Tire comparisons are a dime-a-dozen on the internet, and choosing tires with advantages relative to your riding style can be work—we believe you should save the effort for your next ride. Fed up with the over-the-top mumbo-jumbo we experience reading other tire shootouts, we decided to do our own tests, apply them to the everyday cyclist (i.e., those of us who don’t receive a paycheck to go ride), and present them in terms we can all understand.

Keep in mind that each tire we tested is by no means inferior to the next. In fact, head-to-head comparison was similar to comparing a Ferrari to a Porsche—all tires produced excellent results, but some excel where others don’t. Every tire tested is capable of wrapping the wheelset of anyone in the pro peloton (and all do). But again, the goal here is to present a tire comparison that helps you, not Jens Voigt or Dave Zabriskie—they know what they need.

Road bike tire technology is no joke, which is why many of these tires cost more than those you just installed on your daughter’s Honda Civic. But what do all these techy terms mean? And how do they affect the performance of the tire? Below we give you a glossary of terms before we move onto the test and the results. Forgive us if any of it is review—this guide is for all of us pedal pushers big, little, old, young, fast, slow—just skip ahead if you already know the terminology.

Sections in this guide:

• Glossary
• The Test
• Test Results

GLOSSARY

TPI: (Threads Per Inch) Think of TPI like the 1,000-thread count sheets you paid top dollar for because you know or your wife insisted they are softer. The higher the tire-thread count, the more flexible and supple the tire becomes. Higher TPI tires often cost more but will offer a better road feel and lower rolling resistance, yet often will prove less durable than a tire with a lower TPI rating. Be aware that some tires may read 120 TPI (Vredestein TriComp Fortezza) but may have more than one layer of casing, therefore doubling—or in some cases tripling—thread count. Thus, one manufacturer’s 60 TPI may be another’s 120 TPI, depending on how many layers are used in construction of a tire and how a manufacturer chooses to label its packaging.

Compound: Different rubber compounds often make up a single tire. Laying down corners at 27mph in your last crit or canyon descent is one of the best parts of bicycling, but it wouldn’t be nearly as safe—relatively—without a soft rubber compound on the shoulders of a tire to provide cornering grip.

On the other hand, soft rubber wears quicker than firm; so many manufacturers have placed firm rubber down the center of the tire for added tread life. Many race tires have soft rubber compounds all the way around the tire for improved grip, sacrificing wear and durability.

Tread Design: Tread design is somewhat straightforward. We’ve all seen the indy car on display at the mall with its slick tires. These tires are the best for dry tarmac, and they’d be as useless as a space heater in hell when it rains. Tread design is there to channel water and provide traction on uneven terrain, so despite what you may have heard, slicks are NOT going to perform as well in the rain.

PSI Rating (Pounds Square Inch): The PSI rating of a tire correlates directly with a number of factors. The more air you can add to a tire, the faster you can roll—i.e., decreased rolling resistance. However, the more air you add to a tire, the less rubber contacting the pavement—meaning less traction. High TPI casing is one factor (remember: ‘flexible, supple’) that allows a tire to be inflated to high PSI levels. Finding the happy medium WITHIN the recommended manufacturer specifications is important to successful cornering without feeling like your cornering through five inches of sand—or having blowouts.

Belting (Puncture Resistance): Belting is similar to the wire beads found in your car tires (yes, those wires you saw on your bald tires when you were in high school are supposed to be there—just not poking through). Many manufacturers have added Kevlar belting or some form of puncture-inhibiting material down the center strip of the tire; this adds both structure to the tire and inhibits punctures.

Width: The width of a tire plays an important role in the performance. Your choice of tire width depends on the road conditions you’ll encounter, your weight, your riding style, and venue. Tire width can mean the difference between staying upright or hitting the tarmac. For the sake of testing, we stayed within 22-24mm width tires.

Bead: Located at the edge of the tire, the bead is what holds your clincher tire to the rim. Nowadays most race clinchers use a Kevlar bead instead of steel. Kevlar beads are lighter and allow the tire to be folded.

The Test:

Continental, Vittoria, and Vredestein. As tires arrived, we mounted them on two different sets of clincher wheels and one set of tubulars: Zipp 404s, Mavic Ksyruim SLs, and Easton EC90 tubular. We handed out sets of tires to our pro mechanic and roadie teammates and asked them to hash out at least 300 miles per set, both racing and training, wet and dry—and give us their feedback. They did, and here’s what they said … in no particular order.

The Tires:

Clinchers tested: Continental Attack (front- and rear-specific), Vittoria Open Corsa, Vredestein Fortezza Tri Comp, Continental GP 4000

Tubulars tested: Continental Competition Tubular

The Players:

Mike H.
Mike is an avid racer who trains as hard as he races and is quickly on his way to Cat 2 status, partially due to his possessing one of the fastest sprints west of the Mississippi and partially due to impressive bike handling skills and smart racing. Mike has extensive experience on the bike, both in the dirt and on tarmac, and has a remarkable understanding of the technical side of bicycles, fitness, and training. Mike also has a metallurgical engineering degree—yeah, we don’t know what that means, either.

Jeff B.
Head mechanic and overachiever here at RealCyclist.com. Jeff is a UCI/USA cycling-certified race mechanic who has likely forgotten more about bicycles than most of us will ever know. He has been racing bikes since Reagan was in office and has been in the industry for even longer, and even though we tease him about being old (he’s only 38), he can still crush you ...

Chaz B.
RC writer and washed-up Seattle bike-messenger-turned-roadie who prefers to speak of himself in the third person. He’s not on the Pro Tour (and never will be) but races, trains, and commutes on, as well as dreams about, bicycles and has a pretty good idea of what he’s talking about. They gave him a computer here at RC and told him to lay down some words, lucky bastard.

TEST RESULTS

Vittoria Open Corsa EVO: 23mm, tested a 145psi

Specs/Tech: Weight 230 grams; 320 TPI, Twin Tread Technology, AquaGrip Technology, PRB Belting (puncture resistance)

Always a heavyweight in the road tire community, the Open Corsa EVO lived up to its reputation as one of the supplest thanks to 320 TPI Kevlar poly-cotton casing, making the Open Corsa one of the most performance-driven tires available. Mike and I were both immediately impressed with the Vittorias—and for good reason. We each logged around 300 miles on both dry and wet tarmac, as well as six criterium races on buttery-smooth pavement and gravel-laden, crack-riddled scariness. The Vittorias feature Twin Tread Technology (TTT)—which means they run a softer compound on the shoulders for sticky cornering and a slightly harder tread in the center for longer wear. The Vittorias also feature a lightweight PRB puncture-resistant belt to inhibit punctures.

The Good:

• Extremely supple tire offering the best road-feel of the bunch
• The biggest little tire of the bunch—it may sound contradictory, but the Open Corsa rides like you’re on pontoons while handling like you’re on rails—don’t think it’s possible? It is.
• Tread design channels water without compromising grip when it’s dry, for cornering you can lean on—literally.
• Excellent in the rain, the Open Corsa proved stable and sticky during a sleet- and rain-cursed criterium—ah, only the suffering to focus on.
• 320 TPI Corespun K casing alternates polyester-cotton and Kevlar threads in the weave to create a road-feel rivaling a tubular—and we’re not just saying that.

The NOT so good:

• Both sets developed small cuts in the rubber, not deep enough to puncture (remember PRB belting?), but nonetheless compromise the overall longevity of the tire
• The least durable of the bunch, both Mike and I had one each puncture throughout testing—bummer
• Although the Open Corsa EVO is a blast to ride, it felt borderline delicate, which could be a concern if your road race or circuit incorporates a gravel road section

The Verdict: Performance: 4.75 stars out of 5 / Relative Race Tire Durability: 3.50 stars out of 5

• The Vittoria Open Corsa EVO is the winner in the performance category. Lay down “roller-coaster-ride” cornering at your local crit or down a twisty canyon—the Open Corsa EVO is up to the challenge. Noticeably stable and remarkably nimble, we ran them at 145—and the tire just feels fast.
• Although the Open Corsa excels in performance, it does so at the cost of longevity and puncture resistance.
• Exceptional wet-weather tire. We raced and trained on Open Corsa in the rain and sleet with confidence and felt strong

Continental Attack/ Force: [Front] 22mm, [Rear] 24mm, tested at 115 PSI

Specs/Tech: Weight [Front] 190g; [Rear] 210g; 330 TPI, Tire Positioning System (TPS), Vectran Single Breaker, recommended inflation: 110-120 PSI

Continental decided to explore a route that mountain bikers have taken for some time now: to make a front- and rear-specific tire. And the results were nothing short of impressive. The rear Attack measures 24mm, while the front measures 22mm. The idea is that the wider rear offers better stability, a smoother ride, and increased traction when you’re trying to out-sprint your buddy to the next road sign. The narrower front allows for streamlined aerodynamics, precise braking, and quicker cornering. Both front and rear tires use Continental’s Vectran puncture protection and offer wear indicators so you really know when it’s time for new rubber.

The Good:

• The Conti’s Vectran puncture protection and Black Chili Compound proved to be the real winners here, with no cracks, cuts, or compromising wear after 300 miles
• The 24mm rear is noticeably stable on wet, unfavorable tarmac—sometimes 1mm is very influential
• Excellent tread design gets two-thumbs up. While the Vittoria does excellent in the wet, the Conti Attack/Force grips well on both the wet and sand-swept county roads
• Continental maintains its reputation as the most durable tire of the bunch

The NOT so good:

• Despite the 330 TPI (three-ply design), the Conti Attack/ Force combination didn’t prove as supple as others tested
• Road feel felt slightly muffled: capable of comfortable cornering at speed but lacking the nimbleness of the Fortezza TriComp
• Rolling resistance felt somewhat compromised. Despite running the 22mm in the front, at times the wider rear tire felt like overkill when racing on dry pavement

The Verdict: Performance: 4.00 stars / Relative Race Tire Durability: 4.50 stars

• The jack-of-all-trades, the Attack/ Force combo did everything well and nothing poorly
• Perfect for the local racer who doesn’t want (or need) to swap out tires/ wheels for the weekly crit or road race, the Conti’s are an excellent choice for both training and racing

Vredestein Fortezza TriComp 23mm, tested at 145-155 PSI

Specs/Tech: Weight 225 grams; Sportex Protection Layer (SPL), Tri-Compound Construction, Curve Control System (CCS), Silica Energy Compound, recommended inflation: 140-175 PSI

Vredestein has been building tires—and building them well—in the Netherlands since 1946, and the Fortezza TriComp is Vredestein’s flagship clincher tire. Having raced on the Vredesteins in the past, we were expecting solid results, and we weren’t disappointed. The Fortezza proved remarkably durable thanks to a long-wearing, low-resistance center—not quite like the Conti’s but surprisingly close. Rolling resistance was exceptional with a recommended 140-175 PSI (really!), and when diving into corners, the tire stayed in solid contact with the pavement—as opposed to the ‘skip’ often felt when running other clinchers at high pressure.

The Good:

• Minimal rolling resistance of the bunch
• Long-wearing, low-resistance center defines the line between too soft to provide longevity and too firm to provide grip—the perfect blend.
• Soft rubber compound on shoulder of the Fortezza grips well through high-speed corners and didn’t tend to fade—in other words, the Fortezza held a smooth arc without backing off the pedals
• The most nimble and quick tire we tested, the Fortezza Tri Comp bounced from turn to turn better with predictability and grip

The NOT so good:

• Tread design compromises grip when it rains even under lower pressure, making it our least favorite on wet tarmac
• The Fortezza corners well and feels nimble—but sacrifices a bit of stability on less-than-stellar pavement
• Although the Fortezza is extremely supple, it fell just shy of the intimate road feel we got from the Open Corsa EVO

The Verdict: Performance: 4.50 stars / Relative Race Tire Durability: 4.00 stars

• Similar to the Conti Attack/ Force in that these are perfect for the weekly club racer who doesn’t want to change wheels/ tires for race day
• Leaning a bit further to the performance side than the durability side of the spectrum, the Fortezza Tri Comp still provides a good compromise between race day and training day tires
• Our least-favorite wet weather tire, but nimbleness in dry conditions goes unmatched

Continental Grand Prix 4000 23mm, tested at 110 PSI

Specs/ Tech: Weight 190 grams; 330TPI (3-ply), Vectran Single Breaker, Black Chili Compound (in black only), Recommended inflation: 110-120 PSI

The Continental GP 4000 performed similarly to its sibling, the Attack/Force combo—and shares much of the same technology such as the Vectran Breaker, which is made from Vectran fluid crystal fibers (even sounds cool) that are extremely resistant to tears and cuts and was originally developed for the automotive and aerospace industry. The GP 4000 is right up at the top in durability and longevity and not far off in performance. As testing took us to both the wet and dry conditions that spring provides, we actually preferred the Attack/Force combo over the GP 4000 in wet weather, opting for the 24mm rear tire for stability and traction.

The Good:

• Again, the Continental provides our favorite tread design, working well in both rough and friendly conditions
• Durability and wear resistance is top-notch, even for a race tire. Black Chili Compound and Vectran Breaker provides solid grip without being so soft that you need to replace the GP 4000 every 6 weeks. In addition, we didn’t find any cuts or tears in the tire or signs of compromising wear—Germans do good work
• 23c model still only weighs a feathery 190 grams
• Grip was not the best of the bunch but retained the most consistency throughout testing—meaning grip was not heavily compromised the more miles we logged

The NOT so good:

• Again, road-feel felt slightly muffled compared to the Fortezza TriComp and Open Corsa EVO, and rolling resistance felt somewhat higher (heavier) than the former
• Cornering was smooth but less responsive with the 23mm front compared to the Conti Force 22mm front and required a bit more work to get the tire to dive through corners.

The Verdict: Performance: 4.00 stars / Relative Race Tire Durability: 4.50 stars

• Perfect all-around tire, happy in criteriums, road races or canyon training rides
• Performance falls short of the Fortezza Tri Comp and Open Corsa EVO and is not as supple, but the Conti’s Black Chili Compound sticks so well you won’t arrive home questioning your bike’s potential
• Durable rubber compound and excellent puncture resistance, the GP 4000 is predictable and felt least likely to fail—an excellent tire for the wet spring race season with those nasty gravel road sections

Continental Competition Tubular 22mm, tested at 155PSI

Specs/ Tech: Weight 215 grams; 180TPI (3-ply), Vectran Breaker, Black Chili Compound (in black only), recommended inflation: 145-170 PSI

The Continental Competition Tubular was a tire we were most excited to test. Unique dimple-like tread design with Black Chili Compound and hand-sewn in Germany, the Continental Competition Tubular has all the ingredients to impress the most demanding racer. The Continental Competition is the only tubular we tested, and we didn’t find it applicable to give comparative results next to clinchers, so instead our initial thoughts are as follows:

The Good:

• The Conti Competition tread pattern provided adequate grip on the inconsistent pavement of two of our local crit venues
• Tires felt solid underneath, though requiring a bit more initiation to get the tire to commit to a turn

The NOT so good:

• Unfortunately, during the third crit I raced on the Competition, the rear tire had a catastrophic failure, rolling off the rim and sending me sailing into the dirt. After the fiasco, we discovered the rubber portion of the tubular had actually peeled away from the cotton strip that is glued to the rim
• We contacted Continental, and they stated they have never seen anything like it. They have been very involved and anxious to investigate the issue
• Fluke or something more? Most likely the former, but we’ll let you decide

The Verdict: Undecided.

• The jury is still out, and without ample time to spend on the Competitions, we didn’t feel it was possible for us to offer complete feedback based on the failure of the rear tire

Remember, what rubber you decide to run on your favorite machine directly affects your experience and performance on a bicycle—as well as your wallet. So choose wisely; or don’t, and find out what works for you through trial and error. Once you choose a solid tire for your venue, the next step is deciding how much you can suffer for that top podium spot. Good luck out there … .

A big thanks to Vittoria, Continental, and Vredestein for sending tires and participating in our testing.