Michelin Lithion 2 Road Tire

These are now my favorite tire on my road bike. Previously ran Conti Gatorskins 70023s because they are bulletproof, especially in winter with road grit sticking to the tires. However, I have been pleasantly surprised by these Michelin 70025s. They seem to be impervious to cuts and sharp rocks, Michelin has came up with a rubber compound that wears like iron. I really like the 25s over the 23s , they help smooth out the minor vibrations from the road. Warning, these 70025s are a little oversized compared to Contis and they have very little clearance on my Specialized Allez. Need to lower pressure a little to slip them between the brake shoes without changing adjustments too much. Got them on special at BTD, very good price!

I've been running these for a while now. They're not stellar at anything but above average at everything. I also get lots of miles from them, which makes them a good value.

Love the bright colors on this tire! I bought blue to match my new bar tape!

I put them on myself and found they fit the rim snugly.

I also found that they handle really well on various road conditions drizzle, rain, poor country roads, etc.

Only been on these tires for a month or so, but so far well worth the money.

After going through a couple of the top racing tires and experiencing fatal punctures very early on in their lives, I came upon the Lithion 2. I have found that I get two seasons of heavy riding out of them without a flat. They strike a good balance between performance and durability.

Have used these tires since they first came out. Get around 2500 miles on the back and twice that on the front.

Why pay more ?

I'm very happy with my tires purchased.

I've had them for several months, 800 miles, and never had to add air. The red color adds a sharp look to my red bike. Next time I need tires I'll buy them again. Thanks

I needed to replace my tires after logging in more than 5K miles on the Vittoria Rubino Pro. I came across the Michelin Lithion 2 which was on sale. From the description, it sounds like it would need my need of a high tread count tire which offer good handling in wet pavements. I really like these tires as they are tacky on light crush gravel roads compared to the Rubino Pro. Will get another set when it's time for replacement.

I was hesitant to buy these because I had no experience with mounting a fold up type tire. A little extra effort and a few extra minutes was all it took to make these beauties my new favorite.

300 hundred miles and I got my first flat and then I realize that the back tire whas already worn out.

I have to replace them. YUK!

Bought a pair of these in 700x23 size to replace the cheap stock tires that came with my bike. It was a bit of a wrestling match installing them. Popped a tube due to a pinch (It went off like a .22!)- the solution was to install smaller diameter 18-23 mm tubes. They fit right in with no pinch troubles.

Really sharp looking color (blue) and what I feel is a substantial flat resistant tread down the center. Really stoked about these!

What a great tire 450 miles no flats rides smooth and handles well.

I love the 23 versions on my road bike and bought these for my Bianchi Volpe, which is my primary winter bike and gravel ride bike in summer. The Lithion 2 25s replaced Kenda K193 Kwest 35s from the winter. Of course these are faster than far fatter CX tires, but they're MUCH faster, corner with tenacity, offer a super-smooth ride quality, roll happily over pavement and gravel and rocks, and after the first couple of hundred miles show great resistance to both puncture and wear. I originally bought these for my Fuji road bike, but the profile is too tall and they wouldn't quite clear the seatstay bridge so I mounted them without any problem on the Bianchi. (Height from the mounting guide ring to the top of the crown is 24.5 mm.) I had a 50% success rate going tubeless. (SunRingle CR18 rims, double layer of Stan's tape, Conti Revo sealant.) Front wheel set up perfectly the first time, rear wheel never sealed properly even after multiple re-tries. Went back to tubes. Love these tires and will continue to use the 25s on my Bianchi while looking for lower-profile 25s for my Fuji.

Michelin is My brand. I liked the old PRO 2. But I had one panic stop that took an incredible amount of rubber off the tire. (I stopped and that was good.) So I went to Lithion 23s for better wear and a lower cost. The fracking industry is breaking up the roads in SW PA and the 23s were not dampening the road chatter. I went to Lithion 2 25s and no more problems. In the Northeast I got some flack about my fat rubber tires when I started. But, I managed to ride with some pretty fast bikers and the snickers stopped. I think these tires roll well and I have not had many flats. The 23s seemed prone to pinch flats at times. The lower air pressure in these make for a better ride at no loss of speed. I switched all my road bikes over to these.

Within 50 miles of installation, a minute after giving my front tire a few pumps up to 95 pounds, the tire blew off the rim with a bang. I was not on the bike, I was putting away the pump. The rear tire blew out while I was slowly ascending a hill after descending several miles quite rapidly. I felt a rubbing from the rear for two revolutions and then the tube blew. Apparently the folding bead is not gripped securely, at least by my older original rims on a 1990 Specialized Allez. In both cases the tube came out of the rims under the tire and blew open several inches along the seams of new tubes.

Since no one else mentions this problem, I will consider it the result of my particular rimtire combination. But it frightened me enough to purchase a new set of Hutchinsons to replace these tires with only 150 miles on them.

Typically I was on Service Course or Pro 4 tires, however, I thought I'd try these out to save some money. I'm happy with the switch, but I'm also light on miles so far.

I confess a brand bias to Michelin, but that doesn't always dictate my buying choices. Of the 12 or 15 pairs of tires I have on bikes at any given time, there's likely to be 12 or 15 different brands. But as a repeat buyer I come back to Michelin more often than any other brand, and the Lithion 2 illustrates why. These tires are lighter than all but racing tires, wear well, corner predictably, brake with authority, and accelerate briskly. Mounting is easy and they resist punctures well. Lithion 2s provide the performance of more expensive tires at the price of lesser models.

Michelin Lithion 2 has to be my favorite clincher tires. Besides the economical price, I found these tires to be so trustworthy. I clocked in over 5000 miles on my first pairs, during my commute and weekend rides and performed wonderfully with only a couple of punctures. I found them more durable than Pro4 and definitely way more than 4000s.

I use the Lithion for my rear tire with a Pro 3 or 4 on the fromt, I've used this combination for a couple of years now and it works great. They also look the same, so you don't have to worry about using 2 different tires. The lithion is more puncture resistant and wears well.

Fast group rides, Jr races, commuting. groups well, wears very well, seems to not flat until 2000 Mile's or so of wear. Comfort is just shy of top tier tires, at 1/3 the price. Out lives gp4000 by a long ways.

Tires look very good once mounted. They come all folded up and have a mind of their own until you get them on the rim. I am very pleased with the first 400 miles of riding across North Carolina. My week ride ended when I hit a pothole at 22 mph. The tires did not flat, but the rim was bent! Good Tires!