Vittoria Rubino Pro £54.99
Vittoria’s headline tech is the Graphene 3C Compound, which uses rubber infused with graphene in various formulations so that the centre of the tyre has a low rolling resistance while the shoulders are grippier for cornering and the sidewalls provide good stability. At 150 TPI, the thread count is the highest on oer here, so it should give a more supple ride, particularly as there aren’t any specific anti-puncture measures in place beyond the rubber compound and the nylon casing.
To fit them I had to resort to my tyre pliers, but they did inflate at the first attempt. Disappointingly though, they took five days of reinflations, sloshing, jiggling and general fa before they would hold air for any length of time. This eectively meant that it was five days before I was confident enough to take them on a decent ride. This may have been bad luck or poor technique, but both tyres behaved similarly. Width wasn’t far o at 27.5mm and weight for both tyres was slightly under that claimed by Vittoria.
The ride was quite plush for an endurance tyre, with a decent level of vibration absorption and rough-road comfort that was not too dissimilar to the GP5000 AS TR. They didn’t feel as rapid though – not the kind of thing you’d notice riding on your own but it just felt like a bit of extra eort was needed to keep up when riding with others. The Graphene 3C Compound felt fine grip-wise, but the rolling resistance suggests that Vittoria has erred on the side of durability rather than speed.
■ Available widths: 25, 28, 30, 32mm
■ Measured width on 17mm rim: 27.5mm
■ Hooked only
■ Compound: Graphene 3C
■ TPI: 150