The only two points of contact between a cyclist and the road surface when he or she is cycling is a very thin and small piece of rubber, so therefore to ensure that our bikes are travelling in the direction that we want it to go, well at least for a huge portion of the time, tyre choice is extremely important. Just like a Formula One car, it would never come into contact with a racing track without having a set of ultra-high performance racing wheels and tyres fitted to it first, and due to the different racing conditions and driver demands, different types of tyres can be swapped and fitted, all for the sole purpose of being able to clock and shave seconds and milliseconds off of a lap time, having the correct and optimal tyre suited for that current racing condition is extremely critical.
Similarly for us cyclists, it would be very silly to have smooth treaded tyres fitted onto our off road bikes for mountain biking, or knobby and studded tyres for road bikes which will never ever come into contact with anything dirtier than some sand and dirt on a pavement or road surface, although gravel bikes are starting to blur the line between road and off road riding, there are still some basic limitations that a cyclist has to conform and adhere to to achieve the best possible ride for any given riding surface. So, for very popular and famous bicycle tyre manufacturer Vittoria, instead of just coming up with better tyres with better performance and materials every year, they took it a step further and came up with their own complete range of bicycle wheels, for both road and off-road cycling and manufactured with carbon, alloy, or a combination of both carbon and alloys.
The biggest advantage of progressing in this direction is that they would then be able to offer the best performing wheel and tyre combination for any cycling activity, so that tyre performance can also be improved with their wider rim profiles due to a shorter and wider tread contact area, which provides better grip to handle corners better. In addition, there is less tyre deformation which eventually makes for a faster tyre because of the lower rolling resistance.
Local Vittoria distributor Wize Rides are offering two models of road clincher wheels, the Alusion and the Tactic. The Alusion is a rigid, durable and reliable fully alloy clincher wheel that has been designed to be both versatile and fast, this semi-aero wheel set features 32mm high rim profiles for added aerodynamics. The rims are 24mm wide and are asymmetric for the rear rim to provide a more equalized spoke tension, built with Vittoria’s very own hubs, the front wheel has 16 straight-pull aero spokes while the rear has 21 spokes to handle the pedaling forces better, for prolonged and sustained performance usage The hubs are all also compatible with Shimano, Campy and SRAM 11 speed cassettes and total weight for this wheelset is about 1791g is best matched with Vittoria’s very own latex inner tube and wrapped with either the Rubino, Rubino Pro or Corsa tyres for best performance.
The Tactic is Vittoria’s all rounded and training wheels which features a 23mm wide rim, matched with straight pulled spokes for more direct pedaling response and improved tyre performance. The rims are manufactured with Vittoria’s own proprietary Sleevjoint technology and has a 26mm high profile, this improves the wheel’s stiffness for better acceleration. The wheels also utilize Vittoria’s own Speedlock design for ease of setup if you ever decide to go tubeless, which would then save you some weight due to the omission of the inner tube.
So, if you are ever in need of a new set of tyres or maybe even a new set of wheels, you might want to check out the complete range of tyres and wheels offered by Wize Rides as their friendly staff are always willing to help you out with the best recommendation for you and your precious ride.
