Vittoria Corsa 4C Road Tyre
Now as a Yorkshire man I for one always like a two for one deal. No I don’t mean a BOGOF (Buy One get one Free) but with the Vittoria Corsa 4C G+ Open Clincher you get a far more rewarding in my honest opinion two for one deal.
Let me explain, firstly the Vittoria Corsa 4C G+ is a world-class competition tire of that there is no doubt. It has evolved from the legendary Corsa, exploiting the benefits of Vittoria’s industry leading 4C Graphene compound technology and their supple yet durable 320 TPI Corespun-K reinforced casing.
The Corsa size 700 foldable bead clincher is available in widths 23c-28c (there is also a size 650, 23c available and I should mention that the Corsa range is also available as a tubular) and for the weight-weenies among us, dependent on width weight is between 245g and 270g.
The 25c width that I’ve been riding has a recommended inflation of between 6-10 bar or 87-145 psi. I’ve tended to run mine towards the lower end of these recommendations settling on 100psi in the rear and 90psi in the front, this I found to be my sweet spot removing excessive road buzz that is often experienced when riding on those coarsely chipped road surfaces that we find here in the Yorkshire Wolds.
As any cyclist knows the first mounting of new foldable bead tires straight out the box can be a bit of a night mare, however I found no such issues mounting the tires for the first time, only needing the assistance of one tire lever to fit the last section of each tire to the rim.
To quote Vittoria’s own description of the new Corsa it achieves the ‘holy grail’ of performance: speed, suppleness, durability, and reliability. Now that’s some statement to make. A quick check of the Vittoria website shows the refreshing openness the brand shares of each of their tires performance characteristics: Speed, Mileage, Grip, Protection, Lightweight and Suppleness. It’s only in the tires weight and mileage characteristics that you could maybe ask for a little more.
This must however be considered against what this tire is all about and it’s intended use, this is after all a Competition tire, with a track record to prove it. The beauty is that there are three tires to chose from within the Corsa range, you can chose to have either the Corsa Speed, lighter and faster but with lighter and faster there will be some compromise on mileage and protection or the Corsa Control which has improved protection and Suppleness but ever so slightly heavier and slower.
I suppose the best way to compare the Corsa range is to look at the tire choices now available to Drivers in Formula 1 Soft, Ultra Soft, Medium etc. and too be fair within the Vittoria range of tires there are other options available ‘All Round’ or ‘Training’ tires, so you are never stuck for choice dependent on your needs and riding environment or race circuit.
Which brings me on to the second part of the deal I alluded to earlier and this is in relation to the aesthetics of the Corsa Tires, in the ‘Para Sidewall’ option of the tires they look absolutely fantastic giving that ‘Old School’ look that personally I think really stands out against the ocean of black walled tires we see today. It elevates the look of any bike and wheel combination and brings back memories of my youth and the cycling greats. For me that is definitely a good deal particularly when married to the fabulous ride characteristics I experienced, if only I had the legs to match their speed.
