Seems Continental GP5000 may have a run for it’s money. There will be a lot of people frothing for the data of this one…
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/02/vittoria-graphene-2-0-wheels-tyres-news/
From the cycling tips article Thus, buyers can look forward to a tyre with 40% less rolling resistance when compared to the first-generation of graphene-enhanced tyres. Grip is also improved (~30%), cut resistance is up by ~40%, and air retention by tubeless versions is ~30% better.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the new tyres is that all of these gains have been achieved in the context of a significant increase in mileage. According to Vittoria, this has doubled compared to its first-generation of graphene tyres.
Seems like a game changer, but this is from the same cycling news site that quotes the WeightWeenies forum extensively and exclusively for their article on an imminent C’dale CAAD13…
That would be a magic tire if it were true. A set of tires that were sub20 watts of rolling resistance at 30 mph. Shave 30-40 seconds off a 40k and a minute or two off an IM! Let get my credit card out because that would be about the best 150$ I have spent on bike parts since latex tubes and clip-on aero bars. It would make the 12-15,000$ investment in a new P5 or Specialized Tri bike look even more misguided.
Of course being marketing it could be a TLR that has 40% lower Crr…, compared to the Rubino graphine tire. I raced a crit on a cement course with the TLR and it was like riding on ice ( the only nice thing I could say was that they slid predictably). It would take a 30% improvement in grip just to get back to the grip of any normal tire. I had pretty good luck with the TLR, but they are pretty notorious for being fragile, so I guess a significant improvement is possible for durability was well.
All snarkiness aside, if they save me 2 watts and reliably hold air for an hour, you better believe I will be ordering a set.
It would also be nice if they made them remotely field-mountable. As they are, I just assume there’s no way I’m fixing one in a race (OD). With the current tire, I run latex tubes with sealant and hope for the best. If I get a flat, its race-over (but that hasn’t happened, yet…touch wood).
Hmm, seems multiple versions (tubular, TLR, standard clincher; blackwall, tanwall) of the 320TPI Corsa (not the Corsa “Speed”) with this new compound are due to be released in a 30c size. That’s something I’d be highly interested in for my road bike.