Bora One 50 Clincher vs Bora WTO 45

[KSP498]

So in the not to near future I’m planning on upgrading my wheels to Bora’s. Narrowed it down to Bora 50 Clincher or Bora WTO 45. I’m about 88kg and the bike is a Colnago C59 size 63 traditional Nero. Currently running Record hubs and H Plus Son TB14 with a 17 internal width. I have enough clearance for Vittoria Corsa 23mm tires (measures right at 25mm on the TB14 rim). Tried a 25mm GP4000 (which actually measured 27mm) just to check clearance and there’s rub on the front fork. Plan on running clinchers on whatever wheel I get and if I get the WTO after everyone’s suggestions I may try tubeless. However really being limited with 23mm tires on wide rims, there isn’t a lot of options besides Vittoria Speed (not a daily driver) and Pro One’s. Plus a 23mm on the WTO 19mm internal has me questioning if that’s worth doing. Pretty windy here in Lexington, KY in the spring time with gust up to 20-25MPH. Just wondering your guys thoughts.

Thanks Austin

[Nejmann]

I’m on the same bike, same color and size on Bora one 50 with 23mm Vittoria Corsa. Works like a charm and they come in about 25mm and fit well.

[KSP498]

Nice

[guyc]

Can you run 25’s?

[Calnago]

I think I’d stick with the Boras and the 17mm internal width for that frame. Throw on some nice Specialized Turbo Cotton tires (24mm), and I expect you’d have a fantastic riding wheel. The Conti 400Osii’s sit very tall in a 25mm and even on a standard width rim of 15mm there’s not enough useable clearance for my liking. I run 25mm Veloflex tubulars on Boras and they fit the C59 just fine with ample clearance. But that’s a tubular and clinchers can be all over the board depending on which tire rim combo you have. I’m going to guess that with the 17mm internal width of the Boras that the 24mm Specialized turbo cottons might just be the best all round combo you could possibly get for your particular bike. A friend of mine has some Shamal Ultras (17mm internal width) and I have a set of 24mm Turbo Cottons. He’s off doing the MS150 this weekend but perhaps next week I will snag his wheels and throw these tires on them and put them in my C59 since I’m now curious myself if this combo would work. I think the 19mm internal width of the WTO’s may be just a little too much to use anything bigger than a 23mm tire in that frame but I don’t have access to one to check it out.

[KSP498]

Calnago,
Thanks. What’s your opinion of the Bora One vs WTO? I know I can run the WTO as just a clincher but in your opinion is it alright to run a 23mm tire on a 19c rim? I know I would be stuck with a 23/24mm tire regardless of what wheel I get. No desire to turn it into a beach cruiser anyways. There’s not a lot of weight/price between the two sets and didn’t know if the WTO rim shape would be better in crosswinds.

[romanmoser]

yes it would

[KSP498]

Safe to run a 23mm clincher on a 19c rim?

[Calnago]

Calnago,
Thanks. What’s your opinion of the Bora One vs WTO? I know I can run the WTO as just a clincher but in your opinion is it alright to run a 23mm tire on a 19c rim? I know I would be stuck with a 23/24mm tire regardless of what wheel I get. No desire to turn it into a beach cruiser anyways. There’s not a lot of weight/price between the two sets and didn’t know if the WTO rim shape would be better in crosswinds.

I think they’re both great wheelsets, but I don’t have any personal experience with the WTO. Just going on the fact they’re basically the same construction with good hubs/bearings, G3 lacing etc as the boras. I just don’t know how a 23mm tire would fit on the 19mm internal width rim. And not at all sure how big it would be height-wise on the WTO so you may still have a clearance issue but I just don’t know. I do think the 17mm internal width with the size of tire you could reasonable expect to fit in your frame would be a great match and feel good on the road. I put very little stock in the aero aspect of the “105% rule” in that the tire width should be a little less than the rim width for maximum aero benefit. Ride quality, handling and simply a little protection for the rim are of far greater importance to me. There’s always only going to be so much tire volume you can run in your frame anyway. Just not sure how it will all stack up with the combos you’re looking at. Would love a set of WTO’s just to experiment with these kinds of things myself. Personally I think I’d want at least a 25mm clincher in a 19mm internal width rim. Just seems a better match. A build I’m doing in the future may use them and if so, I’ll be sure to test out a few combinations in the C59. Wish I could be more definitive than that.

[KSP498]

Yeah sorta my thinking too. Look forward to your next build. I always enjoy them.

[FlemishCompact]

FWIW, I ran 25mm veloflex masters on enve 4.5 rims with my colnago c60 and the clearance was sufficient.

Enve 4.5’s have 18.5 mm internal width at the front and 17 mm at the rear.

[KSP498]

Different fork on the C59. I believe the C60 was designed for 25mm tires.

[FlemishCompact]

From what i remember, 25mm Schwalbe one, conti gp4000’s , and Victoria Corsa g we’re all too tall for the fork. Maybe they changed something with between 2015 and 2018.

[Calnago]

C60 has more clearance than C59 both front and back, although the last run of C59’s shares the clearance of the C60 fork, so the rear became the limiting factor for that run. A Conti 4000sii on one of the wide ENVE front rims won’t even spin in the C59 fork.

[nickstea]

Hi Cal, question on this topic (and I respect your opinion on all things Colnago)...
I’m currently building up a BDBL C64 disc and I want to do Bora wheels to do an all Italian theme.
I didn’t know much about Boras before recently. I think I’m going to go with the Bora One because I want a shallow wheel (I’ll go with the 35mm). My other option is the WTO, but they are 45mm. Why is there now Ultra in disc? What wold you recommend for a colnago c64 disc build. Is there significant difference between Bora and Ultra?


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