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I have always been a bit of a Continental fan when it comes to tyres. I have liked the grip in the wet and their general ride qualities. So why for this years Tour of Flanders did I choose the Vittoria tyres?Usually the spring classics are fought out by the real tough men of the sport, the flahutes of this world. The two tyre brands which have dominated this intense and demanding terrain over the last thirty years have been Continental and Vittoria. The PRO's ride tubular tyres, which is fine if you have a support car in tow, but I was looking for a clincher equivalent. As Continental don't make a Competition Gatorskin (the nearest would be a GP4 Season) I decided to opt for the Vittoria Open Pave Evo CG. Taking a look just at the palmares for the Paris Roubaix race I knew I was following in the tyre treads of cyclings' royalty.Paris - Roubaix2007 O'Grady2006 Cancellara2004 Backsted2000 Museeuw1999 Tafi1998 Ballerini1996 Museeuw1995 Ballerini1994 Tchmil1993 Duclos-Lasalle1992 Duclos-Lasalle1991 Madiot1981 Hinault1980 Moser1979 Moser1978 MoserOkay so enough of the history, and onto living with the new tyres. Fitting them was easy, no matter what rim combination I used. At first you could easily think that you would never get the bead to seat onto the rim as the tyre is so malleable. It's great to be wrong as the simple process of fitting a tyre, can in some degree influence whether a love affair can bloom or not.Although the tyre is measured at 24mm, the volume of the tyres gives the ride feel of something a little larger. This is no bad thing (as I discovered in Flanders) as you don't trade much in the way of speed, but manage to gain comfort. This is a great trick if you can pull it off, which Vittoria have done. I put this down to the way an "open tubular" is built. It may sound obvious, but the tyres are made in exactly the same way their tubular tyres are, except for that these are not closed with an inserted tube, but they receive a hooked bead to work with a clincher rim.The ride quality is exceptional, the grip offered by both the compound and the tread pattern gives confidence in bucket loads. Vittoria employ a Twin Tread compound with a green softer outer coupled with a harder black central strip. Whether the green tread helps due to the compound softness I am not sure (as they feel similar to touch), but the mental strength that can be attained by having the PRO look on your bike should not be underestimated. The combination of both a herringbone and a file tread give lots of grip in the wet when the roads can be slippery. On a dry road the extra drag isn't that noticeable, so the tyre is no one trick pony.Tyre pressure for the cobbles is a key factor in how fast you can ride over them. Too hard and you bounce around loosing all traction, too soft and the risk of pinch flatting increases. You really are looking for the Goldilocks' porridge syndrome, that just right stage. This will differ for each rider based on your weight and given riding style. At 94 kg I am a heavy rider but I experienced no problems running the tyres right down to 85 psi. For the Ronde I ended up running the front at 90 psi and about 10 psi more in the rear. I had no flats of any kind on the day or since.
If you are going to undertake a sportive on rough roads of any description, be it the Ronde, Paris Roubaix or something of a more local flavour, you should have a pair of these tyres stashed away in your bike box.
Don't look any further than the Open Pave if you are after a Classics-looking tyre nothing shouts 'Roubaix' as loudly as these green and black treads.Coming in a 24mm width, the Pave has plenty of air volume to add a touch of comfort, especially in winter, and a bit more rubber on the road. Needless to say, these tyres still run more than fast enough.After enduring a winter of riding on some rough old roads the Si02 3D compound has gripped well on water-drenched and mud-engulfed tarmac but has been a little susceptible to cutting up. Nevertheless, most of the debris has not managed to get past the PRB puncture protection.
Using Vittorias's Corespun casing with 290tpi, the ride is excellent and much more pleasant than a stiff winter tyre.