Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX 320 Tire Review
After about 4000 km of riding, the stock Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick tires had pretty much worn out. The front tire looked more or less OK, but the rear tire had a distinct flat section worn into it, and cornering now had a distinct sensation of transition when rolling from the centre tread to the shoulder tread. I wasn't sure if there was a wear indicator moulded into the tire to let me know when to replace it, and I was on my way to Meaford where I can hit some pretty high speeds coming downhill. Rather than risk cording the tire at speed, I decided to replace the tires.
I had narrowed the choice down to a Continental with Black Chilli compound and the Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX 320, based on online research, and Rob at Bicycle World strongly recommended the Vittorias - so I bought a pair.
The design of the Open Corsa EVO CX 320 is supposedly the closest thing you can get to a tubular without having to start gluing on tires. The carcass and compound is largely shared with the Corsa EVO CX 320 tubular race tire (the "Open" in that great long unwieldy name represents "clincher") with the only differences being the necessary changes to support the different mounting method. I'm in no hurry to buy a set of tubular rims and fuss with glue, but I'm fully aware of the power of racing tires so these seemed like a good choice.
Boy, were they ever.
These tires feature a 320 thread per inch threadcount in the carcass fabric. The higher the threadcount, the smaller the fibres and the more supple the tire is. Most road bike tires have threadcounts in the ~100 TPI range so this tire has roughly three times the thread density. I wasn't expecting that to make much difference, but I was completely wrong. These tires soak up micro-bumps that the previous tires buzzed on. They ride astonishingly smoothly. They make older roads feel like new pavement, and make new pavement feel like a velodrome. You'll still feel cracks and expansion joints, but these tires really help take the edge off the impacts.
And amazingly, they do so at much higher pressures. The flexibility in the carcass means the tire gets less support from the sidewalls, so you need more air pressure to make up the difference. I raised my pressures 30 PSI compared to the Rubino Pros, and still the ride quality is much, much smoother.
This has me really thinking about the whole "aluminum vs carbon" frame debate. Much is made of the smooth ride quality of a carbon frame, and the supposed harshness of an aluminum frame. The tires, however, are far more compliant than either frame material, so it makes sense that a more compliant tire would smooth out the ride. Whatever harshness may have been in my aluminum-framed S1, these tires erased.
I cannot overemphasise the magnitude of this change. This isn't a small difference; these tires transformed the bike. It was easily the difference between street tires and Hoosier race radials on my race car.
The tires, although they are paper-thin, appear to be fairly flat-resistant. I have smacked chunks of road gravel, cracks, and expansion joints, and have only flatted once in 1600 km of riding these tires. A small cut has appeared in the tread rubber in one of them, but there doesn't seem to be any ill effect from that.
The only real issue appears to be rate of wear. After 1600 km, the rear has that distinct flat spot across the tread surface. As with the Rubinos, I'm not sure how that translates to actual life (and I intend to wear these ones to cord to find out). Based on a pure visual though, these tires appear to wear twice as fast as the harder Rubino Pros. At $80-ish a tire, that's a little pricey, but the ride quality is sooooo worth it.
Very highly recommended
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