This looks like a reasonably scientific test. They measure rolling resistance in a lab at 40kph with a 50kg load.
http://velonews.competitor.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road-what-makes-cycling-tires-fast
Specialized take 4 of the 5 top places. They did this by poaching the best engineers from Continental. I got excited when I saw the Vittoria Corsa EVO CX at number 10, but it turns out that the CX doesn’t stand for cyclocross.
Specialized sponsored study me thinks?
Interesting but I’m not sure it means a lot to the average cyclist. I’m not trying to break the hour record and many of my kms are done on five or six different surfaces of bitumen.
I’m not paying $100 for a tyre, And I buy tyres that have great grip when you lean them over.
champions, I’ve been out of the road riding game for a long time, but as always, I’m very interested in tyres. I’ve picked up a couple of bikes recently and put gp 4000 2s on one and am super happy with the grip they have, and they feel quiet and fast. I’m well aware that any road tire would feel like this to me, though, since all i’ve been riding is much wider and knobbier. So, I’m keen for a new pair for the other roadie now. It currently has duremo/duremo plus on board and theyre both around 340g… the gps are 220 or so and I like the sound of that weight loss beyond the rim.
My question - At $50 a tire, is anything blowing the GPs out of the water for a tire that will be ridden once or twice a week at as fast as I possible can go (which was about 21kph the other day, but should improve). Rims are old school, not wide boyz. I value grip, speed and pucture protection about equally
Thanks!
25mm GP5000?
Great! Thank you mate 
if you can find them at $50 a tire let a brother know!
I’ve had good luck getting Schwalbe Pro Ones at under $50 a pop. You can quite often find the non-tubeless older versions really cheap. They’re good tyres.
How about Bontrager Hard Case Lite R3? 50 a pop from Cycles Galleria and well reviewed for feel and durability.
yeah, the 5000s seem to be a step up in price… Best I’ve seen is from merlin, a pair with “free tubes” for AUD150 delivered. not bad, but 50% premium for a bit better rolling and maybe a little trade off in puncture resistance
Go tubeless, lower your air pressure & thereby decrease rolling resistance…Also more comfortable, no pinch flats etc
Thanks heaps for all the info, crew. I took it on board and hunted and hunted for cheap 5000s and corsas, but in the end went with the 4000sII, I couldn’t go past the known goodness and cheapness at $93 a pair.
Sidenote: The rear tyre (durano plus) that I swapped out weighed 448g at 23c! Thats just shy of a 2" thunderburt. Anyway, I got a 360g saving off the tyres overall, and the grip is much, much nicer… this mornings ride was a pleasure. The mounting on neutrons was bloody insane though, god help me if i ever flat.