Sunday, May 23, 2010

These boots are made for running

The tires of my bike got recently replaced.

From Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX to Continental GP4000S. Continental is a popular tire brand for motorcycles. The Vittoria on the other hand is a pillar in cycling, you go see the spring classics Vittoria tires abound, go see a professional tour, yep you'll see them. Go to a local crit, and yep you'll see them!

The Vittoria is very very supple. From what I read the casing is designed for tubulars. Suppleness of the casing affects better ride quality as the tire will be able to stretch some when it hits holes and/or bumps. The tread compound on these specific tires were on the soft side, 2500Km and my rear tire's center tread is already flat, the sides are still good. (Yes I do mostly flat runs, minimal crazy descents) Had just 1 flat with these babies, and I didn't even notice the flat till I was at home (rode on flat tires, grinding my rim arrrgh). The tire is rated at 115-145psi. I use 120-130 most of the time.

I am new with the Conti's but I've heard many good things about them. The thing I noticed after unboxing them is the suppleness. Not as supple as the Vittorias. The tread seems to be also slightly thicker (ie more rubber). What it lacks in suppleness, is offset my its relatively low pressure requirements, 90-120psi!

Both were easy to work with. I removed the tires with minimal effort without tire levers but with the suppleness of the Vittoria, it is the clear winner.

I've ridden around < 200km on the the Conti's and it does not feel different from the Vittoria. Easy to get up to speed, good grip while cornering. Nice on the butt, since I now use 100-110psi (@70kg!). Not yet tested on wet roads.

I originally put the Conti's on my other wheel (Shimano WH-RS10, came with the bike) and later moved them to the Mavics. I love the feeling of the Mavics/Contis more but I can't feel any difference from my Mavic/Vittoria combo. There is definite difference with Shimano/Contis and Mavic/Contis, I feel it when accelerating.


BTW the Continentals are just about the same price as the Vittoria, ~70-80USD a piece!!!

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