Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed review: Properly rapid race-day tyres, but setup gremlins and resilience affect them

The Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed is the fastest tyre offering from the Italian tyre stalwart. Used by the Visma-Lease a Bike teams for the fastest road stages and time trials, we’ve put it to the test as part of the Cycling News LABS rolling resistance testing where it came out the fastest option on test. Beating out the fabled Continental GP5000 S TR and TT along with other WorldTour race tyre competition.

However, part of why it rolls so fast is the thin casing, tread, and complete lack of puncture protection belt, meaning it is a far more fragile tyre than many other road going options. That does appear to be the only area of compromise though. Using the same Graphene and Silica tread combination as the rest of the Corsa Pro range, it is exceptionally grippy around corners, with good wet weather grip as well. Being so minimal in construction does also make it impressively lightweight, while the cotton casing leads to an exceptionally supple and smooth ride.

But are the compromises in longevity and resilience, alongside the relatively high price, worth the lowest rolling resistance we’ve seen in our testing? And is this the best road race tyre you can buy at the moment?

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Design and specifications

As with all of Vittoria’s high performance road tyres for the last decade or so, the Corsa Pro Speed is constructed using the wonder material graphene. Vittoria has long claimed graphene use in the tyres improves longevity, rolling resistance, and cornering traction. Bold claims, and hard to qualify, given that many other brands have, in our testing both in the lab and the field, achieved similar or better rolling resistance and grip without graphene.

In this iteration of the tyres this has been combined with silica in what the brand calls its Race Formulation; faster than the combination used in the standard Corsa Pro tyres. The idea here is that this specific compound combination results in the optimal balance of grip, rolling resistance, wear, and weight. This ‘Speed’ version loses the central tread lines for a slick centre strip, with the tread lines only present on the outer of the tread.

The tread itself is also thinner than that found on the Vittoria Corsa Pro. This is to reduce rolling resistance to the lowest levels possible, but this does however come at the cost of durability, with Vittoria rating it ‘low’ in this regard. Designated a Time Trial tyre or smooth road surface Road Race tyre, longevity is not the focus, speed is.

That transfers to the casing, as a puncture protection belt has been excluded in favour of lower weight and rolling resistance. At least being tubeless, the hope is that any small cuts and gashes will get sealed. But running tubes does mean a higher risk of flats.

The casing itself remains the 320 TPI (threads per inch) cotton casing that the Corsa line has been famous for since its inception. Just two layers of it again reduce weight and rolling resistance, but this is all that lies between the inner and any puncturing objects. This cotton casing also means tan sidewalls are the only option available on these tyres.

Size wise, the 24 and 26mm options are good for those with more old-school setups. Indeed, my old rim brake bike won't accept larger than 25mm so I’m glad to see these options still kicking around. Sizes upwards of that are hookless compatible, while this WR (Wide Rim) version is designed for 25mm internal width wheels and comes in 29mm only. It aims to produce a more uniform round shape on rims as they have gotten progressively wider. Claimed weight is 255g, while the scales of truth found that to be very close at 257g.

Performance

There is one word that sums these tyres up; Fast. In our rolling resistance testing at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub, the Vittoria Corsa Pro Speeds were the fastest tyre at all speeds, the only one that could beat the mighty Continental GP5000 TT. At 9 and 11m/s the Speeds were 1.3-1.4w faster.

Compared to the Corsa Pro though, they are an impressive 5-6.3w faster per tyre. That means double figure savings realistically for a pair, and that’s ahead of another race tyre. Compared to the Corsa Pro Control all-round tyre the difference jumps to 10.7-12.6w per tyre.

I have tested a lot of tyres, from rugged winter ones to fast race day specialists. The Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed are noticeably faster than anything else I have used. Taking them out on rides, there was a gliding sensation, which in part is helped by the very supple 320 TPI cotton casing. But the sensation of speed translates to actual increases. Seeing average speeds a good 1-2kph faster than usual across most routes in various conditions is not a scientific way of gauging performance, but these tyres are certainly fast, there is no doubting that.

That speed also translates to other aspects. These tyres are grippy when cornering. Not so much as the GP5000 S TR, which are yet to be beaten in my testing, but certainly up there with the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS. Banking over in corners was confident, as was zipping round high-speed bends and fast changes of direction. The light weight also means they accelerate quickly for sprints. However, the grip compared to the GP5000 S TR means that on steeper inclines when really kicking the watts, the rear wheel could be a little skittish for me, but the GP5000 S TR is the only tyre so far that has avoided that in my experience, and we’re talking 10% and above on the gradients.

There are some elements of these tyres that are frustrating though. Firstly, fitting them. These 29mm WR are very easy to fit to the No.6 52/58 test wheels I was using, and I’ve experienced the same with the standard Corsa WR on a set of Scope Artech A.4 wheels with the same internal width of 25mm. They can be fitted by hand with ease without any levers. However, I think this contributes to them being an absolute pain to get the bead sealed. Valves tightened, tape all secured, and sealant topped up well, yet they lost pressure multiple times from 80 PSI.

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Riding them for a few hours seemed to eventually get most of this air leakage to stop, but I still required several stops with a mini electric pump to get them back up to 80 PSI as they had dropped to about 65 every hour of the first few hours riding.

Another component of these tyres that most will likely be concerned about is the longevity and the fragility of them. These are thin tyres, which is why they roll so fast. But that comes at the cost of durability. I can already see the rear tyre starting to square off a little bit after 400km. Fortunately I have not had any punctures, but I have avoided using these in wet weather and kept to well-kept roads and avoided shrapnel as best I can. Tubeless gives a bit of security that any small punctures will seal up quickly, but for those using tubes, there is more risk of getting flats from the likes of thorns.

I will say that at just the 200km mark into testing, quite often I would get back from a ride and see the small little damp patches on the exterior of the tyre where sealant has sealed a minuscule, little nick in the tyre. With no puncture belt, debris doesn’t get stuck in the tread or in the belt, instead it penetrates easily through the entire tread and casing. They have, so far, all been small enough that there is no discernible loss in pressure. But it does highlight the fragility of these tyres.

I also must comment about a weird scenario that happened. On one ride, a sudden jolting bump became present. I stopped to check what it was and the tyre tread had bubbled for a few inches and about 1cm rise. Given I couldn’t ride on that, I managed to pierce the bulge with a bit of roadside debris, expecting to be showered in sealant. Instead, the bubble deflated and no pressure was lost. After spinning the wheel, I couldn’t even find where this had occurred. I carried on, and the tyre was fine for the remaining 50km of the ride. I have reached out to Vittoria for comment on this, as it appears that the tread bubbled between the tread and the casing, rather than any of the air within the tyre causing this. The temperature on the day was around 20˚C so nothing exceptional. I’ve had, on older Vittorias once they wear down, the tread come loose from the casing at the sides, but this was back in 2019.

Vittoria’s response was that this is a known issue on a batch of the 29mm WR Corsa Pro Speeds, but that this problem has been remedied. It sent me some non-WR 30mm tyres to test as well, and there have been no such issues of the tread coming away from the casing as before.

Even excluding that potential issue, these are certainly a tyre of compromise, and it will be very individual as to if that is worth it. I would avoid these for long multi-day events, where resilience of components is key. But for road racing and time trials, the fact is that using anything other than these is losing performance. In fact, I’m almost tempted to ride these less in my testing to save them for road races I have coming up, so much is the advantage these have over other tyres.

Value

At £81 these are not cheap, but then no top-end time trial tyres are. They all sit mostly in this £70-90 region. But the Corsa Pro Speed are not tyres that will last very long, and given how fast these are, I’d like to use them in some races. But the longevity of them means using them more in testing means I’ll likely need to buy more for racing, and that comes at a higher cost.

It will be individual as to if that cost is worth it. A fast aero helmet might cost £300 and save a similar number of watts. But that is a one-time purchase, whereas tyres are consumables that you will likely need to replace a few times throughout the year for multiple events.

You can of course limit use to events only, but the fact is these are fun tyres to ride. They roll very smooth and fast and make riding bikes more fun. Going faster for less effort is always a nice feeling. But again, we come back to the cost.

The Vittoria Corsa Pro are similar in cost but have far greater longevity and the same supple feel, but a bit less of the speed sensation. However, for most people I would argue they offer better value overall. The Continental GP5000 S TR are incredibly fast, nearly as much as the Corsa Pro Speed, but last longer for a similar cost, are grippier too, but not as supple.

I would say though, for people searching for every possible watt saving to go as fast as possible, then these tyres are not bad value. They are not the most expensive, but they are the fastest. If you want speed, there is very little reason not to go for these. If you want greater puncture protection and longevity though, look elsewhere. What I will say is that a high quality, supple, and fast tyre will do more to performance and ride feel than any other bike upgrade. These tyres make even an endurance gravel frame with road wheels fitted feel fast and racy. On a road race bike, they make it feel like an absolute rocket and put a big smile on my face.

Verdict

The Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed tyre is what I would call a dedicated race day tyre, and specifically one for better road and weather conditions. Even taking it along some more rural lanes without the presence of rain, nicks and mini-punctures were common. Add in rain and debris to the equation and the fragility of these tyres is exposed. The saving grace is that tubeless means these nicks are sealed almost instantly with negligible impact on pressure.

The flip side of this minimalist construction is that these tyres roll like nothing else. The cotton casing, thin tread, and lack of puncture belt, all result in the most supple and fast rolling tyre I’ve ever used. Our lab testing supports this. If you want the fastest road setup on the market, not using these tyres is costing you watts. That is just a fact.

But as the old saying goes, to finish first, first you must finish. As fast as these tyres are, I can’t ignore the fragile construction of them. If I was on a team with near infinite spare tyres and a service car for punctures, then sure, these are a no-brainer. But in the real world, where I don’t want to spend £81 every <1000km, these are a bit too dear for me. Will I be saving these for dry races? Definitely. Will I use them for everyday rides? No. For the balance of speed and durability, I would opt for something else. However, these are very special tyres, and they make any bike feel like an upgraded version of itself.