Vittoria Tires, Zaffiro Or Rubino? (& Also "tech" Versions Of Both).

[Volnix]

Hi!

New forum look... Love it!

My GP4000s's are really starting to look terrible and I think I will be needing some new tires soon.

I visited a shop which stocks Vittoria. Apparently they said that lower TPI tires are quite stronger (which makes sense if you see that most of the MTB tires have a 60 or so TPI count.) I had no idea about this and I thought that lower TPI tires are just cheaper versions. But I also suspect that lower TPI tires might have a bit less grip. I dont really care about them being a bit more "harsh" or so...


So some questions.

Vittoria makes the Rubino and the Zaffiro tires. The Rubino being 150 TPI and the Zaffiro being 60 TPI. I know that the Zaffiro one goes up to 145PSII!!!

So I guess that they should be pretty fast anyway, even if they dont have the "Silky Smooth Performance of the higher TPI tires" which basically just means tossing 50euro in case you hit a reflective stud...

-Will the 150TPI Rubino be as fragile as the GP4000's (which are 300TPI or so, or 3x100TPI or something)? They are about 10 euro more then the Vittoria Zaffiro's which at 20euro each are nicely priced.

-Will the 60TPI Zaffiro slip really bad?

-They also make a "Tech" version of both. The tech version has reinforced sidewalls (which sounds veeery tempting

) and also has a wet weather compound. Will the wet weather compound wear alot faster then the normal one? I remember having a slip with some lower TPI training tires on a sludgy day.

-Also... I am definately thinking of going back to 25's. Vittoria also claims that the Zaffiro 25's are "faster" then the 23's with just a 30grams of weight penalty for tires. The Zaffiro Pro Tech is only available in 23...

Any ideas?

Fanks.

PS:

Some links:


http://www.vittoria.com/tire/rubino-pro/

http://www.vittoria.com/tire/rubino-pro-tech/

http://www.vittoria.com/tire/zaffiro-pro/

http://www.vittoria.com/tire/zaffiro-pro-tech/

 

[Froze]

Vittoria Rubinos are a great tire, superior to the Contis you used in durability, meaning cuts, flat protection, and wear, they handle about the same with maybe a slight nod in the comfort department towards the Conti due to Conti's paper thin sidewalls that are fragile. However most LBS's charge $55 to $65 for those tires and you can get them online for almost half that! Just one place I went to had it for less than half, see: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1168084_-1_400235__400235

The Zaffiro tire is a good tire but for $30 for the Rubino I would spend the extra $5 or so because it is more comfortable due to the TPI being greater.

If you're concerned with flats I found the Rubino to be a bit better than the Conti for that, but if flats really concerns you you can buy a Panaracer FlatAway liner and install it just on the rear tire because for one they're expensive, and for two most flats occur on the rear, and for three it's easier to fix a front flat. Anyway this liner is almost impervious to penetration, I actually tried driving a tack nail through one and couldn't but the tack easily penetrated a Mr Tuffy, also to size the liner you have to cut to fit it just like the Mr Tuffy, the Mr Tuffy cuts like butter but my hands were hurting after I struggled to cut the FlatAway liner. The liner is a stick on liner unlike the Mr Tuffy which is a huge hassle to try to keep the liner centered on the tire as you insert the tube and inflate, in fact you have no guarantee that after you've inflated the tire that the Mr Tuffy stayed centered! With the FlatAway you know it stayed centered because it stuck to the inside of the tire, but in doing that the liner becomes a one tire use liner so you have to replace the liner every time you replace the tire which is another reason to save money I only use it on the rear.

 

[Volnix]

Vittoria Rubinos are a great tire, superior to the Contis you used in durability, meaning cuts, flat protection, and wear, they handle about the same with maybe a slight nod in the comfort department towards the Conti due to Conti's paper thin sidewalls that are fragile. However most LBS's charge $55 to $65 for those tires and you can get them online for almost half that! Just one place I went to had it for less than half, see: http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1168084_-1_400235__400235

The Zaffiro tire is a good tire but for $30 for the Rubino I would spend the extra $5 or so because it is more comfortable due to the TPI being greater.

If you're concerned with flats I found the Rubino to be a bit better than the Conti for that, but if flats really concerns you you can buy a Panaracer FlatAway liner and install it just on the rear tire because for one they're expensive, and for two most flats occur on the rear, and for three it's easier to fix a front flat. Anyway this liner is almost impervious to penetration, I actually tried driving a tack nail through one and couldn't but the tack easily penetrated a Mr Tuffy, also to size the liner you have to cut to fit it just like the Mr Tuffy, the Mr Tuffy cuts like butter but my hands were hurting after I struggled to cut the FlatAway liner. The liner is a stick on liner unlike the Mr Tuffy which is a huge hassle to try to keep the liner centered on the tire as you insert the tube and inflate, in fact you have no guarantee that after you've inflated the tire that the Mr Tuffy stayed centered! With the FlatAway you know it stayed centered because it stuck to the inside of the tire, but in doing that the liner becomes a one tire use liner so you have to replace the liner every time you replace the tire which is another reason to save money I only use it on the rear.

I am not concered about flats so much as for total tire failure.

After the Conti's got shredded I got a pair of Maxxis Detonators. Good choise of name because I had 2 almost explosive flats in 2 days in the first week of use. Not that much of a cheap tire either, it was about 20+euroz just like the the Vittoria Zaffiros and it was also a 60a ("a"? "a"what? ) TPI tire... Apparently that was not such a "random" event... When I took it back to the shop they told me that the side compound of the tire had some really bad cuts and that was resulting in the flats.

The conti's, except that I am running one of them for 2000km now with a tire boot, don't flatten as much. They also grip pretty well, but that cut on the sidewall just get's on my nerves. They don't have too many cut's or so and I already had about 4000km with them after all.

Would I buy them again? Probably not... I'm just trying to squeeze some extra km from them.

Being not too much concerned about flats, as I usually ride in areas where I can easily get a ride home and patch the tubes, it's the tires totally failing that bothers me...

So 20euro 60TPI Zaffiro's? Or maybe Zaffiro's Tech's is the way to go???

I have just checked the Rubino's and they are not just 5 euro more... They are about 30+ euroz on a few websites... and higher TPI... Hmmm maybe more cut-prone then the Zaffiro's?

Which is confusing as the 60TPI Maxxis are getting cut like butter whilst the 300TPI Conti's don't??? :wacko:

 

[Colin-Campbell]

I ride 20,000 to 25,000km a year. I have been using Vittoria Rubino Pro tires on both my bikes for around ten years. I find that I average about 5500km on a rear tire, although the last two (now Pro III, with 150TPI) have lasted 6500km and over 7000km. I replace the front tire after using up two rears, but I feel I could go longer if I wanted to.

I'm in Southern California, where the roads are not perfect, but the weather nearly is. I've heard that wet roads tend to be tough on tires - I seldom have to ride on wet roads.

I've never tried Zaffiro tires. I have used Open Corsa, which don't have a long "road life". In the past, I used Continental "Sport" and Michelin Pro Race tires, before trying Vittoria. I found the Michelins to be much more subject to cuts in the tread.

You can get very good prices on many brands of tires from ProBikeKit.com in London, where they have regular sales. I don't know how they do it.

 

[Froze]

I haven't had a tire disintegrate on me in a long time no matter the brand, yet because of my tubular days that have long since past I still carry a spare ultralight folding tire in my seat bag just in case. Since I stopped using tubulars in the early 80's I've had two tire failures while on the road so the spare came in handy, I also gave a spare once to a stranger who blew his tire, so I've used a spare tire 3 times in 35 years or so, and in that time I rode 175,000 plus miles; so I said that to say tire failures are rare but because I like to ride in remote areas far from home I carry a spare so my wife doesn't have to drive 50 miles or so to get me.

So if total tire failure bothers you I would suggest you buy a thin low cost ultralight/racing folding tire and fold it as compressed as you can keeping it compressed with 3 sturdy rubber bands and stuff it in your saddle bag. I use a racing tire with little flat protection because the all cotton cord allows it to be compressed really flat, but it's also the tire the much grateful doctor sent me in the mail after I gave him my spare on a lonely mountain road 20 miles from civilization with night fall coming in 3 hours and about 6 to 7 hour walk just to get to a phone! The tire is 18 years old but used only once for about 30 miles, which is ok because the tire is stored out of the sun and not near motors so there is no ozone damage to the tire so it's good to ride on whenever the need arises, thus don't worry if you start carrying a spare and 20 years go by and wonder if the tire will still be useable in an emergency.