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Vittoria Rubino Pro and Continental Grand Prix 4000
By James Sharp and Jon Sharp
I read recently that most pros—this particular person estimated eighty percent—still ride tubulars. When looking at wheelsets, I’ve often thought about riding them myself. After all, it seems the best carbon-rimed wheels are all tubulars. When discussing this with a friend of mine that road back in the era when everyone rode them, he proceeded to tell me what a hassle they are. I’ve no doubt they ride really nice—especially the expensive ones. For the rest of us—I’ll call us practical and realistic (heck, we’re the people that have to do mundane things like fix flats ourselves—there are clinchers. Actually some clinchers ride really well, also. Enough money will by you a really light and supple clincher. In this review, we’ll look at Vittoria’s Rubino Pro and Continental’s Grand Prix 4000.
Vittoria Rubino Pro
Continental Grand Prix 4000
Vittoria Rubino Pro
 The Rubino Pro is touted as a long distance, amateur racing tire. It has a nice 120 tpi casing—not nearly as high a thread count as some tubulars, or even more expensive clinchers—but much nicer than those with lower thread counts like 60. This actually really lends itself to a nice supple ride.
Though light at 220 grams, the Rubino Pro includes a Puncture Resistant Belting (PRB). To provide for miles and miles of use, Vittoria places a harder, more resistant to wear, rubber down the center of the tire, while placing a softer compound rubber along the sides for better cornering.
I found these tires to be quite supple for this level of tire. They corner well, and work fairly well in the wet, also. After almost 1000 miles on them, they are wearing pretty well, though there are quite a few small nicks in the tread. It is hard to say if they are particularly puncture-resistant. In those 1000 miles, I’ve had 3 flats. Fortunately for me, two of them have been within inches of my house (maybe I should carry my bike when I get close to home). Overall, I found the Rubino Pros to be a great tire for training and long-distance riding. They can be had for around $40.
Continental Grand Prix 4000
 Continental’s Grand Prix 4000 is their top-of-the-line tire. Handmade in Germany, it boasts a host of features. The tread compound uses Vectran fibers – Vectran is a fiber made of a Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) that has excellent abrasion resistance, high strength, outstanding cut resistance, lower weight than aramid (Kevlar) fiber and maintains these properties at high and low temperatures. The idea here is to give the tire longer life and resistance to punctures while maintaining the supple feel that high-end clinchers have.
The GP4000 also features tread wear indicators, a silica tread compound that is UV resistant for longer tire life a 125psi maximum inflation pressure and a host of colors to match your bike. The GP4000 weighs in at a light 205g.
I found these tires to perform the way you’d expect a race tire to perform. They felt lively and quick with excellent grip. The tread wear indicators are very nice, eliminating the guesswork in replacing tires. You won’t replace the tire too soon, and you’ll be alerted to the tread wearing thin before you find yourself riding on the cords of the casing. I suffered one flat with these tires, near the end of the testing period. I was a little disappointed in the Vectran layer for this reason. Granted there were numerous other nicks and cuts in the tread that could have been a flat, but weren’t, I was just hoping to have a flat free review. The Continental Grand Prix 4000 retails for $49.99
James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com. Read his blog here.
Jon Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com. Read his blog here.
For more information, contact:
BikeMine
1639 West Sheridan Ave.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106
Phone: 1-800-223-3207
E-mail: req@bikemine.com
www.bikemine.com
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