I’m now running Vittoria Corsa G+ on my road bike at 140 PSI and I don’t know if it is the placebo effect, but for the 100 or so very familiar route miles I have put on it they are appreciably faster in every way compared to what I was running (worth pointing out this wasn’t unexpected since I was running a more or less daily driver tire at 120 PSI…Specialized Espoir Elite). My 2 part question is this:
If you had to handicap how much of the added speed came from the new tire versus the 20 added PSI, what do you think attributed most?
I have been running GP 4000’s on my TT bike with HED 6/9 combo and have been pleased…at least I think since I don’t know any different. HED recommends not to go over 100 PSI so I wonder if I ran the Corsa G+ on my HED’s at 100 if the improvement would be as obvious as experienced on my road bike? Or worse, since that falls at the very bottom of the recommended PSI range on the Corsa will the tires blow/come off and I’ll crash (probably no there there but I am always hesitant to run anything at the very bottom or top of its range).
Clearly where I am going is if I can get even close to the same improvement experienced on my roadie on my TT, I wouldn’t hesitate to stock up on Corsa G+'s (I assume there are also even faster tires, but baby steps). And if I run Corsa’s at 100 then do all of the durability and puncture prone reviews I came across hold more water and then I’m better off just sticking with the GPs…etc etc etc.
And some of you will think just swap tires and find out. I am and will, but was just trying to get some intel from the Slowtwitch community along the way.
You should be able to lower the rolling resistance quite a bit by lowering the pressure to around 100psi. The exact pressure would depend on your weight.
Thanks for that little tidbit. A little over 3 years into the sport and still so much to learn on specific bike equipment. Hence the reason for the original post: this is my first new “racing” tire (if you want to call them that) and I can’t believe how much different/faster it is.
Sigh. This is why I hesitate to poke my head into the rabbit hole. Then I try to remember its *not about the bike but alas, *many times it can be. I’ve missed a few podiums by less than a minute and slowly come to realize maybe it is these seemingly tiny little decisions that could have made the difference. I need a drink.
Except that if your race wheels are tubeless compatible then it’s a bit of a no brainer. Might be a new skill to learn to set them up but it’s fast and you are safer from punctures. I’d just do it.
BTW if you put too much air in a tire they don’t deform to imperfections on the road. You might feel them skip about, you might feel more grit under them and the tire move a bit side to side and flick grit out. That is all lost traction. So the tire is faster at a lower pressure then when this happens.
Thank you-that makes perfect sense. And now that you mention it, yesterday’s ride I felt my back wheel skip a time or two when I had to step on it. That was a first and driven by 140 PSI I bet.
My HED’s are tubeless ready and I’ve been just procrastinating mid-season to make the move (2 races to go). Plus the mental hurdle of just knowing there isn’t anything in there between me and the wheel but air makes me nervous. But maybe it is time to just get it done since EVERYONE says its a no brainer.
Plus the mental hurdle of just knowing there isn’t anything in there between me and the wheel but air makes me nervous.
It works pretty well on car tires…and mountain bikes. I’ve never done road tubeless but am going to give it a whirl starting this week. If it works as well as my off-road tubeless setups do I’ll be quite pleased.
I’ve got the opposite problem. Clincher only race wheels and can’t justify buying new ones. I worry the inner tube will get punctured at a race. Used tubeless on my mountain bike for 2 years and had one puncture in all that time when I used to get one every few weeks - loads of thorns where I ride. I’d love tubeless race wheels just for the piece of mind, let alone testing faster.
I’m now running Vittoria Corsa G+ on my road bike at 140 PSI and I don’t know if it is the placebo effect, but for the 100 or so very familiar route miles I have put on it they are appreciably faster in every way compared to what I was running (worth pointing out this wasn’t unexpected since I was running a more or less daily driver tire at 120 PSI…Specialized Espoir Elite).
Correct. Imprecise I know, and somewhat flawed sure. But given the amount of times I’ve ridden these same miles I was able to see and feel the differences.
Not sure. I have always used Conti Race 28 Tubes…so whatever those are…