# V. Rubino Pro vs. Rubino Slick



## xeon (Dec 21, 2008)

Ready to move on from my worn out OEM Ultra Sports and from reading around I've whittled my tire selection to the Rubino Pro vs. Rubino Slick tires. The way the reviews read on my OEM tires I will probably be happy with just about anything I replace them with. I digress... 

As near as I can tell the main difference between the two is one has tread off of the center and the other doesn't(ground shaking deduction). I suppose the tread offers some improved wet riding, which given the tread size/depth is going to offer a small amount of water channeling. While the slicks provide a better contact patch due to it being solid... or this is my understanding coming from the motorcycle world. Is my thinking correct or otherwise... if correct I'm thinking just go with the Slicks. 

So tread vs. no tread. Am I splitting hairs on this one? My riding is dry only for the most part. Have ridden in the rain a few times, but that was a combo of an unexpected rain and raining on race days. Riding for the most part is training and competing in duathlons, triathlons and maybe some bike specific events this year.


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## Dan0930 (May 28, 2004)

I ride the slicks regardless of the weather. its a 23mm tire do you think you're really going to hydroplane on that?

Regardless its a great tire I usually get around 10k miles out of it no the rear before the core is showing too much


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2010)

It doesn't make that much difference. I've ridden both of those quite a bit, I prefer the slick, but not sure why.


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## exracer (Jun 6, 2005)

Yes, you are splitting hairs. You are on a bicycle. It's not going to make alot of difference slick vs treaded.


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## danl1 (Jul 23, 2005)

exracer said:


> Yes, you are splitting hairs. You are on a bicycle. It's not going to make alot of difference slick vs treaded.


But where it does, any small advantage almost always goes to the slick.

Water channeling isn't an issue on a bike, so surface area / solid contact patch reign supreme.

In theory there are a few surfaces that would have better mechanical grip from some sort of roughness in the rubber, but darned if I can figure something that'd mate to the patterns seen on a bicycle tire.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

As long as both tires are the 120-ish TPI, folding bead version of the Rubinos (the "PRO,") than the difference is immaterial.

There are also the 60-TPI, wire-bead non-pro Rubinos, at a reduced price, and reduced ride quality.

Heck, I commute on 30-TPI, wire-bead Vittoria Zaffiros, but they sure are tough.


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## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

If you are into style and want a colored tire, you will need to pick a Rubino Pro.

If you want that little extra cornering performance and don't care about color, go Slick.

I think the new 2010 Rubino Pros have 160 or 180 tpi. vs 120 for the older models.

You might want to consider 25c tires in lieu of 23c. They will afford a better ride and lower rolling resistance. Down side is about 10g more per tire and less aerodynamic.


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## Kuma601 (Jan 22, 2004)

Blue CheeseHead said:


> I think the new 2010 Rubino Pros have 160 or 180 tpi. vs 120 for the older models.


Here I picked up a nice supply of the Pro II's not long ago. Oh well...such is life. Still good tires but these new ones sound interesting. 

Here we go, Rubino Pro III, 150 tpi casing:
http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=Y0083


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## exracer (Jun 6, 2005)

> But where it does, any small advantage almost always goes to the slick


.

This is true but on a bicycle you are not going to develope the kinds of speed were a slick is going to give you a distinct advantage; even on a steep twisty downhill. After all; you don't see any pro's out there with knee dragger pads or bun warmers on their tires before a race. I have ridden both and for general day in day out riding, I would say that the rubber compound is more important. For instance; Diamante Pro's (treaded) vs Rubino Pro Slicks vs Zaffiro Pro's (again treaded). I would say that I have gotten the Zaffiro's to slide a couple of times when I have pushed really hard though a corner where the Diamante's and Rubino's did not. I agree with Argentius, for general riding; the difference is minimal.

And I would probably be riding Conti 4000s or Michelin Pro3Race all the time since I like sticky tires(from my motorcycling days). but I also like not getting flats; which the Zaffiro's excel at.


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## jmlapoint (Sep 4, 2008)

I have used both, but really prefer the Rubino Pro Slick.
Best aggressive training/racing clincher I've used to date.
Usually can find great prices at PBK (www.probikekit.com).


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## xeon (Dec 21, 2008)

Thanks all for the discussion, I'm going to order some Slicks and give them a whirl. PBK doesn't seem to have them presently, so I will have to get them somewhere else. Google will surely turn up something.


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## tdi-rick (Oct 2, 2007)

FWIW Chain Reaction has R Pro Slicks ATM and they are cheaper than PBK's RP III, but PBK are running $0 postage for Oz ATM.


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## xeon (Dec 21, 2008)

Looks like the best I can find today is $52 and some change shipped from Performance Bike as of today... discounted to $27/ea. and they're pulling 20% off of that. Just a heads up if anyone else might be looking for a good deal on these as well.


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## jnbrown (Dec 9, 2009)

Ribble has them. I got some 700x25 for my tandem.
I have only ridden down around the block but it feels like a really cush ride.
I think I might prefer the Conti GP4000 for the tandem because I can feel the road and seems like less rolling resistance. Didn't like it on my single though because it felt too harsh.


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## Oldteen (Sep 7, 2005)

RP's have been my fav clincher for several seasons, and I have regular RPs on one bike & slicks on another. I think the slicks ride better with less rolling resistance, but the difference ain't great. 

Like Argentius said, make sure to look closely at exact model. Pro versions are better (higher thread count).


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