A fit-and-forget, all-season tyre
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By Robyn Furtado
Published: February 15, 2023 at 11:00 am
The Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres sit in the middle of Vittoria’s road bike tyre range, providing a blend of puncture protection and the fast-rolling properties associated with the speedier Vittoria Corsa tyres.
Built with a rubber compound infused with Graphene, the Rubino Pro is a good all-weather tyre that holds its own in winter conditions.
It offers good levels of grip in the wet, although I suffered a puncture during the test period.
Vittora suggests the Rubino Pro is best for training rides, and all-weather performance. It’s intended to mix speed with durability and grip, and built to handle all-year wear and tear.
The tread of the tyres reflects this ambition, with a smooth central section designed to roll fast, and a diamond pattern on the sides to aid cornering traction.
The Graphene 2.0 compound on the Rubino Pro is arguably its headline feature. Graphene has been used in Vittoria’s tyres for a few years, with the aim of increasing durability and strength.
The updated Graphene 2.0 compound builds on the previous iteration, and is claimed to help prevent punctures, alongside improving durability and grip.
The tyre is created using a three-compound (3C) layering process, where a trio of different compounds are packed into the same tread.
Each compound does a different thing; the central slick tread is designed for rolling resistance, the side tread is maximised for grip in the wet, while the low thread count of the third compound allows for more rubber across the tyre, increasing wear life. That’s the theory, anyway.
Available in clincher (which I tested), tubeless and tubular form, the Vittoria Rubino Pro costs £39.99.
The 700 x 28c Rubino Pros I tested measured up slightly narrow on my alloy RD30 rims (which have an internal rim width of 19 mm), at 27mm rather than 28mm wide inflated to 40psi.
Combined with the 150 TPI (Threads Per Inch) casing – which is less supple than Vittoria’s pricier, higher-thread-count tyres – it meant the lack of road damping from the tyre was more noticeable than some.
After a few hundred miles on these tyres, I feel I know them pretty well.
The Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres introduced themselves well, with a pleasingly easy setup. They slid onto my RD30 rims so easily I didn’t even need to resort to a tyre lever – a rare occurrence.
Where I live in the south west of England, we’ve experienced a range of hostile winter weather so far this year, so it hasn’t been hard to put the Rubino Pros through their paces.
I’ve ridden them on ice, down flooded or thorn-strewn farm lanes, on potholed commuter roads and over rough mountain passes.
The Rubino Pros are also wonderfully grippy.
On rough pothole-littered roads, the Rubinos stayed on path confidently, and I found them sure-footed on slick and wet roads. They held their own in icy conditions too, although you obviously still need to be very careful.
I found myself pushing harder than I would with other road bike tyres when cornering, and you can lean your bike over without worry.
The downside of the grip is they don’t feel particularly fast. I wouldn’t say the Rubinos are draggy, but when you’re riding on smooth roads, you don’t get the reactive feeling of speed that some of the best road bike tyres give you.
This could be down to the weight – at 264g per tyre, they’re heavier than some of Vittoria’s other offerings. More weight tends to mean more material, which in turn tends to increase rolling resistance.
However, it also depends on what you’re looking for in a tyre. For some, myself included, the excellent grip and improved handling confidence is worth the relative lack of perceivable speed.
Another slight negative is how much you can feel the road beneath you. The damping qualities of 150 TPI casing are pretty minimal, which can make for weary hands on a long day out.
I also had one visit from the puncture phantom, while riding on a lane that was strewn with hedge cuttings. Unfortunately, a thorn got stuck in the smooth central section of the tread and penetrated the inner tube inside.
This was a slight disappointment because the Rubino is touted as one of the most durable tyres in Vittoria’s range. However, many tyres would have struggled in these circumstances; that’s the downside of riding on the wintery rural lanes of the UK.
If you don’t mind setting up tubeless tyres, opting for the tubeless-ready Rubino Pro TLR might be a smart choice. It’s possible the puncture mentioned above could have been averted by using tubeless sealant.
At £39, the Rubinos are cheaper than many of their competitors. The Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tyre is getting on for double the price at £66, and the Pirelli P-Zero Race 4S tyre is £62.
The performance and weight of the Rubinos are close enough to both of these rivals that they represent a bargain choice for cyclists looking for durable all-year tyres.
Overall, the Rubino Pro tyres are a good fit-and-forget option for year-round road use. They can handle a wide range of weather conditions and road surfaces with durability and lots of grip.
Though not the fastest out there, I’d happily keep the Rubino Pros on my road bike for the next few months, for use on club rides and all-weather commuting.
Senior videographer
Robyn Furtado is one of the videographers for BikeRadar’s Youtube channel. Robyn is mostly found riding gravel bikes or mountain bikes, while seeking out Bristol’s muddiest trails. She has been riding bikes all her life but really fell in love with cycling after riding the Pacific Coast Trail, from Vancouver to Mexico, back in 2016. Since then, Robyn has been bikepacking and cycle touring on numerous long-distance trips, across Europe, New Zealand and the UK. Her main cycling philosophy is: if somewhere exists, you can probably cycle to it (given enough time and determination, anyway). Robyn has previously worked as a photographer and videographer for Evans Cycles. As well as being a videographer, she is also a contributor to BikeRadar.com and can be found in front of the camera as one of our video presenters.
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