Veloflex to the rescue!

[Formulasaab]

I've often said that Veloflex makes my favorite road tires. I should listen to myself more often it seems.

I've got this one bike that I really want to like, but it is so unstable at speed and when descending that I am afraid to get out of the drops. I won't ride as close to the edge of the road because I don't feel confident I can stay out of the ditch. I am uncomfortable and worried when trying to tuck for descending speed.

I changed a few things about the cockpit without improvement and had pretty much convinced myself that I had the wrong rake fork on there (the original having been removed and traded away by the previous owner). Then yesterday when prepping for a ride I noticed a cut in the sidewall of one of the tires.

The tires that were on the bike (one now with a cut and unusable) are Schwalbe Ultremo ZX (in size 23). It is their top of the line tire and by all accounts, a good one. As I didn't have a direct replacement available I switched to a new set of Veloflex Corsa (in size 25).

I just came back from the first ride on the Veloflexes with this bike and it is a revelation. The bike is now stable and tracks straight and true!

Of course, there was a dimension change by switching from 23s to 25s so that's something to keep in mind... But as a single data point, the difference in bike feel was DRAMATIC.

YMMV

[djg]

I've often said that Veloflex makes my favorite road tires. I should listen to myself more often it seems.

I've got this one bike that I really want to like, but it is so unstable at speed and when descending that I am afraid to get out of the drops. I won't ride as close to the edge of the road because I don't feel confident I can stay out of the ditch. I am uncomfortable and worried when trying to tuck for descending speed.

I changed a few things about the cockpit without improvement and had pretty much convinced myself that I had the wrong rake fork on there (the original having been removed and traded away by the previous owner). Then yesterday when prepping for a ride I noticed a cut in the sidewall of one of the tires.

The tires that were on the bike (one now with a cut and unusable) are Schwalbe Ultremo ZX (in size 23). It is their top of the line tire and by all accounts, a good one. As I didn't have a direct replacement available I switched to a new set of Veloflex Corsa (in size 25).

I just came back from the first ride on the Veloflexes with this bike and it is a revelation. The bike is now stable and tracks straight and true!

Of course, there was a dimension change by switching from 23s to 25s so that's something to keep in mind... But as a single data point, the difference in bike feel was DRAMATIC.

YMMV

I like Veloflex tires too, but I don't think any bike is going to go from dodgy handling to great handling just because you change the brand of tire. If you've got a damaged or fundamentally defective tire, sure -- an embolism in a sidewall, a wobble, what have you -- something going wrong every darn revolution can mess you up. I'm not surprised you found a cut in one, but sometimes there's just a manufacturing defect in a tire (or a tube). Yeah, a great tire will have that supple grippy feel in the corners and I'm not about to talk anybody out of Veloflex tubulars if he or she is comfortable with the price. I like good tires way better than cheap ones myself. But you don't need to spend 60 or 80 or 100 bucks to get a tire that's basically round and sound. Maybe the 25 helped, maybe a change in pressure, but I have to think that something was wrong with the old tires.

[rustychisel]

I like Veloflex tires too, but I don't think any bike is going to go from dodgy handling to great handling just because you change the brand of tire. If you've got a damaged or fundamentally defective tire, sure -- an embolism in a sidewall, a wobble, what have you -- something going wrong every darn revolution can mess you up. I'm not surprised you found a cut in one, but sometimes there's just a manufacturing defect in a tire (or a tube). Yeah, a great tire will have that supple grippy feel in the corners and I'm not about to talk anybody out of Veloflex tubulars if he or she is comfortable with the price. I like good tires way better than cheap ones myself. But you don't need to spend 60 or 80 or 100 bucks to get a tire that's basically round and sound. Maybe the 25 helped, maybe a change in pressure, but I have to think that something was wrong with the old tires.

+ 1 to all.

As a regular Veloflex user, this is soundly reasoned

[Tony]

+ 1 to all.

As a regular Veloflex user, this is soundly reasoned

+2 to all

[bking]

i ride veloflex and shwalbe zx, both very good tires. would not account for even slight change in handling.

[hida yanra]

having ridden a bunch of schwalbes, with nicer stuff thrown inbetween for good measure- sounds like a tyre problem with the first sample in your set.

+whatever to the others.

Veloflexes are REAL nice, but they aren't a new bike.

[Formulasaab]

For what it is worth, the cut was in the sidewall of the rear Schwalbe and was not there in previous pre-ride inspections.

I agree that this whole thing sounds a bit "too much", but if it was a small or fractional difference, I wouldn't have felt compelled to post about it. It really did surprise me!

I hadn't considered that perhaps there was something actually wrong with *my particular* set of Ultremo's (or most specifically my front Ultremo) but I am certainly sympathetic to the idea that a manufacturing defect would be a more palatable explanation than some magical quality to my Veloflex tires.

By the way, these are both clinchers and the Veloflex Corsa 25 can be found for less than $50 per tire on sale. The Ultremo's cost just as much if I recall correctly.

Tire pressures certainly did change. I ran 110 in the Ultremo 23s and 100 in the Veloflex 25s.

I freely admit that a single data point with multiple variables is nothing close to definitive... But posted this anecdotal experience with the thought that perhaps someone else had a bike that they were struggling with the straight line stability on and perhaps my experience could help.

[Formulasaab]

In retrospect, it might be better to think of this change in tires in terms of changing tire features rather than tire brands?

The Ultremo ZX is a slick tire in size 23. Schwalbe has an odd way of reporting their TPI so it is difficult to compare directly with other manufacturers. In terms of weight, it is almost identical to the Veloflex Corsa. 5 or 10 grams here or there isn't going to change much.

The Veloflex has a traditional file-look tread and in this case, was a 25 size.

I don't know how much it might matter, but the wheels in question are 23 wide.

[bobswire]

Size does matter (in this case) as well as pressure giving you a feeling of confidence. I noticed a change in handling and comfort going from Panaracer T-Serv 28mm to Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech 28mm. The Vittoria just seem to ride better thus giving me more confidence in downhill tracking. I pretty much ride in an urban environment but with lots of hills and climbing, so I want a semi meaty tire that's is not too weighty yet nice handling for descending.
I ride them within 85-90 psi.

For the rode I prefer Vittoria Pave but love Veloflex also.

[Formulasaab]

I originally bought the Ultremo's for the entirely subjective reason of looks. They come in a variety of colors, two of which matched my bike AND my team kit colors. I will be very sorry to let that go so might try the 25mm size Ultremo's and see if that works for me.

[Formulasaab]

I should also mention that like many of us here, I have lots of bikes and a fair bit of variety. I have ones with as small as 19mm tires on up through 28mm and everything in between (tubular and clincher). I have never experienced a bike that was this unstable at speed.

[djg]

I originally bought the Ultremo's for the entirely subjective reason of looks. They come in a variety of colors, two of which matched my bike AND my team kit colors. I will be very sorry to let that go so might try the 25mm size Ultremo's and see if that works for me.

You could buy one, slap it on the front wheel, and see what happens. Or -- as much as I stand behind what I posted above -- you could just stick with what works for you. There's nothing wrong with what you got, and if you like it, you like it.

[fa63]

My Corsa 25 tires measure 22.8 mm, so not sure any of the difference comes from size either (unless the Ultremo are also significantly undersized).