I have 2, waiting for my main race this season. I won't put them on until shortly before though. They don't seem much more fragile that other similarly light, fast tires though. I one bought a track wheel that had a no name tire on it. It was too old to consider using, but I don't think it would have survived a ride around the block, even when new.

Styrrell

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Styrrell

I've used the 290 tip version. Great front tire the back wore pretty quick but what do you expect for a 170 gram tubular. They are fine for race day only although I might hesitate to use one on the rear on rough road conditions. I currently have a new 290 tip I have stretch and need to glue it this weekend to a Planet X 101 front wheel.

I know why you're buying these...it's because they're light, right? After all, that's the only reason anyone would buy these. I too was tempted by the feathery 170g weight. When I picked out my first set of tubies I thought: "hey, these are light and will make me go faster," and you're probably thinking that too. I had a pair of the 290 tpi Crono Evo CS's. I have to echo what Juanmoretime says. I'm relatively light (150 lbs or so), and I go easy on my tires/wheels (make sure to avoid road junk, potholes, etc), but my rear Crono didn't last long at all. Almost every race I used them in they got a new, tiny slit in the rubber (happened in the first race, and each of probably 3 races thereafter on my rear tire before it was ruined).

At Clearwater there were some douchers about 15-20m up the road or so who went down because of their drafting and general bad karma, I locked up my rear wheel to avoid the pileup, and in doing so I ruined the tire, but it still held for 20+ more miles after the incident. There's a spot where all the rubber and possibly one layer below that is shaved away, but it still holds 200psi no problem. So, my conclusion is that in spite of the comparative fragility of the rubber coating it is still a very sturdy tire, but it scares the crap out of me that I could totally trash a $100 tire in an instant and almost totally screw over an extremely important race just to save a little weight.

I would not buy another set of these for my bike, at least not for the rear wheel. The front tire still looks brand new after ~150 race miles, but out on real-world roads I just don't have the confidence in these tires to put another on a rear wheel. Every race I used these I was super paranoid that I was going to flat, and even though neither flatted, there's something to be said for weighing down your bike another 100 grams or so to have the peace of mind that your tires are bomb-proof. I'd personally recommend Conti Competitions. It is also worth mentioning that aerodynamically the new Zipp's and Hed's are optimized for a wider tire. Riding a 19mm tire on one of their new rim shapes is slower than a 23mm tire. Riding a 19mm tire will also void your warranty in many cases.

Bottom line: It's up to you. The tires aren't durable, will likely only last a few races, will likely void your warranty, and are slower from an aerodynamic standpoint than a wider tire. Definitely don't buy it as a rear tire. I still ride one on my front tire and it's held up fine although I'm still paranoid it will flat every time I ride it, but as a low-level pro I can't afford to replace it just yet.

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Not the 320, but used the 290s. Front lasted 600 miles. Rear flatted the first day. Just not durable enough for me. I got similar performance from a Veloflex Record on the front.

Have used the 320 CX, not the Crono, both tubie and clincher. Best riding tires I ever been on. After riding "10 speeds" for over 40 years, I never thought I could tell the difference in decent tires. Man was I ever wrong!

Why would you pump it to 200 psi?

People (those that want to go fast anyway) buy nice, expensive tires because of their low rolling resistance. "Light" tires are pointless.

Never ran it up to 200psi while on my bike, did it simply to test the ruined tire's strength after it had already been unglued from my rear wheel. Race day it's usually pumped up to 130-140, depending on road conditions. Now that I have the Conti on the rear wheel I pump them to something like 110 rear and 130 front.

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What's up James?!? You skipped out on the awards ceremony from Cool Breeze! Benji got us sweatshirts this time around...

PS, do you know if CRC got the WR for the 100x5k?

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