# Continental 4000s to Vitoria Rubino Pro III



## FNGRIDER (May 2, 2011)

The side walls of my Conti 4000s were showing bare thread worn thru, so I installed a set of Vitoria Rubino Pro IIIs 170 tpi. I went on a 35 mile shakedown ride today. So far they feel smoother and pedaling feels easier and faster, comparing them to the Contis. I inflated them to 125 psi, 5 psi higher. but still felt smoother. During warming up when my legs still felt sluggish, I felt like I was rolling easier and could sustain a higher mph into into the wind. 

The 4000s felt like they steered faster and could even be consider twitchy. The Vitorias felt more forgiving and had plenty of grip. The Contis felt harsher over the small stuff. They still are a very good tire, wear was negligible and they really stuck in the corners.and were puncture proof. the rubber feels hard but grippy. 

I like the Vitorias over the Contis for the ride, speed and pedaling performance. Maybe some of it is because they are new and have different ride qualities. also the weather today was perfect, sunny, 70 degrees, very little wind. I'll know for sure after another ride..


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Interesting*



FNGRIDER said:


> The side walls of my Conti 4000s were showing bare thread worn thru, so I installed a set of Vitoria Rubino Pro IIIs 170 tpi. I went on a 35 mile shakedown ride today. So far they feel smoother and pedaling feels easier and faster, comparing them to the Contis. I inflated them to 125 psi, 5 psi higher. but still felt smoother. During warming up when my legs still felt sluggish, I felt like I was rolling easier and could sustain a higher mph into into the wind.
> 
> The 4000s felt like they steered faster and could even be consider twitchy. The Vitorias felt more forgiving and had plenty of grip. The Contis felt harsher over the small stuff. They still are a very good tire, wear was negligible and they really stuck in the corners.and were puncture proof. the rubber feels hard but grippy.
> 
> I like the Vitorias over the Contis for the ride, speed and pedaling performance. Maybe some of it is because they are new and have different ride qualities. also the weather today was perfect, sunny, 70 degrees, very little wind. I'll know for sure after another ride..


Felt easier and faster? You can actually measure these things you know - it's called a stopwatch. MAVIC did a bunch of wheel tests and showed that riders could not reliably tell a flexible wheel from a stiff one. Your comparison of a new tire and a worn tire also fails to meet the relevance standard. 

I am not saying the Contis are better than the Vittorias or vice versa. I am saying that you haven't learned a thing about either tire from your ride.


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## sherlock (Aug 6, 2011)

Not really fair to compare old GP4000S' to new Rubino Pro's.


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

Like Kerry said, there's no definite performance difference. Confidence however, I'm willing to believe there's a difference. I've had both tires (well, slick version of the Pro III), and I favor the Vittoria's in such a regard even when comparing to my recollections of my GP4000S's when new.


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## samh (May 5, 2004)

have you compared to rubino pro 1/2?


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## DrSmile (Jul 22, 2006)

My experience... new tires always feel better than old tires. Until you replace them!


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## FNGRIDER (May 2, 2011)

@Kerry,
Dude I was just saying how the felt in comparison. not that what I learned was faster. Ive been riding long enough to know how one tire feels over the other. further as far as Mavic is concerned I don't trust anything made in France. especially when Mavic is talking about wheels.
@sherlock and the other
Ive been riding long enough to know that my Conties havn;t changed much if at all since new. However there was a big enough differnce between the Conties and the Rubinos that I thought it was worth mentioning
@sam
No, but Ive tried Open Corsas. However it was on a Pro Tour Level Ridley Noah. This was a very fast bike!!! After riding the Rubino IIIs, the next set will probably be the Open Corsas


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

Rubinos are one of a handful of tires I've taken off and tossed into the trainer pile after a single ride. Sketchy feeling descending and lack of grip through corners. Other tires I've done that with: panaracer stradius and schwable ultremo


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Trusting*



FNGRIDER said:


> I was just saying how the felt in comparison. not that what I learned was faster. Ive been riding long enough to know how one tire feels over the other. further as far as Mavic is concerned I don't trust anything made in France. especially when Mavic is talking about wheels.


When someone says that their tires felt "easier and faster" that sounds to me like an explicit claim that the tires were lower rolling resistance. If there is anything that is for sure it is that riders cannot tell how fast their tires are from how they feel. Numerous studies have shown this.

It's not a matter of trusting MAVIC's wheels. They put riders on wheels of significantly different lateral stiffness and asked the riders to rate the stiffness of the wheels. The riders could not reliably tell which wheels were stiffer. Independent tests of tires of different rolling resistance have shown the same thing - riders cannot tell which tires roll faster by feel. That's where the stopwatch comes in.

You posted a tire review. Expect that (some) people will more than "feelings" to back up what surely sound like claims.


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## Oldteen (Sep 7, 2005)

Rubino Pro's have been my fav training clincher for a while, & RP3's 150tpi casing is nice improvement. Solid all-around performance at a decent price. I haven't tried Stradius, but for me RP handily outperformed Ultremo (& Hutchinson Fusion2, Maxxis Courchevel, Kenda Kaliente, Conti UltraSport). The RP doesn't have the ride/handling of the Open Corsa, but it's more durable, longer wearing, & less $$$. I find the RP2 & Conti GP4000S similar in performance, except RP2 has a bit shorter tread life & costs less. FWIW- I find the Michelin ProRace3 rolls & handles better than any of these tires except the pricier OC, but doesn't hold up as well as the RP.
BTW- Rubino is lesser tire than Rubino Pro (e.g. 60 vs 150 tpi casing)

Rubino « Categories « Vittoria

As with any tire opinion, YMMV


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## bent steel (Dec 28, 2007)

Can I ask why you're running 125psi? Are you 220+ on 23's? If so, why not ride 25's? If you're lighter, why are you running that much pressure? My natural instinct is to ignore any feedback of a tire run at such high pressure as it's unlikely to tell me anything of how it would feel at 90-100 psi.

I've run various Vittoria tires and have generally preferred the ride from them over my current GP4000s, but the durability of the Contis is hard to argue with. For the record, I'm 185# and run 105r with 23's and 95r with 25's.


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## Wines of WA (Jan 10, 2005)

Those are my two go-to tires. I use the 4000S on my race bike and the Rubino Pro III on my rain bike. The 4000S corner far better than the Rubinos, but the Rubinos deflect glass and other sharp debris a little better. That's the difference after around 3 years of using no other tires than these.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

I hate to have to agree with the grumpy guy, but my vote goes to the princess and the pea phenomenum.


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

FNGRIDER said:


> Ive been riding long enough to know ...
> 
> Ive been riding long enough to know...


um, ok...guess the question now is...how long have you been riding?


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## FNGRIDER (May 2, 2011)

These are Vitoria Rubino Pro IIIs which have 150 tpi, I am sure they handle different than the 60 tpi version. 

This is my second ride, 20 miles with a 7 mile climb. I suck climbing and never pass anyone going up. this time I was passing folks and started to get excited. Could it be the tires? Heh! Who knows. I checked my times on the speedometer, about the same as before. Pedaling still felt better, however the day was sunny and warm, I may have had one of my better days. On the descent the tires were stable.

@steele
I weigh in at 175 Lbs and have run as low as 100 - 110 psi. There's are a lot of broken asphalt and little bumps. I can't stop thinking that a front flat at 45 mph would be real bad. I just had a couple of front pinched flats back to back, so I increased the psi to 125 to prevent pinches.

I had my friend order the Vitorias, I let him decide on what version and tire size as I have liimited knowledge on road bikes. He ordered the Pro IIIs 23. Next I'll get some 25s. So far I am very pleased with the ride even at 125.

I am considering running sealant at a lower psi. What do you think?


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## FNGRIDER (May 2, 2011)

@Ox
many years, too many, I started before there were clinches, we all ran tubular. They still have the best ride but forget about it if you get a flat. I don't think that it takes too much too be able to tell he difference between tires. However over the last 5 yrs it mostly been mt biking and since April only road. 

@wines 
thanks for the info.The contis really corner, that is for sure even after a over a years of riding. The tread never wears out, but the sidewalls are fragile.
@oldteen
Thanks for your feed back on all the tires I was considering before going to Vitoriias, I was very close to orderig the Maxxis(even cancelled an order on these), Hutchinson, and knew about Michelon. I used Kendas until I got the RP3s.
I may have to rethink my desire for the Open Corsas: ) 

@pmf
?
@steves
tires are like saddles, pedals and shoes. We all have our preferences. I am actually not that picky about my tires, and ran Serfas for over 4 years, cant beat the price at $15 for two. They were far supeior than the Michelons that came with my bike at that time.


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

FNGRIDER said:


> These are Vitoria Rubino Pro IIIs which have 150 tpi, I am sure they handle different than the 60 tpi version.
> 
> This is my second ride, 20 miles with a 7 mile climb. I suck climbing and never pass anyone going up. this time I was passing folks and started to get excited. _*Could it be the tires? Heh! Who knows. *_ I checked my times on the speedometer, about the same as before. Pedaling still felt better, however the day was sunny and warm, I may have had one of my better days. On the descent the tires were stable.
> 
> ...


*B*reaking a rule here, but it's not the tires or the bike, it's the engine. You are probably a little better. Beginners see big improvements fast. Or, you could of had a good day with good rest and hydration the days before.

as for the sealant..............
*S*ealant doesn't work well on tubes. At road pressure, even less well. Well, unless you are running road tubeless. I'm guessing not since you have Rubino pro 3.

If you want lower pressure, get a 25 mm Rubino pro III and drop the pressure 5-10 psi.
_
(I love breaking the rules, it makes me feel like such a rebel is this silly conformist world)_


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

FNGRIDER;3585803
@pmf
?
[/QUOTE said:


> Translation: I agree with Kerry Irons. The perceived benefit is all in your head.


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## FNGRIDER (May 2, 2011)

pmf said:


> Translation: I agree with Kerry Irons. The perceived benefit is all in your head.


OK, I dont get code talk.
We will just have to agree to disagree on this point.


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