Veloflex Racing Bike Tires Test by Antonio Cortese

Here's a blog article signed by Antonio Cortese that offers an interesting insight into our racing bike clinchers.

Antonio Cortese is a cyclist from Italy who has covered the most significant stages of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, riding the epic climbs of world cycling.

In recent years he has been dedicating himself to the promotion of ethical and doping-free cycling together with giving visibility to an important topic: safety on the road and respect for the cyclist.

Over time he has specialized in testing cycling products, collaborating only with important Made in Italy brands.

Antonio Cortese and his experience

The set of tires is one of the most important and most cared for components on racing bikes.

Tires are the point of contact between the mechanical vehicle and the road, and as such they are crucial.

Whether they are professionals or amateurs, cyclists are constantly looking for tires that promise high levels of smoothness, a key performance-enhancing quality, and at the same time, excellent grip on asphalt.

And this exact peculiarity—the GRIP—is one of the most valued: it is a chemical/physical principle that determines how well the rubber adheres to a ground contact surface.

This fall, I had the chance to test the VELOFLEX road tires, or rather, the "open tubulars" as they call them to fairly emphasize the meticulous manufacturing process used to make them.

VELOFLEX was founded in 1981 by the union of two families who share a passion for road cycling. It still uses hand-crafted techniques to produce the highest-quality tires for racing bicycles, selecting the best raw materials on the market and combining innovation and research with manual production with special attention to detail, typical of true Made in Italy.

Road clinchers: the review

The clinchers used in the tests were the CORSA EVO, a high-end training tire, and the CORSA RACE, a higher-performance, top-of-the-line version designed for competition, both available in sizes 23 and 25.

One can immediately tell how much love and care VELOFLEX puts into its products just by opening the tire's packaging after receiving it.

Given the high quality of the product, it is not surprising that the elegant case strongly resembles the packaging of a luxury watch.

To the touch I immediately felt extreme softness and elasticity, as well as a very high grip on the tread.

I wanted to assemble the wheels myself and I found it to be quite smooth and quick.

Because of the stability qualities that ensure safety, the feeling of connection is immediate from the first kilometers.

I was able to put these tires to the test by alternating between linear paths and winding routes with curves and constant direction changes.

The tests were carried out both during training sessions and during races for the last season's competitions.

Both models have proven to be very reliable both with inflation at "low" pressures and at the maximum limit provided by the manufacturer.

The clinchers' technical characteristics

Thanks to the particular compound, I was able to reach the top speed limit "on the bend" in the downhill curves and counter-curves while always "feeling" the vehicle well adherent to the asphalt (Ghisallo and Sormano descents were used as a testing ground).

And then I was pleasantly surprised by the reliability I observed on wet or, worse, humid and slippery surfaces, tempting me to push the performance to its limits.

Without a doubt, one of these tires' strengths is their smoothness, which significantly reduces rolling resistance and friction with the asphalt and makes it simple to ride straight at high speeds.

Finally, wear resistance confirmed my initial impressions of "toughness". In fact, after covering about 4,500 kilometers, despite the roads being filled with potholes, debris, and broken glass, the tires had no obvious surface cuts, scratches, or marks at the end of the test. Wear was even and regular.

Of special mention to the presence of a special puncture protection, the RKB, with its tenacious yarn woven under the tread.

Due to the excellent comfort these tires offer and the flexibility of their 350 TPI casing, the ride quality was exceptional.

Conclusions

In conclusion, I have tried top-of-the-line road tires, which are safe and reliable over time in both training and competition. They are excellent in grip, smoothness and comfort.

In light of this, I can strongly recommend VELOFLEX as an excellent choice for all cyclists seeking high performance in any situation, in a high-quality product that is also Made in Italy.