all-rounder tyres you can buy (see http://road.cc/58178). About 500 miles so far and I'm happy.

All at http://spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s121p0

Shop around and get Conti GP4000s in my opinion. Best of all worlds; grippy, light and decent puncture protection.

I use the Pave 24s (tubs) on winter bike. lovely. No punctures this winter. I think there is a lot of benefit in having high thread count and the latex inners - both tend to deform around pointy things a bit more before being penetrated. (fnarr fnarr). I've found sharp granite chips stuck in the rubber, but they dont seem to get through. I bought them for £35/ea from PlanetX, which was half RRP, but I consider them good VFM. I've done about 2500km on them so far, and the front seems barely off new, and the rear very slightly worn. Theres a lot more life left in them yet! Grip's great and roll well. Feel so comfortable. Whats not to like?

Recently got Michelin Pro4 Service Course (25's) at Planet X at £17 each.
Punctures are a matter of luck. My new Gatorskin punctured within 2 weeks of fitting it. Don't blame the tyre, just a matter of good/bad luck.

Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech for me: 8000km and only two punctures last year. Lots of those kms were on London streets which are definitely not paved with gold. I have 23, 25, and 28 on my different bikes. All handle nicely and don't wear out quickly.

Conti GP4000s are the best tyres, and at under 23 quid each if you buy two at PBK now, also the best value.

One good reason to insist on 23mm tyres is the much more ready availability, in many more colour options from more brands in different varieties.

How about a compromise - Open Pavé, 700x24c, supple and puncture resistant. And they're green.

Edit:
I was beaten to it, but I must point out that Pavé aren't 23mm.

lightish, puncture resistant as possible...and decent value

pick any two...

I would hazard a guess and say that ANY tyre that is lightish and doesn't get punctures is automatically decent value, regardless of the cost?

In a 700x23 I would say that you won't go far wrong at all with the Vittoria Open Pave Evo CG.

http://road.cc/content/review/15731-vittoria-open-pave-evo-cg-folding-tyre

Why 700x23c?

Not wishing to open this can of worms again - but...

(ok, so obviously I do want to)...

If your frame can fit a slightly larger tyre, I can see absolutely zero reason to insist on 700x23c. Wider is faster, grippier, more comfortable, and probably wears out slightly slower, too.

I'm riding Continental Grand Prix, 700x25c. Which is ideal for me, sub-70kg, riding year-round - YMMV.

Gatorskins rock. But they do most definitely puncture. Not as much as some others, mind.

All about Conti Gatorskins, all my riding buddies swear by them for general riding.
Only £21 at Wiggle too, which is pretty reasonably priced for any tyre, never mind ones which are so puncture resistant!

I've just had the same issue. I've been running on the stock Michelin Lithion 2's that came with the bike, but wanted to make sure I had spares after suffering my first flat last week, so new tyres for the bike and relegate the old ones to backups. In the end I narrowed it down to Continental GP 4000s vs Michelin Pro4 Service Course. Opted for the Michelin in the end, half price at Planet X (£20 each). You can pretty much find good and bad reviews for any given tyre, but obviously tyre performance and durability can be impacted by a lot of things and can influence one users experience differently to another's.
I would say decide how much you want to spend and see what you can get for the money, some good deals around.

Conti Gatorskins never puncture in my experience. Not the lightest but superb value and lifespan