Gommitalia Calypso vs. Veloflex Pave

mseanschmidt said:

Gommitalia Calypso vs. Veloflex Pave

Looking for the smoothest feeling clinchers available? My research shows these are two of the best. Has anyone used both and can give me an objective analysis of how both ride? Or, are there any better recommendations?

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Those are my two favourite tires. Well, Deda Tre's Giro d'Italias are in there too. I'm riding on a set of Gommitalias right now and like to put the long training miles on them. They feel great, corner really well and behave themselves in the rain. They also seem to have a pretty good tread life.

I find that the casing isn't quite as supple as the Veloflex though. The Veloflex also has that incredible almost perfectly round tubular shape to it. It just rides and handles that little bit better than the Gommitalias. A fraction worse in the rain though. Oh, and I think the Pave's are lighter than the Calypso. I had fun racing on a set of Veloflex Paves this year, but the tires didn't last very long. I had the casing of both tires cut by road debris during a single ride.

My opinion? Everyone deserves to ride on the very best tires they can afford. They affect the ride quality by such a large amount. If you can, get both the Calypsos and the Paves and a set of Deda Tre's top tires too. They're all worth it.

John Swanson
www.bikephysics.com