Help Choosing tires - Vittoria, Veloflex, Continental

[arcadian]

I am trying to decide what tires to buy. I am currently on Continental Attack/Force combo which I like very well on smooth roads. I have some rougher gravel roads which these tires are pretty poor, they are very narrow. I was running Challenge Elites last year and they were great tires as far as ride quality until the tread separated from the casing. They were listed as 23mm but they seemed closer to 25mm. They did quite well on the road and gravel although they didn't seem to roll as fast as the continental force/attacks combo. The black chili compound is really good and I would consider just buying a set of 4000 in 25mm, but I wouldn't mind trying something different.

I am not overly hard on tires, not many flats at all. I weight 147 if that helps.

I am a fan of skin wall tires.

Options are

Veloflex Masters - I understand that they are probably the smoothest riding clincher out there, but I am a little concerned about the width and durability.

Vittoria Evo SC - Seem pretty similar to the veloflex, same concerns on width and durability

Continental 4000 23 skinwall or 25 - I kind of wish they made a 25 skinwall, but I haven't seen them

Vittoria Pave - These would fit the bill pretty well other than the green stripe, but I would consider them.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[oldpotatoe]

I am trying to decide what tires to buy. I am currently on Continental Attack/Force combo which I like very well on smooth roads. I have some rougher gravel roads which these tires are pretty poor, they are very narrow. I was running Challenge Elites last year and they were great tires as far as ride quality until the tread separated from the casing. They were listed as 23mm but they seemed closer to 25mm. They did quite well on the road and gravel although they didn't seem to roll as fast as the continental force/attacks combo. The black chili compound is really good and I would consider just buying a set of 4000 in 25mm, but I wouldn't mind trying something different.

I am not overly hard on tires, not many flats at all. I weight 147 if that helps.

I am a fan of skin wall tires.

Options are

Veloflex Masters - I understand that they are probably the smoothest riding clincher out there, but I am a little concerned about the width and durability.

Vittoria Evo SC - Seem pretty similar to the veloflex, same concerns on width and durability

Continental 4000 23 skinwall or 25 - I kind of wish they made a 25 skinwall, but I haven't seen them

Vittoria Pave - These would fit the bill pretty well other than the green stripe, but I would consider them.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Remember all the tires you mentioned are designed to be raced on with the associated characteristics of racing tires. Less weight, stickier, shorter tread life, etc.

Might look at 25c Rubino Pros, 25c Conti Ultra race as well. Great tires, less $, very durable, etc.

I've had Rubino Pros on my rain bike for almost a year(doesn't rain much here) and they work well.

[arcadian]

Remember all the tires you mentioned are designed to be raced on with the associated characteristics of racing tires. Less weight, stickier, shorter tread life, etc.

Might look at 25c Rubino Pros, 25c Conti Ultra race as well. Great tires, less $, very durable, etc.

I've had Rubino Pros on my rain bike for almost a year(doesn't rain much here) and they work well.


You are certainly correct about all of these being race tires. I guess I was thinking i would prefer to have a better riding tire, which I was equating to a racier tire. I would put durability lower in priority, but I don't want something that is a constant problem.

Thanks for your suggestion

[AngryScientist]

for the riding you describe, i'd say go with the vittoria open paves. these are the tires the pros ride in the classics, and are designed to be ridden over varying surfaces. i have a set i use on my cross bike when the going isnt too tough, and i highly recommend them.

[wasfast]

Veloflex Masters are a lighter version of the Pave/Corsa 22. Those are fairly light tires for normal roads. I'd recommend against the Masters as they're even more fragile.

[veloduffer]

A more expensive option is to get a set of wheels with wider (23mm) rims, like the HED C2 or Velocity A23. With the wider profile, a 23mm tire rides more like a 25mm tire on a 19mm rim, but is more aero (ever so slightly), better feel (more like a tubular) and better grip/handling on turns.

Do a search on this forum on HED or A23 and the praise is almost universal.

[arcadian]

Veloflex Masters are a lighter version of the Pave/Corsa 22. Those are fairly light tires for normal roads. I'd recommend against the Masters as they're even more fragile.


Isn't the master the same thing as the pave? I thought the weights were the same from the master to the corsa.

[arcadian]

A more expensive option is to get a set of wheels with wider (23mm) rims, like the HED C2 or Velocity A23. With the wider profile, a 23mm tire rides more like a 25mm tire on a 19mm rim, but is more aero (ever so slightly), better feel (more like a tubular) and better grip/handling on turns.

Do a search on this forum on HED or A23 and the praise is almost universal.


Yeah - wouldn't mind building some wheels up with the wider rims, but that is not in the cards right now.


The section of gravel are not that long, so I don't want to have my setup completely geared towards super rough roads just looking for a good compromise.

[axel23]

Veloflex tires are fantastic: supple and the most like tubulars in their feel.

Branding is confusing: Pave, Master, Black (and that's not necessarily referring to the color). No matter. A great tire. Feels right and performs great. As with all light weight tires, they will wear quickly, especially for heavier riders. I've had no issue with punctures. It's worth stretching them before mounting.

If you don't know their history, it makes for interesting reading. Still made in Italy.

[Joachim]

80% of my daily riding is done on Vittoria Open Pave's. I'm sure there are longer lasting tires out there, but for me they have the best reliability /comfort ratio.

[arcadian]

Veloflex tires are fantastic: supple and the most like tubulars in their feel.

Branding is confusing: Pave, Master, Black (and that's not necessarily referring to the color). No matter. A great tire. Feels right and performs great. As with all light weight tires, they will wear quickly, especially for heavier riders. I've had no issue with punctures. It's worth stretching them before mounting.

If you don't know their history, it makes for interesting reading. Still made in Italy.

Great info - do they measure true to width? 22mm seems a little slim.

[axel23]

Yes, I think they are fairly true to size, especially when compared to the Michelin Pro Race 23s on my other bike. Nevertheless, I haven't had any issues arising from the narrowness. At your weight (same as mine), I don't think you have much to worry about.

By comparison, my wife has been riding them for years and won't use anything else. At her feather weight (115), they last a very long time.

[bigman]

You might be interested in checking out Torelli open tubular clincher tires, they have tan sidewalls ride very nice - I have not used mine enough to comment on longevity.

[Fivethumbs]

I have ridden the Veloflex Master 22s, Vittoria Corsa Evo CX, Vittoria Rubino III, Conti GP 4000, Michelin ProRace 3 and Optimo. My favorites have been the Michelins with Conti coming close second. I did not like the Veloflex and the Vittorias were just okay.

[lhuerta]

Vittoria Pave with latex tubes....hard to find a better riding and durable tire/tube combo.
Lou

[Gothard]

The Veloflex Blacks area amazing. I also ride the Conti Force/Attack combo, but when bombing down a mountain pass, the Blacks are one level better,regardless of road conditions.

[arcadian]

I am confused. I thought you guys would all tell me the same answer. :)

[EDS]

I am a big dan of Schwalbe tires. Ultremo DD is a great training tire - durable and highly resistent to cuts/punctures. Mount up easy too which is great in the winter if you do do get a puncture.

[evo111@comcast.net]

I have been a big fan of the Continental 4000 for daily use. They have held up well - 23 mm width may try 25 mm next.

[axel23]

I am confused. I thought you guys would all tell me the same answer. :)

Really? You thought an equipment question would yield the same answer? Just the way we all agree on Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM? Seriously, we still haven't decided among steel, ti, aluminum, or carbon.

You'll just have to experiment and reach your own conclusions. At least with tires it's not a lifelong commitment.

[Lovetoclimb]

Logged 700+ miles with some 10+ mile long gravel climbs in the Rockies back in August. New roads, old roads, dirt roads, gravel roads. They handle it all and still look and feel great. I recently took them off to "save" for when Cincinnati begins getting too liberal with salt during winter road maintenance. They are 24mm but look and feel like 25mm.

Never tried myself, but some of my teammates swear by their Continental 4-Seasons in 25mm. This time of year on normal road conditions I roll on 23mm GP-4000s. Backup wheels from race season . . .

[tele]

have had great luck with GP4000s in 25mm. I think they roll pretty well and have been tough on the crappy roads around here. Tough to mount but worth it, I have been getting at least 3k miles out of them.

[wasfast]

I am confused. I thought you guys would all tell me the same answer. :)

Where you intend to ride them gives you different answers. Most all of the light (<200g) tires are for road racing on decent roads, criteriums, etc. They're not going to last well on gravel roads. They corner well and are fast because they have softer compounds. The flip side is that they can cut easily and wear quickly. Riding them in the gravel is asking for trouble. I get considerable cuts and slits from riding on relatively smooth roads with the rear lasting perhaps 1500 miles at best.

The Veloflex scheme has 2 lines of essentially the same tire, just with different color sidewalls. Pave/Master/Corsa/Record are the gum wall. Briefly, the Pave became the Black which confused folks. Now, the black sidewall version is called the Corsa 22. The Pave designation implies a P-R rough service type of tire from it's name but it's anything but at 180g.

I used Pro 3's then Pave/Black's for some years (like 5 sets), tried some Vittoria Open Corsa 320tpi's which were pretty similar to the Veloflex but wore slightly faster. I had Conti 4000s on my training wheels and for the tested Crr, they last pretty well. Right now, I bought some Schwlabe Durano's as they were cheap.

Bottomline, I'd try the 4000s in 25 or even the Gatorskin if you really want a more durable tire.

[SpeedyChix]

"I am not overly hard on tires, not many flats at all. I weight 147 if that helps.
I am a fan of skin wall tires. "

Veloflex Paves. They rock, are wider than their stated width being closer to 25. Have ridden these for years (about 20 lbs lighter than you) but have run them over surfaces and 'roads' that some might consider 'marginal', I've not had any trouble with em.

If you can forego the skinwalls the Vittoria Corsa Evo CX can be had in a slightly wider casing and also ride nice.

Both are ride rather than durability tires. I've taken both over some pretty rough gravel, roads that double as stream bottoms and two track. The times I've gotten flats it's been from small stuff on damp smooth paved roads after a rain.

[arcadian]

Thanks for all the replies. I was just joking when I said that I thought everyone would have the same opinion. Sometimes that doesn't come through when typed.


Lots of good info here. Advocates for all the options that I have offered except the Vittoria EVO SC's. They are a newer tire that may be why.

Here the tires that i have tried and my impressions

Vittoria Open Corsa EVO-KX - 23mm - Ride well, but wear pretty fast - no real issues except they are yellow

Continental 4000 25mm blue - Big difference in the non-chili compound tires to me. These ride ok, but not even close to the 4000S.

Continental 4000s 23mm - Probably the best compromise that I have tried. Ride really well and roll fast. I did cut the rear with about 150 miles on it, which sucked. So the sidewalls may be a weak. The rubber separates from the bead as well. Not sure if this is a problem, but I didn't like it.

Continental Attack/Force - Pretty similar to the 4000S, but the front feels smaller, which it is supposed to be.

Hutchinson Fusion - Pretty bad, cut easily and didn't ride that well.

Maxxis Fuse - Ride pretty well for a training tire, but I didn't get great mileage on it. Had to lock the rear brake up once and it scrubbed a nice section of rubber down to the cords. Not really the tires fault, but I have done this on other tires without ruining them

Maxxis Detonator - Great training tire that won't die. I may have 6000 miles on one that has seen alot of work as a rear tire. It is on the trainer now.

Challenge Elite 23mm - great riding tire that is very poor quality. They were cheap but I think they are dangerous.

Michelin ProRace 3 - 23mm - Not a fan at all, I couldn't get them to mount on any of my wheels easily. It may have been for that reason that I didn't give them a chance and sent them packing.

Not really sure why I wrote all of this, but just wanted to give my past experience.

Again thanks for your help. Looking for the perfect tire.