Bikedan’s Product Review: Duro Tires

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Duro Tire Testing

Using the Slicksters 120TPI in a wet hill-climb race

Tires are one of the most important parts of our ride experience, in terms of control and durability on all types of road surfaces. When you think about tires for your road bike: Michelin, Victoria, Continential, Schwalbe, and Kenda are the five major brands that may spring to mind. However, Duro is still a very little known company with their impressive tire line-up for both road and mountain bike riding. They are a Taiwanese company and till now they have largely manufactured as OEM and only have recently began marketing themselves as a stand alone branded product: Duro Tires.

I had been a big supporter of Michelin tires due to their handling characteristics but I found that they cut a little too easy and I usually wore through a Michelin Pro III within two months of solid riding. Despite being an excellent race tire, they just wore out a little too fast for my liking and were also quite expensive being over $60US a piece! So, I became a test rider for Duro Tires, trying out their new and proven line-up of tires.

More wet conditions…

Not long after moving to Taiwan, I met some representatives of the Duro company while attending the Taichung Bike Week and immediately was impressed with their new product yet to be launched: one of the world’s lightest tires yet very durable and long lasting. I wanted to test such tires out to see if they would live up to their claim. Duro was also introducing TruShine to their road tire line-up, so that riders riding at night would be even more safer with the enhanced visibility. It would also be a great novelty appeal at night criterium races as they flash by for the spectators. At the Taipei Bike Show, Duro launched their awesome looking line-up of street ‘fixie’ tires with bright neon like colors and catchy names such as Lime-o-Rita, Vanilla Rage, Fuzz Buster, Trouble Bubble, Red Draggin and more!  The new Fixie Pops are designed specifically for skidding.  Duro’s promotional slogan says “They’re Skidalicious!!”

The new ‘Fixie’ tires on display…

Recently Duro has also become Reynolds Cycling’s Spin it up program for 2010 which shows that big companies believe in Duro’s quality standards. All demo wheel-sets are being equipped with Duro Tires throughout the US.

Duro has already launched one of the world’s lightest tires on the market: the Slicksters.  They are now available for consumers to purchase at retail outlets.  This is a testing review of Duro’s Tires and it is an honest appraisal. The tires were supplied by Duro directly for testing.  They passed my rough treatment over a six month period and have emerged as my tires of choice.

Duro Tires display at the Taipei Show earlier this year

Tire Reviews

NEW: Duro Slickster Forcefield Y- 120TPI and 190grams

These tires were used on my training wheels and put on early in February of this year. Since, at the time of installing them, they had not yet passed safety standards, I was not allowed to use them in racing but to test them out earnestly during training. The biggest issue I confronted with these tires was that the beading was so tight that I had major difficulty getting them onto the rim. I just hoped that they lived up to their claim of being extremely puncture resistent. Within the first ride on them, I had punctured! It was a wet cold Taipei morning and my hands were numb as I struggled to get it off the rim and discovered that I had perhaps created the first “self puncturing” tire! The cause of the puncture was actually due to rim tape being squished over. To solve the issue at the time, I used a tube patch to cover the exposed part on the rim and ever-since I have not had any issues with flat tires. I did puncture once and that was a nightmare to get the tire on and off, even with good tire levers. However, once back on I did not have to contend with any more punctures and it is still going strong now with negligible wear. This means, I have been using this tire for almost seven months and they have gone through rough treatment on all kinds of roads in both Taiwan and China. They also hold up extremely well on gravel roads and I have no problem recommending them for both training and racing usage. Their handling and grip feel as good as any leading tire brand I have used previously, if not better. Once Duro has the tire fit issue ironed out, these Slickster Forcefields are going to be excellent all-round tires that will seldom get punctures.

NEW: Duro Slickster – 150TPI and 180grams


This is one extremely lightweight tire tipping the scales at a mere 180grams. I had both tires put onto my HED Jet 60 race wheels whilst in Thailand on the way to take part in the Tour of Luzon (Philippines). I initially did two days of solid riding in and around Bangkok and the tires proved to be excellent on all terrain surfaces and handled well. The Tour of Luzon was held at the beginning of March over a 10 day period. We encountered every kind of road imaginable, at times the course was raced over extremely rough surfaces almost resembling mountain bike trails. There were plenty of potholes and un-even surfaces to deal with during the 10-day race. The tires emerged without puncturing or even sustaining nicks and slices. They rolled and cornered well. I felt confident on them while racing. There was one un-explained incident, though, and that was at the end of the epic stage eight. It was a scorching hot day and I had just completed a 160km stage. The bike was propped up, resting with the wheel in direct sunlight when there was this loud “gunshot”, so loud that it caused everyone to jump. The tire had a blow-out. It could have been to do with the heat and high air pressure.  The tire was sent to Taiwan for inspection.

The other tire is still going good today. Still rolling smoothly and very little wear is evident. The obvious wear is the logos have faded on both Slickster versions. But the surface still has lots of life for riding on. This is after six months of solid usage and swapping between different wheel-sets I have for training and racing. These tires closely resemble the Michelin Pro 3’s in terms of look and performance but have already lasted 3-4 times longer.

OLD: Duro Stingers


These are promoted as all-purpose racing and training tires. They are suitable for all conditions and the 127 TPI ensures a fast roll rate at 120 PSI. I was also very impressed with these tires and their durability. They do look a little ‘fat’ and have some good tread, but they roll very well. I have even used them in a few races and they have handled well and seem to be quick over all kinds of surfaces. They are hard wearing and I have seldom punctured, however the puncture rate is higher than the Slickster Forcefields (having only punctured twice on the Slickster Forcefields). The Duro Stingers have been mostly used on my rear wheel and as a result have worn out a little quicker. After five months of solid training and racing usage, I had to discard one tire recently as a small hole had formed and the inner tube was starting to push through it. It was also getting worn on the side-walls and thus definitely needed replacing. I replaced with an identical Duro Stinger and believe that this is my training tire of choice. I can ride anywhere without worrying too much about getting punctures. They are hard wearing and handle exceptionally well in wet conditions with their treads. They are relatively smooth on the top which means that for road racing they would roll quickly and efficiently; and grip the surface as you corner.

If you are looking for new tires and want to try a new brand, I would recommend trying out Duro; they are as good as any of the leading brands, if not better. With over 60 years industry experience and manufacturing tires for the OEM market, they certainly know what it takes to become a market leader for their own brand.

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11 Comments

  1. Leigh 25 September, 2010
  2. Robert Fry 14 December, 2010
    • Bikedan 22 December, 2010
    • Bikedan 28 June, 2011
    • Mac1957 11 January, 2013
  3. Zezipl 3 December, 2011
  4. Jim747dash8 15 September, 2012
    • Bikedan 22 September, 2012
  5. Al Kidder 25 September, 2012
  6. Paul Armijo 26 October, 2012
  7. amko 20 April, 2014

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