Best road bike tires : Vittoria Corsa G+ Summary Review

What is the best road bike tire....?  Now... The information I have collected from many sources will be introduced. Let's go !!

Wiggle UK Customer Reviews

JohnnieBGoode

"Love the look of these on my vintage bikes. Fast rolling and grippy on corners. Easy to mount. wear well. I have 3 sets, 1600Km of racing on one set without a mark or a puncture.

1100K on my steel Gios and twice sharp objects have gone right through the tread. Second one left a big hole so tyre had to be replaced, with no other signs of damage. It turned out to not be such a sharp object either - it was a blunt twig. (See photo on a $5 note

Third set have only done a few hundred Ks on my Bianchi but again a sharp object gone through the tyre.

In conclusion I concur with a summary of all the other feedback, fast, comfortable, grippy, good looking, easy to fit, hard wearing, except they have a lack of resistence to sharp objects. They say the graphine offers puncture resistence at one atom thick. Would it be worth adding a couple more layers?"

mrandmrsandem

"Me and my wife bought these tyres in 25mm width to use on our tandem. We have done 5 100 mile sportives and about 300 miles of training since we put them on. So far they look like new no cuts or nicks or wearing in the middle. We ride them at a pressure of 130psi at the and 135psi at the rear, sounds high but we do weigh about 190kg including the bike.

They are so much comfier and the speed improvements are noticeable compared to the continental gatorskins we were using before. I have used corsa cx and sc tyres in the past on my tt and road bike and the G+ is miles better in the wet.

These are getting the thumbs up from me and my wife and we like them so much we bought 2 more for our spare tandem wheels.

The only thing that has baffled me is the reviews prior to ours. But if a tandem can use these tyres for over 500 mile without a problem then how can anyone complain using them on a single bike?"

BikerMike

"I have been using Vittoria Rubino Pro and Open Corsa on both of my Pinarello Dogma for approx four years.

Earlier this year I decided to try out the Open Corsa CXIII ISO GRIP on my new Dogma F8. In my humble opinion after seventy years of Road Cycling, the best Tyres I have used. As for the new Rubino Pro I am not convinced they are worth the money. Nothing like the quality of the Open Corsa.

When you reach 80 you appreciate any bit of help with lower rolling resistance!

As for punctures, here where I live now in Switzerland, the roads and cycle paths are in top condition. With around 5000-6000 Km`s annually only one or two punctures, LUCKY ME.

MTyrant

"I've always been a Continental guy, racking up many thousands of miles with few problems. This summer though, to celebrate a new job, I splashed out on some off these, pulled in by the sexy 'wonder material' that is Graphene and the even sexier gum walls.

They roll like a dream, corner like nothing I've used before and, as I said, look beautiful but there's a but.

They are made of paper. I've punctured on every single ride, and twice when the bike was just resting up against the wall in my flat. Today I've had three in 20 miles, one up front, two at the rear. I'm out of spare tubes and, more importantly, CO².

There's never anything substantial in the tyre, no thorns, flint or other foreign body, the rims and tape are smooth. There's no pattern to the flats, different place every time. The only change in my set up are the stupid, sexy Corsas.

I'm sorry Continental, I hope you can forgive me and take me back."

Tim0

"I got through my older vittoria open corsa SCs (which I loved! Quick pre-ride check for stones and you were almost guaranteed puncture free) and decided to try out this new model that replaced them. 

7 miles later, bit of gravel across the road to ride through (which I did regularly on the older model). 1 mile further up the road, pssssssssssst. No air.

Tyre wrestled onto the rim with a new tube (no easy task) with offending bit of flint removed. Back on the road.

7 miles later, the dreaded pssssssst again. managed to get a little bit of pressure in it from the remains of my CO2 plus the second tube, limped it to a bike shop for air and rode it home (stopping to lift the bike over gravel). A couple of weeks later in france, got home to a spongy tyre, picked up another stealthy one from riding over some road repair grit they use.

Basically, if someone sweeps the roads for you, or you are lucky enough to have clearish roads, these are a super supple, grippy tyre that you will love. Otherwise, race day tyres only. Mine are coming off while I try and find someone who has an old open corsa SC in stock as that was a perfect all round fast tyre. (23c running on H+SON rims at 110PSI with a scrawny rider)"

TrampledUnderfoot

"Perhaps, at 200 pounds, I'm just too heavy for these tyres. I've been through 3 of these in 1,000 miles. They're easy to fit, look great on the bike and they're really fast on the road. However, in all 3 cases, within a couple of rides the tread was showing significant markings and, in all 3 cases, I had major blowouts resulting in having to replace the back tyre. in all cases, the blowouts were caused by hitting sharp objects on the road, not pinch flats. Not a good return on investment given their price tag.

I'd certainly recommend them for smooth, clean roads, but not for the majority of UK roads."

Acilies

"Got these in 28 for some comfort through the changing season. Riding these fore a few hundred miles now in dry and damp conditions, the tyre has great grip and gives confidence in the corners. I can't say I've noticed a difference in the rolling speed, but then I'm not likely to, but I can't say if they are are quicker.

The softer compound picks up Stones and grit easy which makes it easy for them to embed themselves into the rubber. The have cust up easy so don't think they will go through the winter. 

I choose the cotton (skin) wall which look great with my bike but require a lot of cleaning if you like to keep them looking fresh!"

Probikeket Customer Reviews

SwissBob

I reviewed these last year and now that I've worn down my first set it's worth a follow up. In one year I put around 3000 miles (4800km) on them. I run 25mm at 90psi for a 188 lb rider. I rotate my tires to keep the wear even. I had one puncture, in light rain due to a tiny shard of stone. It did not leave much of a cut. The center tread wore down and the side grooved area is still fine. I am still using that set for my old steel bike that I use for slow rides around town. The ride is just great. They really showed their mettle on a twisty downhill chicane during a group ride. The cornering grip is so good that when others are trimming speed with the brakes these will let you fly through (38mph /61kph) with supreme confidence. Outstanding tires.

Smith Yoo

It looks like a good product at a good price. I've been driving about 500 miles now, but it's been accelerating very smoothly like the first time. Durability is also not bad for top class clincher tires. The grounding force during rotation is also stable. The wheel is using the dura-ace C24 CL and is set at 120 psi in the front and 125 psi in the rear, and experienced two punctures during the 500-mile run. There is no problem with tire use. I used Velloflex corsa before, but it looks fine. The weight seems to be a little heavy, but not at the level of recognition. Instead, cloudiness seems to be better. It's very very good tire.

C60 rider

I bought these tires because I cannot longer find the Corsa Evo CX in my regular size. Like all Vittoria tires, these tires are very well finished with no obvious blemishes or defects. The box states that the tire's compound offers two different "feels," a hard feel while riding fast (for less rolling resistance) and a soft feel for cornering or accelarating (for a better grip). At first I assumed that this was just advertising fluff. After the first few miles, that included climbing, cornering and fast descent I am convinced that the advertising claims are in fact true: These tires do feel differently under different riding conditions! The feel is comfortable, reassuring, fast and confidence-inspiring. Combined with Vittoria latex inner tubes, these tires come close to the feel and performance of tubular tires. I still miss my old favorite Corsa Evo, but if these new tires continue to perform as expected they will soon become my new favorites. Good job Vittoria.

 Chainreactioncycles Customer Reviews 

My new tyres of choice

Tyres are the single biggest influence on your bikes performance, and these are top notch clinchers.

Gripy, supple, fast, and holding up better than any other “handmade” tyres I’ve used in this iffy spring. In 25c spec they are super comfortable and on my shimano rims they are exactly 25mm wide.Money spent on tyres is money well spent, and these are my new favourites, I will buy them again, and again.

How to make your road bike ride smoother

This is a pretty fast rolling tire, and the supple cotton casing allows you to run the pressure quite low, smoothing out the ride with no loss of speed. I would only give the previous versions 4 stars due to iffy wet weather performance and very short tire life, but the new G+ remedies both of these issues, albeit it a slight weight penalty of around 15-20g per tire. This is a tire on which I feel pretty confident cornering on in all conditions. 

Teammates used to think I was a bit of a daredevil and I just say that these tires really tell you exactly how much grip you do or don't have left. I basically know exactly how much wiggle room I have all the time on these. Fantastic. But like most tires, they require a break-in period to reach their full potential. I use them mainly as front tires; I only run a rear one in races, since I want to save them.

Fast rolling, confidence inspiring

I use 28c tyres on my Cannondale Synapse, now rolling on Zipp 303 in place of the original Mavic Aksium wheels. The Corsa G+ is definitely a fast rolling tyre and it grips well in fast corners. I haven't tried them in the wet though, and I would choose something elsefor wet weather. In the heat of Dubai and carrying a Clydesdale+ rider at 110psi, one tyre bubbled but didn't burst after almost 1,000km. The replacement has about 200km on it and looks new. I now stop at 105psi though! For most riders, the pressures will be lower, especially on a 28c.

The new technology is vastly overhyped...

These vogue tyres were the bee's knees, everyone had them on. I didn't mind stumping up the £50 a tyre (more than I've spent on car tyres) for the assurance of smooth, puncture free mileage. The problem is, is that the tyres after less than 900km are literally falling to bits. The graphene has proved very flawed in preventing punctures in the untimely twilight of their use and I am not the only one in my group who has suffered. A friend of mine has had a catastrophic blow out due to the tyre.

It has blown up

I use this tires first season and all was great until last Saturday one tire has blown up. Fortunately it happens on the top of small climb, and it was rear wheel, so I haven't any harm except moral because I was forced to return home at bus. And there wasn't puncture there was blow up of side wall (with great sound, "I wonder what that bang was"- I thought like Piglet in story with balloon for Eeyore.)

May be it wasn't good idea to inflate tires to max recommended presure (10 bar, 145 psi) when it was 30 degrees centigrade on the street, but I didn't see any warnings about it.

Total distance of this tires before crash was less then 1000 km. I'm not sure that there weren't any my mistakes like inflation to max presure in hot weather or may be some damaging of side wall while mounting, but I hadn't blowing tires before.

Competitivecyclist Customer Reviews

DREAM RIDE, NIGHTMARE DURABILITY

After 3 sets of open corsa cx III's I went for the G+... It's very handsome tan sidewall. Really looks great on the bike exceeding my expectation in that respect. The tire is grooved, or groovy, depending on your age, and only occasional gravel bits got stuck, but not really an issue. These tires roll like a dream, but I am here to tell you that after 500 miles, the the damage to the tire has caused at least 2 flats. If the price ever comes down, I would stock up on a bunch of these and just toss them as the got cut up....but until then I'll have to find something tougher, maybe some Conti 4000 II or similar.

FAST AND COMFORTABLE TIRES

The Corsa Open is now my go-to tire. Very supple for added comfort and they really make the handling of my bike more predictable. I mounted the 25c on both HED Ardennes Black and SL Plus rims with no issues. As a bonus, the tread wear has been better than expected. Not as good as Conti's 4000s but very respectable.

FAST, SMOOTH, LOOK GREAT

Have used these tires for the last few years as my summer/race tires (I use conti 4 seasons for the winter). As far as i'm concerned, these are the fastest clincher tires you can buy. Fast, smooth, easy to put on your wheels (I have Mavic SYS SLR), and look awesome with the tan sidewall. Noticeably faster than other tires I've used.