I have an opportunity to pickup a nice lot of either Continental Grand Prix 4000s II or Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX tires for essentially next to nothing. Both are 700x20c. Can’t mix. It’s either one or the other. Will be running them on non-firecrest Zipp 808 aluminum rims.
What tire would you choose and why?
I know the 4000s has been getting a lot of love recently, and that’s what I have running on my race wheels. But I have the Evo CXs as my daily riding and I absolutely love the feel of these tires. I’d pick up a pair of each.
I used to race on the Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX (23C), and changed to the GP4000s also in 23C. I found the Vittorias to be very flat-prone, whereas I have never had a flat on the GP’s. Additionally, they have similar rolling resistance, but the GP’s have been shown to be significantly more aerodynamic, so they are faster AND tougher!
Edit: I forgot about a flat I had with the GP’s at the bike mount at FL70.3… no idea why.
Contis because they are faster overall… though a 23mm might be faster for the rear.
the fact that they are 20s changes everything.
I Don’t know that the 20s have been tested for CRR, is the 4000 still good?
is the vittoria aero still bad at 20?
I dunno
If you’re running as an everyday training and race tire, no doubt go with the GP 4000s. Our cycling team is sponsored by Vittoria and can get them for dirt cheap. I run the Corsa Evo SC on my 808 tubular race wheels and they are fantastic tires. Corner amazing, rolling resistance is second to none and they are just a fast tire, but keeping that in mind they are really a race only tire. There is little flat protection and they wear fast. I did about 30 cycling races this year and used these tires only for races and actually decided to put on a new one about halfway through just because of the significant wear on the rear tire. Eventhough we are sponsored by Vittoria I actually run GP 4000s on my Enve 6.7 clinchers and they are a great all around tire. The Enve’s are an everyday wheelset that I train and race on. I use the 4000s during the spring/summer/fall for all training and racing. They offer great flat protection and rolling resistance and still perform well in races. Once winter comes I switch to Gatorskin Hardshells (last pair lasted 8,000+miles). You will get more for your money out of the 4000s
I have an opportunity to pickup a nice lot of either Continental Grand Prix 4000s II or Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX tires for essentially next to nothing. Both are 700x20c. Can’t mix. It’s either one or the other. Will be running them on non-firecrest Zipp 808 aluminum rims.
What tire would you choose and why?
If they are race only wheels I think the Vittoria are a good choice. They are fast. But they are fragile, sidewalls get kicked and cut easily so if this is an everyday train and race wheel the Conti are nearly bulletproof and still pretty damn fast.
The GP4000s 20c Crr with latex tested to be the same as a 23c with butyl tube (per TomA).
Haven’t seen any Crr data for the Vittoria’s in 20c. But if its like the GP4000s 23 vs 20, the 20c tires are probably within 2W of each other. But like Jackmott said, which one is better aero wise? We all know about the 23c 4000s aero-ness and its general durability.
Having ridden both I prefer the Vittorias. They are fairly fragile and I keep mine to races only, though I do race 1-2x a week and have no trouble getting a full season out of them. I figure they are good for 1,000-1,200 mi before you start having an unacceptably high risk of flats (for me).
The Contis are also a very very good tire and are a little more robust. For me they feel a little more secure handling. For what little it’s worth the Vittoria’s ‘feel’ faster to me and my best results have come from those tires. Anecdotal I know.
Ive been wondering about this 20 vs 23 mm tires for a while. Crr apart, I am also concerned about aero. My rationale was that the zipp 808 ALU clinchers are narrow rimmed and that the transition from tire to rim would be smoother with the 20s than the 23s.
I decided to mount vittoria 20s with latex tube on my zipp 808 ALU clinchers and went notably slower on my last half iron compared to when I ran 23mm conti 4000s clinchers (latex tube) in another race 3 months ago. This is very anecdotal since I put out the same power, but the road surface in my last race wasu horrible and it was at least 70-30 headwind. The previous race before this last one was a perfect loop with very good road surface.
It would be great if someone could do this testing to confirm.
is the vittoria aero still bad at 20?
I dunno
Hey Jack, I keep reading people say that the Vittoria’s are not aero and I’m not questioning that but can you point me to the main data source for that info? Thanks!
I think this data set…http://flocycling.blogspot.com/2013/04/flo-cycling-flo-30-wind-tunnel-results.html
.