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56th Birthday present impressions.

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56th Birthday present impressions.

Old 10-18-17, 02:55 PM
  #1  
David Bierbaum
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56th Birthday present impressions.

For my birthday, I received a pair of folding bead 700x38C Vittoria Adventure Trail tires (on closeout), which replaced my Maxxis Overdrive tires (the rear was really worn down), and now that I've ridden on them for a bit, I thought I'd share my impressions.

For the most part, I like 'em! They roll just about as well as the old tires on pavement, but they "feel" more stable, especially in turns or when you hit those patches of sand and/or dirt on the road. I feel more confident to lean further into a turn, where the overdrives felt like they might slide out from under me. These tires also feel better on gravel and dirt than the old tires. You can feel them "bite" into the loose stuff, where the overdrives would just skitter over it.

There are parts I'm not so thrilled about. The tires don't have reflector strips on the sidewalls, and these floppy folding bead tires are a BEAR to get seated correctly. I never had to massage the old overdrive tires to get all the bobbles and the ripples out of it. When I first rode on them, my bike felt like a bucking bronco! I must say, I'm not looking forward to my first flat on these things.

The bad parts are just minor though. Overall, I just really like them. I've already pulled one caltrop and one glass shard out of the tread, without getting a flat. Yay.
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Old 10-18-17, 03:51 PM
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DiabloScott
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Originally Posted by David Bierbaum
these floppy folding bead tires are a BEAR to get seated correctly. I never had to massage the old overdrive tires to get all the bobbles and the ripples out of it.
They'll stretch and straighten out after a couple months of being at pressure.
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Old 10-18-17, 06:59 PM
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Not too experienced with Vittoria tires though I do have a pair of their Rubino Pros on my titanium bike. They seem a lot lighter and faster than my Continental Gatorskins (no surprise) but more prone to flats (also no surprise).

I recently switched to Michelin tires on my Guru and those were much lighter and faster than the Vitorias, though not on the same bike so kind of difficult to tell for sure. Had Conti GP 4000's on that bike previously and definitely like the feel of the Michelins better and (so far) no flats.

I've never been impressed with Maxxis or Kenda tires, though I do have Kendas on my folding bike.

I don't do any off road/gravel riding, so of course the OP's experiences may be different!

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Old 10-19-17, 11:51 AM
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Happy birthday!
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Old 10-19-17, 02:30 PM
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I doubt I will ever get used to the sound of a kevlar bead seating.

Wait-for-it—wait-for-it—wait-for-it—wait-for-it—wait-fSNAP!

(Max pulse rate unlocked!)

-mr. bill
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