User submitted reviews
Review by MPeak
Was looking at several tires that had a reflective sidewall since I do quite a bit of night riding and wanted to be better seen by motorists. My experience is now with two seasons using this tire. I purchased the 33mm size. It is slightly larger than advertised. My Specialized gravel bike takes tires up to 35mm and I had to adjust my front derailleur slightly from rubbing the tire when I needed to use the big ring. After the adjustment no problem. Weight for the tire is 435 grams on my digital scale. Checking out the reflective nature of the sidewalls, I walked 50 yards away and used my Niterider light to illuminate the tires. They are a very bright white color that will gain your attention. Ever since I have been riding with these tires, I haven't had an incident with a motorist cutting me off. In fact, they seem to be giving me a wider space because they are not used to seeing these brightly lit tires.
Overall comfort is excellent. They smooth out the road extremely well. Even at their maximum pressure. Handles well on pavement or light gravel roads. Rolling resistance seems low for a commuter tire. Not so much for a road tire. But again, this tire is not designed for racing. Tire is very quiet while rolling and corners well. Durability of the tire is excellent. Even after two seasons and several hundreds of miles of use, the tread still looks new. Flat protection is excellent so far. Haven't had a flat yet, knock on wood! Definitely an excellent commuter tire and when it does wear out, will purchase them again.
Review by Jack H.
I use these as commuting tires on my gravel bike, riding them for probably 200 miles so far. The sidewall design is eye-catching, though I can't vouch for how it shows up at night as I've not stood back to watch someone else ride my bike. It seems like it should work! That's a nice safety feature for city riding.
The tires themselves are decent. They don't have the turning performance of my tubeless gravel tires but part of that may be I've mounted them on 19.5 mm rims. I corner carefully. Wear is average so far. They are a heavier tire, which is consistent with a durable, commuting tire design. I bought these on sale and they are a good value. Gatorskins probably wear and corner a little better.
Review by Squirreldander
Riding in SW FL is sketchy no matter what you use. Motorist of every ilk are inconsiderate and inattentive down here, if not downright belligerent. But for that added measure of be seen safety, I picked up these tires. I've been riding the LIT 28mm on my BMC for...roughly 400 miles. Comfortable and no negative issues other than a mushy wobbly feeling on hard turns (could be underinflation on my part) . I believe I will try to squeeze the 32 mm tires in next purchase for non pavement paths. My 6' 190 lb. body yearns for more comfort the older I get. So far, very pleased with this purchase.
Review by SJ_Cyclist
Great deal esp. on sale. I got a pair for winter commuting on my 2013 Salsa Vaya. Got it mostly to be more visible during night rides. It's a bit fat, actually measures 35mm on my bike.
The one thing that really stood out from other commuter touring tires I've ridden over the years is that these feel super sluggish. And the bike feels a bit dead but on a positive note, they also deaden the road vibration.
I got them to be safe and the price was unbeatable on sale. I'll put up w the sluggishness and replace them w my summer tires when the winter is over.
Review by ANTHONY
These tires are on 3 different bikes I own. Great traction with a low roll reisistance.
The reflective sidewalls are amazing and will instantly dress your bike up. If there's any downside it would be that they only come in one size. I've yet to have any issues at all and I'm extremely satisfied with the tires.
Review by Harald
I picked up a pair of these tires when they were on sale. I mainly chose these tires for the reflective sidewalls for my commuter bike, though I did not expected them to be so comfortable. After about thousand miles on them, commuting and on longer rides (100k), I can only notice some wear on the rear tire (very typical). The front tire still looks like new. I bought a second pair for another bike.
Review by Anonymous
The concept is great but the tires were just to heavy to want to use even on my touring bike. They weigh over 500g each. They would be a good choice for commuting in darkness.
Review by Anonymous
The reflective aspect of this tire worked well. I was very visible and felt safer riding at night. The tire itself is good quality. I used them for the first time on a 62 mile ride through bike trails that had debris and rocks. No flats or issues with tire.
Review by clintolsen
I ride with these on my Salsa Vaya. After having tried various Continental and Vittoria models, I came across these. So far they've proven to be a great most-weather tire. The tread seems to be well equipped to avoid flatting frequently. So far I've logged 112 miles and haven't had any issues.
Review by Jef
Great tire xcept hard to go up hills. Using for trainer so when put slick on it is easier
Review by Stevebannon
I've ridden this variant of the LIT Reflex for about 14 months now. Only suffered one flat when a construction staple went all the way through the puncture belt. Other than that, these tires are rock solid. They're a bit heavy, but they roll super well and deliver worry-free puncture protection. Also, the manufacturer probably won't recommend this setup, but you could set these up tubeless on the right rim. Consult a bike shop if you're thinking about this. It will make the tires roll even faster as you'll be removing a lot of weight.
Review by Tyler
I've got about 150 miles of spring riding on these tires. Lots of sand, grit & glass on the shoulder and no flats yet. They mounted easy and feel pretty supple on the road. Reflective accents are super bright.
Excellent tire for the money.
Review by R. Booth
I recommend the LIT tire for front wheel use only. The reflectivity is best there. Less likely to puncture. I bought a pair spring 2014. Put one on the front wheel ran it for 2000 miles. Decided to put one on the rear wheel. Lasted 2 days before it punctured. Replaced it with my go to tire Conti 4 season 28mm. I usually average 1 flat a season (8-10k miles). Kept the LIT on the front. I have ridden it on gravel roads, trails and the usual roads one rides when Randonneuring. After 5k miles the tire is as expected at the end of its usefulness. The tread is square and thin the texture of the belt can be seen. The side reflective part is like thick reflective tape glued to the sidewall. It has a seam. The reflective sidewall has peeled up at the seam. I tried to super glue it back on but it did not hold so I trimmed it leaving a bit of unprotected sidewall. There is another seam where the sidewall and tread interface. This seam around the circumference has opened slightly and threads are coming loose. I will replace it with another LIT tire.
Review by Rylab
I bought these tires to put on a second wheelset for my CX bike, which I also commute on, mostly on pavement and occasional light trails, for which my normal 33mm CX tires were overkill (plus, don't want to wear those out with the daily miles).
These 28mm tires are physically closer in size to the 23mm tires on my road bike, than the 33mm CX tires - yet, they are much closer in comfort level on the street to the CX tires, especially while accelerating and hitting expansion joints, train tracks, etc. I got to put them through the rain challenge already on my commute yesterday, and they were very confidence inspiring, even through deep puddles. Add to that, the astoundingly reflective sidewalls with a nice design, which I'm sure really do help with safety on my evening commutes, and we have ourselves a real winner here.
Very excited to see if these hold up as well as past commuting tires I've used - can't say for sure yet, but all signs point to yes. Even if they don't last as long as other tires, for the price and benefits, they likely still will be worth repeating.
Review by bybike
Bought this tire during LIT's crowd funding campaign on CrowdSupply.com. The tire looks a lot like a Gatorskin but feels a bit more supple on the bike. I've never been into riding tires with reflective sidewalls, partly because I didn't think they really helped that much. Most reflective sidewalls have such narrow reflective stripes they can only be seen if you're riding perpendicular to a car so but when I saw the video demo I had to give them a try. Wow, they really make a difference with visibility at night. Most reflective sidewalls can only be seen from the side. The LIT tires are visible almost head on and from behind which makes them much more useful for night-time riding. I haven't been riding these long, but so far they have held up well and survived several run-ins with glass.
Review by EJ Levy
Highly visable this LIT is an excellent handling tire with a supple feel and decent endurance as I get about 2500 miles on them. The 28 profile allows for comfortable sojourns on dirt segments or smoothing out rougher asphalt. The illumiated sidewall seems to glow and is a great looking tire. It looks particularky good on my titanium frame. 100 lbs of pressure at max is where I pump it at 180 lbs for me. While I have them on my single speed, which I ride more than any of my bikes, it is not a race tire per se but feels like one nevertheless.
Review by dmv22lpd
In buying the LIT, I got greater comfort from switching to a wider tire, and the added safety from the reflective sidewalls! The drivers in SWFL are so dangerous between the clogged roadways and inattention, that you need every advantage. The reflective sidewalls offer that added safety margin. The wider 28mm tire is a departure from my typical 20mm, but by choice and I am extremely satisfied.
I only have about 1K miles logged with them, but so far so good. The paved roads down here are made with crushed shell, so it shreds the best of tires in a fraction of the time as elsewhere...so I'm not counting on great tread wear. Tires from Conti, Vredest, Mich, and IRC don't last long either.
I've had no flats to this point, and we are pretty much relegated to road shoulders, which are littered with debris and glass. So they appear as durable as any other.
I'm going to try 32mm next, just to see if they'll squeeze in on my BMC's frame and fork.
Review by Sirrus Rider
The lit 360 has got the widest reflective band of all commuting tires and it pays off. Compared to other cyclist running reflective sidewalls riding a bike with these tires like riding on a light cycle from Tron. I run full fenders and panniers and even the rear tire is still significantly visible. The only night writers that I know of that are more visible are those that are using monkey lights.
Durability of these tires are acceptable I've run over glass and other debris without issue. The only time I have flatted was when I hit a very large rock at a very rapid speed and I don't think any tire would've prevented that De-airing. So far I've run this particular set for over 2000 miles and they still have the nubs on.
Review by MotiveForcer
I have a Guru Veloci Ti that I have built up with single speed elements. I love to ride and train on this bike and take it nearly everywhere which means riding on paved and dirt roads here in the NW suburbs of Detroit. Putting 28's on this bike is a tight squeeze between the chain stays but they work. They are fast and subtle feeling on the road and able to handle the dirt too. I've got over 1000 miles on this set already and there appears to be plenty of tread left even on the rear tire so far.
I like the way it handles into a turn and on the straights. It feels light and at about 250 grams (I haven't verified the weight) it rolls nicely and has stood up to some dirt road abuse. The reflective sidewall, besides looking cool on my titanium frame almost glows when a light hits it. I ride this bike often in the evenings so the reflective sidewall gives me a little more confidence that I'll be seen.
It installed easily on my Ksyrium Mavics and overall, especially with prices here on BTD, I'm very happy with the overall value.
Review by Misplacedyank
Purchased these for my commuter, a Specialized Secteur. I've only got 100 miles on these but they roll well and feel good on hot asphalt and cement roads. Since I'm in Phoenix AZ I have no idea how they will be in the wet but love the reflectorized sidewalls. Anything that helps the daydreaming car drivers see me is welcome. When I get more miles I'll update this review on the durability and flat protection.