Vittoria
I have about 1000 miles on these tires. Mostly smooth roads, but also some chip seal. 700x25 mounted on Zipp 303 clincher, 90-94 psi, butyl tubes. I will probably remount with latex tubes, but first wanted a fair comparison to previous tire. The ride is noticeably softer (comfortable) and sure handling than the top of the line tire from the German mega tire manufacturer that I was riding previously. Very stable at high speeds. This 320 tpi thing seems to be for real. So far I have not flatted and tread wear rate seems to be pretty normal. I had no problem mounting these tires to the rims without using tools. I also tried removing a tire after reading another review that claimed it was difficultimpossible. I used one plastic lever just to get it started, then finished up with hands only. No problem. Maybe the reviewer who had problems was a victim of rim-tire non-compatibility. I used to find combining Campy alloy rims with Michelin tires to be problematic. Who would have suspected? Anyway, the bottom line is these tires offer an exceptional ride, seem to hold up just fine, and if purchased when on sale, worth the cost.
I've been riding on a set of 23mm Continental Gatorskins for a while now. They've always seemed to have a harsh ride in comparison to the Vittoria Corsa CX (sewups) and Open Corsa tires I used to ride years ago. Got a flat the other day and I used it as an opportunity to try these 25mm Vittoria Rubino Pros in the two pack. I used Vittoria latex tubes as well instead of the butyl ones that came with the tires. What a difference! Not only is the ride much less harsh, but, in the two rides I've been on with them, I was significantly faster (0.5 mph) over my usual training route. They're still not high quality sewups, but they're a damn sight better than what I had been riding. The price seems good too.
I have ridden 2-3 sets of these in all weather conditions in New Mexico, where the worst of all thorns - the notorious goat heads - and pebbles, rocks, and glass line our roads. I get excellent mileage out of them, rarely flat, and man are they fast. They are easy to mount and remove (one Pedro's tire lever is sufficient). They are more comfortable than most other road racingtraining tires I have used. I used to ride Conti GP 4000S. The Vittoria are less costly and last a lot longer (2-3 times longer in my experience) on our really prickly and rough New Mexico roads. Still, these are not commuter tires as I have read in another review. If you want a commuter tire try the Specialized All-Weather Armadillo. Perhaps the Vittoria Rubino Pro Control would be a solid choice for commuting but I have never ridden it.
The tires roll very well and I love the plush feel when mounted tubeless on my aero bike (yes I know tubeless 30 mm on an aero bike... but I am now in need of comfort!). Good cornering, only put 100 miles on it, but they don't seem to wear off fast.
That said, these tires made me sweat. A lot. Like I have never sweat this hard to put on a tubeless, and I came across some very bad combination. I am using a lezyne floor pump with air canister, that can go up to 220 psi and never let me down so far. The first tire seat with some difficulties, but after for tries it was done.
The second one ... oh boy ... tried 6 times to pump up the canister up to 200220 psi, nothing worked. So I took a tube put it in, put the tire back on and pop the beam into place. Something I do with difficult set-up, so I was annoyed but still in a good mood. Time to unseat one size and remove the tube... right ... unseat the tire ... That took a while. Bruised my fingers, bend a couple of nails (no I don't have long nails) tried every tool I had. After 2 hours of trying things and big breaths to avoid throwing the wheel our of the window... I put my bike shoes on, blocked the tire on the floor with all my weight on it, and twisted the wheel. A few tries later, after having hit my ankles with the rim several times (yes it hurts), I finally managed to free part of the tire. With half of the tire already seated it was pretty easy to seat the rest of it, but boy... I was almost giving up...
