They are really fast... except they are worthless in puncture resistance. I never got that far, 200 miles, to attest to their durability. I got 3 cuts in my first 4 rides, 3 at the front and 1 at the rear, so I decided that they are not worth the trouble and ditched them.

They've been using them for about months or so, but in the beginning the whole team wasn't running them. Were all of them today?

I'm roughly estimating I have around 310KM on my rear Corsa Speed. It still looks new.

Raced two 70.3 on mine already, last one on Sunday, and had another smooth ride. I did not check the tires after the race yet, but when I mounted them on Saturday they looked like brand new.
I am struggling with the thought that I should not take them out a couple more times.

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Sr. Salitre

There was a short segment where Jens Voight discussed TT bokes in general. He used a Trek-Segafredo SC to demonstrate bars, position, etc, The bike had Vittoria Corsa Speed tires. I assume tubulars because of the skin colored sidewalls.

The camera also zoomed in tight enough to show that the rear Bontrager disc was a rebadged Zipp Super 9.

Same deal.

I raced 11 races this season and flatted 3 times with the Corsa Speed tubs. The first was only 40km old, although it didn't have sealant, the 2nd two had sealant and I reckon I got 150km out of each tyre. Roads were good. Won't be using them again.

I got around 2500 km on a Corsa Speed TLR 23 mm on the rear, until it developed a flat spot (down to the cotton thread) after a lockup. No punctures one either front or rear.

These threads are always full of the people who have had bad luck with the specific tyre being debated in the thread - those who have none or very few problems tend to stay silent. So very easy for the redaer to take away the message that Corsa Speeds are a nightmare and everybody punctures. Not the case.


I have a set of Corsa speeds that I use for TT's along with latex tubes - definitely not for training though, there is no point using such an expensive and relatively fragile tyre for training! - so far so good and after approx 250km (touch-wood) on the first set I have had no problems - they actually still look like new - but I am aware they are fragile and will not last forever, so I am not going to push my luck and so I am about to switch them before my next race to a new set just to be on the safe side.

If you look at the data the speed gain is very worthwhile - but it is a gamble - you will of course puncture more than you would on a more bullet proof set of tyres - I think it all depends on how ready you are to sacrifice the occasional result (lets say 1 race in 10 you get a puncture) - whilst knowing in 90% of the races you likely won't puncture and you can be sure you will be materially faster.

^^^^
This.

Aside from my uneventful Sunday 70.3 I know of at least two more people who raced different versions of the Corsa Speed there (23 & 25) and did not have a problem.

My setup included tubes and Stan's (just in case), but for the next big one (70.3 WC in SA) I will play it safe and switch to Conti 4000s. I will be MOP there anyway and I don't want to travel that far and not cross the finish line :-)

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Sr. Salitre

I'm happy with my tubeless TLR. However as stated before I would not use those without a generous dose of sealant. From my observations I have a puncture around every 200km average. However with generous fresh sealant it'll repair itself (effeto Mariposa that has no ammonia). Pressure will drop to 4bar which is ok for me. Tire should last at least 1000km without brake lock. I'm light so results may vary.

There was another mention of EF Drapac from Josh Portner and the Cycling Tips podcast yesterday. They didn't run through each and every bike/rider, but they did seem to indicate that the entire team was running tubeless for the TTT.

I also enjoyed the note re: Team Sky using standard, very un-aero quick release skewers on their TT bikes rather than a sleeker non-QR bolt-on like Control Tech or View Speed. Josh estimated that choice likely cost Sky 8 secs or so, and of course Sky lost to BMC by 4 sec.

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

No way that was 8 seconds over 35k. Rider on bike, I don't think you'd consistently see 1 watt difference in testing. I'm sure in a tunnel without a rider you might see the difference, but not with a rider. There's just not enough exposure and the air is too dirty. Front skewer might be a different story, but not the rear. Heck, one of their skewers even had a rubber grip on it! Lol.

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Jim Manton / ERO Sports

Hey Jim! What about if we were talking chunky front and rear QR skewers, something like this, that looks to be quite chunky and stick out a good bit from the fork's dropout, presumably in relatively clean air:



with something like this:



Here's another image from the Slowtwitch article, and I think the Sky skewers may be even worse than those in this photo:

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

I agree with this. No need for a fancy/fiddly skewer in the rear. Up front there are gains to be had.

I am commenting specifically about my experience of the Corsa Speed Tubeless, not the other versions of the Corsa Speed. From what I understand, they are constructed a bit differently than the tubeless version.

I have not seen a clincher version of the Corsa Speed that isn't tubeless ready. The tubular versions may be constructed differently though. That said, it is a Corsa Speed TLR that I've put 310 KM on with no reason to change the tire anytime soon.

Yes, the Corsa Speed is ONLY offered "tubeless ready".

I put over 1000 miles on one as a rear tire running tubeless, before it wore through to the cords. Only one puncture in that time frame, which was easily handled with a plug.

I've got a couple more I have mounted to my TT wheels that I'm running latex tubes inside...no issues so far, but I don't have very many miles on them...possibly 200-300 miles

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

We've been riding them daily on the roads around the office here in Connecticut for months and not noticed excessive punctures, though we know they are very thin tires.

So knowing how fast they are, at the spring team camp in Girona we told the riders to use them in all races, but right away the nice Vittoria reps (also present at the training camp) stepped in, recommended them for TTs only and quoted the same 200 km you heard.

Cheers,
Damon

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Damon Rinard
Engineering Manager,
CSG Road Engineering Department
Cannondale & GT Bicycles
(ex-Cervelo, ex-Trek, ex-Velomax, ex-Kestrel)

Sorry I disagree with your first point. There have been way more complaints on this forum about Corsa Speed and flats than any other tyre. But then these tyres are not designed for triathlon. Perhaps people don't get what the Corsa Speed is designed for. It's designed for short TTs on perfect roads. Like you said it's fragile and not suited to triathlon. Some people have used them in long course with no problem, but that doesn't mean they're not fragile and not puncture prone. Vittoria even admit they have little puncture protection and are only good for time trials. People get sucked in when they hear how fast they are. It's probably worth running them in certain situations i.e if you're not gunning for a Kona spot. Training hard for 3 months for an IM, you'd be gutted if you flatted and doubly gutted if you flatted on something you knew was puncture prone.

I guess the TDF tyre selection says it all, they only use the Corsa Speed for the TT, the majority of the teams run Conti Comp, 30% heavier than the Corsa with decent puncture protection.