Road tubeless is still a relatively new thing, yet one we’ve been crying out for for years. We’ve been tubeless off-road for decades, so why did it take so long to perfect the road tubeless technology? We don’t know, but we finally feel like the tech is finally trustworthy (what with those high pressures) and we can confidently lean into a corner on a fast descent without fear of catastrophe. Kah has been rolling on the standard Vittoria Corsa and Brett on the Control version, a slightly more durable tyre which strives for similar rolling to the Corsa with added toughness. Here’s our takes on the tyres…

What is this tyre? 

This is Vittoria’s updated Corsa model with the new GRAPHENE 2.0 compound and high TPI corespun cotton casing. The thread count works the same way as your sheets; the higher the thread count, the softer the feel. It comes in multiple sizes, and most excitingly goes up to 30c in the non-tubeless version. They also come in a Control model which is slightly grippier with a bit more texture to the rubber (Brett’s riding those, look out for that review below). We’re both riding 25c widths but have run standard Corsa in 28c also.

Under pressure!

When I first mentioned the pressure I was planning to run, Brett scoffed and called me a mountain biker. Not really an insult from where I was standing, but you’d better appreciate the faff of tubeless if you were already familiar with it from mountain biking. The “premium cotton casing” (according to the website) is quite supple. A drawback here is that the recommended minimum pressures are around 80-90psi, which is (in my humble opinion) high for such wide tyres. I’m steadily gaining dad-weight, so I’ll probably have to eat my words and run those pressures to match my weight soon.

The seal hasn’t been perfect so far in my time with the tyres, but maybe I just need more sealant. I’ve had one flat so far, and the sealant hadn’t managed to seal it up, so in went a tube. I hope to fish it out soon, top up the sealant and try again. Or wait until I flat again.

How does it ride?

This was a hard review to write. These are really good tyres, and I’m trying hard to not kill it with faint praise.

Like in all things, you find your balance point. The Corsa 25c tubeless offers a good balance: not the fastest, or most comfortable, but certainly more than fast enough and comfortable enough once I’ve finessed it a bit to find my sweet spot. After a few months of testing I’m definitely on the Run-It-Lower camp, but your mileage may vary. 

Should I buy it? 

Absolutely 💯. The only other thing I suggest is to buy the widest tyre you can fit; go up to 30c if you have the room and can’t be bothered with the tubeless. I think the real changes in performance for this tyre really hits at 28c to 30c. They are quite plump casings though (up to 2mm wider when inflated) so keep that in mind. 

Get some Control

I’ve been a fan of Vittoria’s venerable Corsas for a long time now, and an even bigger and longer fan of tubeless on my mountain and gravel bikes. With so few choices for road tubeless in the early days and not really wanting to give up the suppleness and performance of my standard Corsas, I was thrilled when Graeme from NZ Vittoria distributor Cycle Sport said there was stock of the tubeless Corsas on their way. Straight away he had two happy customers with Kah and myself eager to try them out.

I’d been running the top of the performance tree Corsas in 28c and loved the extra volume and the superb road feel they offered… that is, they rolled fast and felt comfortable (and the natural sidewalls, not gumwalls as Graeme pointed out, look the tits). I chose to go a bit narrower with the Controls, as they were going to be mounted on my ‘fast’ bike and figured it may give a better indication of their performance rather than focussing of the comfy attributes of the 28c. Well, I wasn’t left wanting any more comfort as I was probably too busy noticing how well the tyres rolled.

The main difference between the tyres we tested are that the Controls have a bit more ‘tread’ on the them, in the form of small chevrons on the outer treads to aid in wet conditions and offer a bit more cornering grip. The Control adds a scant 10 grams and both tyres have the same 320TPI thread count, giving a similar ride quality.

After talking to Graeme about pressures I tried a few different numbers, from 80PSI to 110. I usually rode most standard tyres between 90 and 100, and have been looking for the sweet spot for years. Every tyre is going to have different characteristics, so experimentation is key. I settled at 90PSI, which seems to give the best combination of speed, comfort and peace of mind that there won’t be any burping or sidewall squirm. Not that I’d noticed any of that at 80PSI either.

In the 6 months I’ve been riding the Controls, I haven’t had a puncture, well not one that I’ve been made aware of… maybe the sealant did its job. Setting them up, as Kah pointed out, can be an exercise in frustration if you’re not experienced with tubeless, and even if you are it can still be a pain. I didn’t have much trouble with the tighter bead seal and mounting the tyre to the rim, but inflating proved impossible even with a compressor, valve core removed and enough soap to stop the coronavirus in its tracks. I ended up running a strip of electrical tape around the rim to build up the bead seat, and the tyres inflated straight away and have held air ever since, even when unridden for a week or two… sure, they deflate a bit, like any tubeless tyre, but i haven’t had to repeat the seating process again. I’ll add here that my rims are tubeless ready, and they don’t require tubeless tape. This may have had some affect on the set up so other rims might not have any issue at all. But run some tape and you should be fine.

Overall I can’t fault these tyres, sure they have a few foibles but once sorted, you won’t have any reason to regret mounting these to your performance or endurance steed, as they have both in droves