turbo cotton

[billendk]

I have been a long time user of s works turbo cotton in 26mm, i am very happy with them and want to try the 28mm. Anybody with experience in this size? Im thinking of rolling resistence and i hope they have a little more comfort.


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[RyanH]

What pressure are you running the 26mm at? Latex or butyl? What's your weight? The 26mm should be very comfortable as those tires are very supple.

[guyc]

Yep. I’ve put 800 miles on the 28mm’s and absolutely love them. The roads around here are poor to say the least and they help take the sting out of them.

Worth bearing in mind that the 28mm’s aren’t just bigger. They’re a bit more resilient and the tread goes further around the block than the 24/26’s.

RR remains excellent. I run mine with latex tubes.

[Beaver]

And what is the inner width of the rims you are using? Already 21mm? A wider tire on the same rim will be more comfortable - with a lower pressure - but also more squishy and rolling resistance will increase. With a wider rim your 26mm tire will have more stability, width and volume and you can run the same low pressure without performance sacrifices.

[Hexsense]

And what is the inner width of the rims you are using? Already 21mm? A wider tire on the same rim will be more comfortable - with a lower pressure - but also more squishy and rolling resistance will increase. With a wider rim your 26mm tire will have more stability, width and volume and you can run the same low pressure without performance sacrifices.

21mm internal is very sufficient to handle 28c. It's 28c on 15mm internal width that is problematic.
And Specialized tire run small anyway. So i'd say use 28c in the rear (for comfort) and 26c in the front (for aero).

edit: fixed typo

[Calnago]

Can anyone tell me how the 24mm and 26mm Tubular Turbo Cottons compare in size to say, a Veloflex 25mm Tubular (Arrenberg or Roubaix)?
Thanks!

[Beaver]

They come in a little smaller than other brands - but what inner width of the rim are we talking about? Most Tubulars are as wide as claimed, Clinchers vary a lot by rim width.

[Calnago]

Thanks... I’m only asking about the tubulars. I realize it’s a crap shoot with clinchers and highly dependent on the rim width. Not so much with tubulars. I will ultimately try these tires for myself, just wondering if anyone’s got any definitive answers. Since the Veloflex Roubaixs went from a 24mm to a 25mm width, there wasn’t much out there in the 24mm range. So I thought the Turbo Cottons might be a good alternative based on just what I’ve heard and read.

[billendk]

What pressure are you running the 26mm at? Latex or butyl? What's your weight? The 26mm should be very comfortable as those tires are very supple.

80kg and 88psi rear and 83 front. Latex tube on enve 4.5 ses.

I switch the tire today, to a hunt aero 50 carbon wheelset and they come out at 28mm.

Think i will try to lower the pressure about 10psi and see how that feel.


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[RyanH]

@billendk

That pressure seems reasonable and you're already running latex, so that eliminated my first two suggestions.

@calnago
I've heard wet weather grip isn't that great, so keep that in mind. I also know that puncture protection is pretty bad. Tonytourist got about 5 punctures in like 7 rides. My friend went to their Sl6 launch event and he said Specialized went through 70 turbo cottons that day.

With that being said, if you do end up trying them, please share how they compare to Veloflex's 25mm offerings. Thank you Mr Guinea pig.

[Imaking20]

I think Mr. Tourist just aims for glass on his rides. I spent a year or so exclusively on Specialized tires and found the Turbo Cottons to have better grip and puncture protection that Vittoria CX for sure. The regular Turbo is a slightly different story as the sidewalls can be a little fragile - still a tire I'd recommend. I found that both threads wore in a more aesthetically pleasing way than Vittoria (meaning they dont cut up like mad).

As for the size comparison, I didn't realize Specialized was actually offering a tubular version of the Cotton. I know the Turbo all around tubular is pretty true to size in both 24 and 26mm. Tread on them is a little softer than Arenberg and the tires are a little heavier. I wish I had more experimenting time on them but can only say I though they were fine. Nothing alarming.

As for going from 26 to 28 clincher... there was a recent GCN video where they ran 23, 25, and 28mm tires on a number of cobbled sectors in Flanders. I'd give it a watch. Spoiler alert: the 28 wasn't faster anywhere and the testers agreed that they didn't feel as much difference in comfort as they expected

[dim]

@billendk

That pressure seems reasonable and you're already running latex, so that eliminated my first two suggestions.

@calnago
I've heard wet weather grip isn't that great, so keep that in mind. I also know that puncture protection is pretty bad. Tonytourist got about 5 punctures in like 7 rides. My friend went to their Sl6 launch event and he said Specialized went through 70 turbo cottons that day.

With that being said, if you do end up trying them, please share how they compare to Veloflex's 25mm offerings. Thank you Mr Guinea pig.

Of all the tyres that I have ever used, Turbo Cottons are my all time favourite

I have used them (24's) as my daily commuter tyres during last year's/this year's winter and I average approx 220km/week commuting .... I used the tyres for close to 2000km with only one puncture (a big staple that would have punctured a Marathon Plus)

Grip is like glue in the wet .... amazing tyres and I have another set for my fast bike and will fit them as soon as my IRC tubeless tyres need replacing

buy them .... you won't be disappointed .... I ride them for just over 2000km then replace them (so you wont get as many miles as on tyres such as GP4000, but it's like comparing chalk and cheese, and I don't mind paying a bit extra for comfort and speed

On my HED Belgium plus rims, the 24's measure close to 27mm wide

[nachetetm]

As for going from 26 to 28 clincher... there was a recent GCN video where they ran 23, 25, and 28mm tires on a number of cobbled sectors in Flanders. I'd give it a watch. Spoiler alert: the 28 wasn't faster anywhere and the testers agreed that they didn't feel as much difference in comfort as they expected

I greatly disagree with your conclusions from that video. One of the riders was two seconds faster on 28 than on 25.... on a 3:45 minute ride. On an hour ride that will be 32 seconds. We can claim it is not much for someone not racing but most of the times aero wheels give less advantage for a much bigger expense, as using a wider tire is a free upgrade. 28c is also a bit more comfortable over 3:45 minutes ride. In a three hours ride the difference will be very substantial.

The other rider found the opposite result, 25c was two seconds faster than 28c... but there is a catch, addressed in a second video. When they try different tire sizes they do it at the same pressure, 71psi, which would be perhaps optimal for a 25 tire. But in the other video they take the 28c and try different pressures. Dropping from 70psi to 45psi, something allowed by the bigger air volume of the 28c tire gives about 10 seconds gain in a two minute ride! This is five minutes on an hour ride! And the gain in comfort is again very substantial dropping from 70 to 45 psi.

To me the conclusions are very clear from those videos. When the road is rough, 28c are much more comfortable and much faster. There is much more to gain going wider than going aero. With smoother tarmac that may be different, but in a ride with changing tarmac, I am sure at the end it is faster the wider tire versus the narrower.

[TonyM]

Since years I use Veloflex Corsa clincher tires 23/25mm or Vittoria Open Corsa (not G+) clincher tires 23/25mm.

I will also try this summer the turbo cotton clincher tires (24/26mm). I actually don’t expect to feel that much difference but it is just in order to be sure I don’t miss something...

[Marin]

The Turbo Cottons don't feel different to the old Corsas - they have the same casing - but they are significantly faster.