Tan walled clinchers

[basilic]

I have only good things to say about Grand bois tires. I currently use the 28mm, have used the 26mm before. Very supple, excellent road feel at 75 psi, no comparison with continentals eg. I have tried the EL version but have gone back to the regular version because I like to try unpaved roads sometimes and the EL gets cuts on the sidewall (in my experience). The current pair has 3K km on them, the front looks almost new, the rear has lost the thread pattern, no flats. The weight is good, 220g for a 28 iirc.
Hard to buy in Europe, Alex Singer in Paris sell them.
I have used vittoria 320 tpi tires and found them fragile, flats ++

ps no idea how they compare to paselas, never tried those

[MattD]

I have been running 25mm Veloflex masters for almost a year, on New Zealand roads. Not a lot of potholes where I am, but mostly rough chip seal. The ride is sublime over that sort of thing - despite the tyre being small for a 25mm (measures more like 24 for me on standard 14c rims. Grip seems very good - better than my old Michelin Pro4. I am running thin tubes in them (Schwalbe lightweight). I have had one puncture in the 10 months or so I have been running them. We have a lot of glass on the roads here but not much in the way of small sharp flints/thorns. The only downside is that the sidewall gets very dirty when riding in the wet weather from muck from your brake pads if you don't immediately clean them when you get home from your ride - so if you are going for gumwalls for aesthetics this is something to consider.

I want to try the 700x26 Compass Cayuse Pass next. Does this measure a true 26mm? If so, should fit in my frame fine, the old Michelin Pro4 25's I was on measured more like 27mm and fit in my frame/brakes OK.

[arizonahalfnhalf]

Was actually just looking at those Grand Bois the other day. I may have to check those out sometime!

I actually haven't ridden a set of gumwall or regular Vittoria Open Corsa's (of any variant). No particular reason, other than I've been so pleased with my current tire variety and they generally seem to run a couple bucks higher in price per tire when compared to the Veloflex. I have compared some Open Corsas (uninstalled) to the veloflexes and they're much the same size. More recently I've been looking for a bit higher volume of a tire. You can tell the Challenge Strada's are clearly much, much larger when you pull them out of the box and they're still folded up if you have them next to some of the others.

The Specialized Turbo's seem identical to the Vittoria's honestly... based purely on looks and feel of construction (I haven't ridden either so I could be talking out of my ass).. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Vittoria was producing those for them and specialized was simply slapping their logos on them. Nothing wrong with that, but why pay $80+/tire for the specialized when the Open Corsa's can be had for <$50 a tire and are so similar.

[arizonahalfnhalf]

Weights for each tire added to my first post. This is weightweenies after all!

Can't recommend the Challenge Strada's enough. Here they are on my other ride. IMO gumwalls do so much to improve the aesthetics of any bike!

[basilic]

link to previously posted weights of the GB extra-léger tires

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=122588&p=1043525#p1043525

[Marin]

BTW, I did a rolldown test of Challenge Strada Bianca (31.5mm on my rims) last night, and at 3.5 bars and with butyl (R'Air) inner tubes they roll as far as 27mm Open Pavé with Latex @ 5 bars. That's pretty good.

Need to get me some Stradas if I find them at a decent price...

[Broady]

Bontrager R4 320 look nice.

[Nefarious86]

Bit the bullet today. New slippers for the race bike...

Some fresh Turbo Cotton for the weekend Crits. [emoji3] [emoji3]

[Marin]

+1



Turbo Cottons roll better than Conti GP TT/Force in my rolldown tests btw.

[Broady]

Had a few pairs Vittoria Corsa over the past year or so, amazing ride, if not the most durable. Will probably give the new ones a go when they're out.

[Hawkwood]

I've been using the Challenge Criterium tan walls for 12 months and they've been great, just one puncture in that time and they've done a good mileage (6000km). As arizonahalfnhalf says, the Challenge Strada are much larger volume than the Criterium and supposedly more puncture resistant, just put one on the back but not had a chance to try it yet.

Challenge are a massively underrated brand imo, their tyres are as good if not better than Veloflex and Vittoria but they are still rarely seen/used.

Campagnolo + gumwalls = awesomeness

Thank you for your thorough response. I ride 23mm tires or less. And last night I found a cache of Gommaitalia Targa (22cm) at $35 and bought a bunch. I'll look into Clement. I remember when Clement used to sell pista (track) tires made of silk, they had tan sides and the most beautiful orange for rubber. Great looking bike, congrats...!!!

Clement Strada 66s bring back many happy memories of cycling in the 1970s.

[Nefarious86]

The Specialized Turbo's seem identical to the Vittoria's honestly... based purely on looks and feel of construction (I haven't ridden either so I could be talking out of my ass).. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Vittoria was producing those for them and specialized was simply slapping their logos on them. Nothing wrong with that, but why pay $80+/tire for the specialized when the Open Corsa's can be had for <$50 a tire and are so similar.

[Marin]

They are using a different rubber compound though - hired the Conti rubber guy to develop it - and it seems the tread is much more durable than Vittoria rubber.

I haven't ridden mine much, but will probably swap them over to my main wheelset soon.

[Nefarious86]

I'm keen as buggery to get out and race this weekend with them

They need to release a "training" version.

[Shogunade]

nice post, this. thx.

Oh man! I could talk about this all day!!!

I've been doing a lot of very thorough and unscientific tire testing lately. I too have a gumwall only policy (based only on aesthetics).

What are you looking for in a tire? What kind of riding do you do? Good roads in your area?

Veloflex Masters are incredible riding tires, fantastic grip, silky smooth ride. Very light. Easy to mount. But the downside them for me was they were a bit too delicate for the roads in my area, I wasn't able to get many miles out of them (maybe 700 at most for a rear). The 25mm size do measure a true 25mm when mounted on a wider firecrest shaped rim, however they have a shorter sidewall compared to other tires I've ridden. Thus they don't absorb bumps and cracks in the road as well (in my opinion). If I'm doing a nice mountain ride where I know all the roads are good, these are my go to. These are about $45 each online usually. These are usually 190-200g/tire in the 700x25 size.

Clement Strada LGG's are another top choice. Much more durable tire, but not nearly as nice of a ride or grip as the Veloflex if you're comparing the two. But, thats an important point, the clements still ride great compared to any other tire out there in my opinion. As durable as Conti GP4000S's but better ride quality and grip. Despite also being 25mm they're considerably larger overall than the veloflex 25mm. They measure 26-27mm once mounted on the same rims, but they're much taller, which I do think goes a long way when you're riding rough roads with big cracks and ruts. These are my go-to for rough road and gravel riding. These are only like $35 a pop online and last forever, which is a HUGE selling point. These are 240-250g/tire in 700x25 size.

Challenge Strada Pro's are my all time favorite tire. Last and most important. They're a great compromise between the two above. They're manufactured similarly to the Veloflex Master, but they're much beefier. A bit thicker, but much larger in size. The thicker casing does add a bit of durability when compared to the Veloflex Master, but they still retain the great supple ride and grip of the Veloflex. They key thing to know about these is they're huge for a 25mm. When mounted they're 28mm-29mm wide on a wide rim and very tall. So you have to make sure your frame has clearance for them. These can be had online in the US for $60 a pop. These are 240-250g/tire in 700x25 size (which is really like a 28mm size)

The way I choose to handle this dilemma? I just have 3 different wheelsets (they're basically all the same) with each of the three tires mounted up on each and swap according to ride!

In order of mention so you can see relative size.