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review
£67.50
VERDICT:
Durable and grippy race tyre but would benefit from a more supple casing for comfort and feedback
Weight:
495g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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- Appalling
The Ere Research Genus is a professional level road racing tyre, available in both clincher and, on test here, tubeless versions. While the chosen rubber offers plenty of grip and some decent rolling resistance, I wasn't won over by the tyre's lack of suppleness.
- Pros: Easy to fit, impressive grip
- Cons: Firm ride, expensive
I've ridden a lot of test bikes with tubeless tyres but I haven't fitted that many myself, so whenever I get some in for review there is an air of trepidation over how things are going to go. I needn't have worried here, as the Genus installation was an absolute breeze.
For the setup I used the Vision Team 35 wheels with some DT Swiss tubeless tape I had knocking around and it all worked a treat. The Ere tyres popped onto the rims and after the addition of the included 48mm valves and Stan's No Tubes sealant they inflated quickly and easily with just a standard track pump without any leakage.
The Genus comes in three widths: 28mm, 26mm and the thinnest, which we have here, 24mm. The sidewall recommends a maximum pressure of 125psi; I tried them at 100psi for a few miles before dropping them to 90psi and I have to say it has a very firm carcass for a race tyre. It doesn't exactly ooze suppleness.
In its construction the casing uses 120tpi (threads per inch) whereas most what I'd consider race tyres – such as the Challenge Strada Pro open tubular – have two and a half times that at 300tpi.
This allows a lot more movement in the tyre to deal with road imperfections, giving a very supple ride. Other open tubulars I've used over the years feel the same.
With their firm ride the Eres don't give you a lot of feedback about what is going on on the road beneath you, so it's a good job the grip levels are pretty decent.
Pushing hard into bends and roundabouts saw no issues banking the bike over and it never felt like the tyres were scrabbling about on the surface.
It's the same both in the wet and dry.
Rolling resistance feels okay as well, and with a weight of 495g for the pair, acceleration and climbing aren't hampered either.
They're reliable too, with Armis 1 flat protection, using aramid fibres for the casing. Aramid is from a family of high performance nylons like Kevlar which have impressive strength while still remaining supple.
These tyres haven't suffered a single cut or puncture over the test period so I'd say their durability is pretty impressive.
Specific tubeless tyres are often quite pricey compared to their tubeless-ready clincher counterparts and that doesn't change here with the Genus costing £67.50 each. Okay, it isn't quite as excessive as Zipp's Tangente Speed, which cost £86 each, but it's still not exactly cheap. (Maybe it offsets the cost of the pricey-looking packaging.)
Saying that, though, the standard clincher version of the Genus is still £63.
The range of tubeless tyres is constantly growing, though, and the best place to check the various prices is here in our buyers guide (link below) which has the claimed weight and retail prices from all the various brands.
> Buyer's guide: Tubeless tyres – all your options
A lot of race performance tyres come in around the 50 quid mark, so as I say, the Eres are a little on the pricey side.
In conclusion, the Genus is very good in terms of speed and grip, but for me a race tyre requires a bit more feedback and a supple ride to complete the package – especially at this price.
Verdict
Durable and grippy race tyre but would benefit from a more supple casing for comfort and feedback
road.cc test report
Make and model: ERE Research Genus tyre
Size tested: 700c x 24
Tell us what the product is for
Ere Research says, "The Genus is Ere Research's premier road tire, designed for the riding demands of the pro peloton where low rolling resistance and high-speed cornering confidence are of upmost concern. The minimalist tread and supple casing provide unparalleled grip and the rider feedback necessary to cross the line first."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
From Ere Research:
Protection
Super light, tight woven casing material that provides at protection under the tread without sacrificing weight, rolling resistance, or handling.
Low Rolling Resistance Rubber
Low rolling resistance 65a durometer rubber.
Bead + Casing
Genus tires feature a folding aramid bead and 120 tpi (threads per inch) casing.
In The Box
Tubeless tires include 48mm valve and sealant.
Clincher tires include Tubus innertube and 40mm valve extender.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
7/10
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
6/10
Rate the product for value:
5/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It's a fast and grippy tyre but not the most comfortable.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Easy fitment.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Not supple enough.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? No
Would you recommend the product to a friend? If they liked a firm ride.
Use this box to explain your overall score
I'm going for a 7 here: from a performance point of view I rate the Genus quite highly but there are much more supple tyres out there in both tubeless and tubed guises which give a better ride quality.
About the tester
Age: 39
I usually ride: This month's test bike My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed
Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.
With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.
He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.
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15 comments
Veloflex Vlandaaren which I use on my carbon racer is same RRP (I got mine for £56) and at 300g for a hard wearing robust 27mm tyre including valve it's pretty much the same weight as this 24mm with the valve and sealant.
Dunno what level this is aimed at but I still wouldn't want to use tubeless for anything other than commuting, IF I was a careless rider always riding in the gutter. half a dozen punctures in 10 years over circa 40,000 miles, for me it isn't worth it in terms of cost over some notional time saving.
Yes this appears to be very good and far less hassle seating the tyre over the competiton but for the small amount of lower rolling resistance against some tyres is it really worth the cost to go tubeless against a decent clincher at half the price?
I agree about the TPI thing but that's been known for ages, certain companies use different methods applying the tpi to each layer so not really accurate/comparable.
Good luck to them all the same
I don't have a tubular wheelset, along with many others. I do have tubeless ready wheelsets already and they're increasingly being spec'd on road bikes. I also know how to look for things that are less than their RRP, surprisingly, so decent tubeless tyres can be found for a similar price to the clinchers I like (last 2.5 sets were Vittoria Open Pave). The S-Works were £ 50 a pair delivered for example.
I also like to go where I fancy on my notionally 'road' bike, so that includes single track, gravel road, industrial sites, wood-land, scrub-land, and so on, as well as tarmac so tubeless is not essential - but it can come in handy and allows me to go more places, more often that I tend to do on clinchers. I also have a good chunk of riding under trees, which can produce some interestingly pointy droppings, especially on the commute and I don't have any magic sharps / glass detector that allows me to avoid things that aren't in the gutter - this probably accounts for the two punctures that I had in consecutive rides the other week when hadn't had a pentration puncture for over 4 years. It's not simply a matter of riding in the gutter or not, but i'm sure you know that really.
I'm not going to stop using non-tubeless tyres, my favourites are not tubeless/TLR, but there are options for me that are affordable and permit me to spend less time changing tubes and greater freedom without resorting to carcasses and treads that start to become unwelcome. YMMV but tubeless is a viable option for others and really isn't (IME) the hassle and cost that many make out.
I got some Ere Research tyres yesterday and I would have to say they are the easiest to fit I have tried so far. Didn't even have to use a track pump my Mini Morph was enough.
Gives me a bit more confidence that further down the road if I do split them that fitting a tube and getting them off wouldn't be a bother!
Hi Phil,
If you get the chance later on, could you let us know how you're getting on with these at some point. I'm in the process of going back to tubeless on the best bike and for a commuter and i'm looking for options. Currently the old Hutchinson Fusion 3s (23mm) are off and trying some Specialized S-Works Turbo 2Bliss (28mm) which seem pretty supple in the hand for a TLR tyre. Time will tell...
Cheers
The review says that this tyre would benefit from a "...more supple casing for comfort and feedback...". I'm not sure how that works because from what I understand more comfort means less feedback as you don't feel all the little bumps and imperfections on the road. Ideally you want the tyre to isolate you from the road to maximise comfort. Maybe the feedback being refered to here is higher frequency feedback from small irregularities rather than lower frequencies from bumps. I'm not sure how that would work.
Hello, send us mail pleass at info [at] ereresearch.com
@stu kerton, thank you for the review, very nice and balanced, but on some points we like to clarify from our side as opinions differ and for sure riding experiences as well.
As for casing soupleness and the reference that a 300TPI+ casing would be more supple, thats in our opinion a discussion point and very much depending on what tire you compare it too, a 300PTI+ tire casing makes sense when you would make a tubular tire, but for an clincher and for sure a vulcanised tire thats is made with today technology it outperforms many handmade tires. Here is a small video that explains and shows the stress and flex points in both tires. https://youtu.be/lmebWjeEgkA
In your reference to our price You note that our pricey-looking packaging maybe be due to that, but our MSRP prices are more or less the same as Schwalbe and Continental, in fact we also include a bottle of branded quality Stans latex, a Tubeless valve and Tubeless valve extender, brand stickers, a product card that explains the tread pattern, all of that in the box at no extra charge, thats a 18GBP gift, we don’t see Schwalbe and Continental doing that at the same MSRP prices they use, so now our tire really costs 49GBP….is that expensive? and is that not good value for money?
Happy to serve you with more tire models to test! have great ride!
@peted76 we don't think we charge top end, our MSRP prices are exactly the same as Schwalbe and Continental, in fact we also include a bottle of latex, a Tubeless valve and Tubeless valve exender in the box at no extra charge (thats a 22,5 Euro gift). If you wish to try we'd be happy to send you a few samples to test.
Piet, I would be really interested in testing. I have always raced GP4000s tyres and although I’ve been happy with their performance I’ve found that the sidewalls damage very easily meaning they don’t last very long, in addition I’m quite keen to try a tubeless setup out with the hope of minimising punctures.
Hello, send us a mail pleass at info [at] ereresearch.com
I would also be happy to try a few. I use Conti 4000GP S2 for my everyday tyres, and Corsa G+ for my race tyres. Recently only got about 1500miles out of my Corsa and my Veloflex got even less.
Would really like to compare it to my tubless Schwalbe One's as well!
Hello, send us a mail pleass at info [at] ereresearch.com
Nobody cares about 'free stuff' they didn't ask for or want. They also don't care about comparing MSRP to other brands as we all shop for best street prices and in this regards I doubt you can match Schwalbe or Continental. I only buy Schwalbe now as their rubber compound is the best and seems to survive aging from UV or Ozone much better than most, which means I can stock up when they are on sale.
Disappointing, if you pay top end you want top end, not middle ground from a new to market company.
Far better tubeless options out there from IRC, Huntchinson and Schwalbe.
Woudl liek to test for yourself?