Tires ?

[ezdoesit]

Tires ?
Hi everyone,
Has anyone here used the Vittoria tires ?
The ones I have been looking at are the Randonneur Hyper and the Randonneur Pro can anyone here comment on these tires good and bad   I need to get new tires.The tires will be used for my daily commuting and for touring.But mostly for touring.
I run 700x32 on a 2008 Fuji Touring Bike.

http://www.vittoria.com/product/city-trekking/


Thank you for your time I appreciate it.

[Pat Lamb]

Some people seem to like the Vittoria Randonneurs.  Not me.  I had some wire break and pop out of the sidewall on tour, ruining the tire and my day (when it took four tries to find what was flatting my tire!).  The replacement, another Randonneur, lasted 2,000 miles.  Its replacement, a Specialized Armadillo, has lasted that long and looks like it has another 1,000-2,000 miles left on it.

[RussSeaton]

I use Vittoria Open Corsa EVO CX 700x25 tires on several of my bikes.  They are nice tires.  BUT, they did flat 7 times during Paris-Brest-Paris.  That was unpleasant.  Changing a flat tire at midnight in the rain while standing in the ditch does not add much joy to a ride.  Not that there was a whole lot of joy period in PBP 2007.  I don't really trust these Vittoria tires.  They have been reasonably OK recently so it may have just been an instance of everything bad happening during a 3 day period.

[Tandem4Rider]

While I have not used the tire you are referencing, I have used a Vittoria folding performance tire 700X23 on my other half bike (Cannondale R600).  I was mildly disappointed.  For the price I expected more.  Oddly I have found similar performance from a similar folding tire made by Performance Bike's house brand Forte for much less cost.  I use Forte 700X25 on my commuting half bike (Trek 1200) and they are incredible.

[John Nelson]

Forte makes many kinds of tires (e.g., Metro, Metro-K, Dartmoor, Strata, Strata-K, Pro DC, Pro+, Gotham, Slick City GT, Greenway, Greenway-K, GT2, GT2 Kevlar). Which ones do you find "incredible"?

[whittierider]

Forte makes many kinds of tires (e.g., Metro, Metro-K, Dartmoor, Strata, Strata-K, Pro DC, Pro+, Gotham, Slick City GT, Greenway, Greenway-K, GT2, GT2 Kevlar). Which ones do you find "incredible"?

It seems to me that Forte is a private-label name and not a manufacturer.  Before I learned the value of buying more-expensive tires like the Continental GP4000 which is far better in rolling resistance and flat protection and durability than the cheap tires, and even a little better in wet grip too, I didn't feel I could justify spending so much on a tire.  I did buy Forte GT2 tires several times, and they were clearly not always the same tire from one time to the next, even though they had the same name.  (I also had to fix a lot more flats and didn't get nearly as many miles out of them and they didn't perform as well either as my GP4000's or even the Michelin Carbons.)  I bought Forte pedals a few times, then when they were discontinued, I found I could get the exact same pedal from Nashbar with a different name on it.

[danacf]

The Performance Forte Pro tire is made by National Tire Co in Japan, which I believe has been around for ages.  The Nashbar folding duro road tire is the same thing.  The 25 or 26 mm width is about the same size as the Continental 28mm Gatorskins.  The last duro tires I ordered from Nashbar came with a Panaracer stamp on them, but the tread design is identical to the Forte tires.  I'm quite sure they're all the same .  These tires list for $40, but you can usually get them (like now) for $25.  I used Continental Grand Prix's on my racing bike until a few years ago, switched to the Forte's when the Conti's hit $40+ a tire, and can't honestly say there is much of a difference.  The Conti's had a little thicker tread and probably lasted a little longer, but they were by no means twice as good, and if you cut one you are only out $25, not $40+.   

[DaveB]

The only Vittoria tires I've had experience with are their 700x23 Rubino Pro and Rubino Pro Slicks which are folding bead mid-level training and sports tires and fairly light at less than 230 grams. 

They have been durable beyond anything I've ever used before.  I've over 4500 miles on two of them as rear tires which is well over my norm of about 3000 miles on anything else. 

Whether this durability carries over to their other models, I have no experience. 

[Tandem4Rider]

John Nelson - I find the GT2 on the commuter and Pro DC on the other.  I also ride a two widths on the tandem (Metro K 35 and Strada 28).

I'm not trying to win the local crit nor am I looking for the least amount of rolling resistance to gain that extra something such things earn us.  Thus, "incredible" for me is simply that I get a good ride on a decent tire for a fraction of the cost as compared to other tires - for me cost is huge.  I used to ride the more expensive tires until my epiphany - a cut tire that cost me $40-$65 set me farther back than one that costs $25, and both did what I needed them to for the 2000 miles I had them.  My "incredible" is just that, mine - perhaps I should have mentioned that.  Other's mileage may vary.

Enjoy the ride!