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Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black2024 Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black.jpg

Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black

8
by Ollie Smith
Wed, Feb 19, 2025 09:45
0
£50.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Supple, tough, high-quality handmade rubber that's ideal if you still run narrow rims and tyres with inner tubes
Supple, handmade, 220TPI casing
Durable and puncture resistante
Competitive weight
Good value
25mm and 27mm only
No tubeless option
A bit of a 'Challenge' to fit
Weight: 
288g
Contact: 
www.upgradebikes.co.uk
How we test

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The Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black is billed as a robust, durable but fast inner tube-only tyre with a supple, handmade casing. And I found the Elite XP exactly that: robust and durable but still delivering a spritely, nimble ride. I'd have loved to see a slightly wider model offered, and found them crying out for a tubeless option, but if you're using inner tubes and narrower rims they're a great call for winter riding and beyond.

Check out our best road bike tyres buyer's guide for both tubeless and inner tube designs.

Straight out the box, the Challenge Elite XP tyres are a bit different. Challenge's heritage in producing handmade tubulars for cyclocross is perhaps what the company is best known for, and its clincher tyres reflect this by coming in an 'Open' design.

2024 Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black on wheel 2.jpeg

That is, they're not pre-moulded into a classic round, lightbulb shape, but instead sit flat – like a folded-up tie – and need the pressure offered by an inner tube to mould them into shape. This does mean they're a little tricky to fit at first, and require a fair bit of persuasion to mount to the rim without pinching the tube inside.

Having fitted Challenge tyres before, I was prepared for this, and was actually pleasantly surprised at how much easier they were to fit than I'd found in the past. I managed to snap the bead over the rim without using tyre levers, but if you've smaller hands or have less experience mounting tough tyres I could imagine them being more of a struggle.

2024 Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black on wheel 1.jpeg

Once mounted, the tyres look like a flat pair of tubulars. But they inflated nicely and the bead snapped into place in the rim with a satisfying click. Being tube only, and measuring the true-to-advertsied 27mm width, I went for 75psi to begin with – which is what Silca's tyre pressure calculator recommended, and I stuck with this for the duration of the testing. Had the tyres been tubeless compatible, I'd have dropped down to 65psi or lower still.

My first riding impressions were positive. The tyres felt predictable and grippy, the siping across the entire contact patch of the tarmac delivering a nice, soft hum. I liked the profile of the 27mm tyre on a rim with a 21mm internal width, but – once again – I'd have loved to see a tyre of this type offered in a 30mm width or even wider.

2024 Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black on wheel 4.jpeg

Throughout testing, I rode the tyres on pretty filthy British lanes – often strewn with potholes, hedge trimmings, gravel and mud. I had no punctures whatsoever, which I thought was impressive for a tube-only tyre. The supple 220TPI (threads per inch) casing is really durable thanks to the use of Challenge's Corazza sidewall protection.

2024 Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black on wheel 3.jpeg

I have no doubt that that the extremely high thread count contributes to how resistant these are to penetration punctures – where the casing deforms around a sharp point, rather than giving way to it completely.

Value

When it comes to value, Challenge's £50 tyres are competitively priced – at least on the surface. It's a little hard to make a direct value comparison as these aren't tubeless.

While they are a chunk cheaper than a Conti GP5000 AS, a Panaracer Agilest Panaracer Agilest, the Hutchinson Challenger TLR1 or the Pirelli P Zero 4S – all of those offer tubeless compatibility.

This breed of durable but fast, all-round training tyre that isn't quite full-on winter rubber is the perfect-use case for tubeless, where puncture protection and durability are just as important as ride feel and speed. At just £50 these are great value for a handmade tyre, but I'd gladly pay a bit more to see it offered in a tubeless version.

Conclusion

I like Challenge tyres a lot. I've been using its 'cross tyres for a few seasons, and love their handmade quality and great ride feel. I really enjoyed riding the Elite XP too, and found it to be a great all-rounder that, at a pinch, I'd race on the road if the surface was variable.

I probably wouldn't part with my own money for them because of their lack of tubeless functionality and their narrow widths, and while I think that the market for a tyre like the Elite XP is shrinking, it hasn't disappeared yet. And if you're not interested in going tubeless – which takes in a lot of us – and have bikes with narrower rims and tyre clearances (also a lot of us), the Elite XP is a high-quality option that's well worth the money.

Verdict

Supple, tough, high-quality handmade rubber that's ideal if you still run narrow rims and tyres with inner tubes

road.cc test report

Make and model: Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black

Size tested: 700x27

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Challenge says, the Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre is 'Produced by combining our latest, tested, ultimate technologies to create a more robust, longer-lasting road tire while maintaining the speed, comfort and control you know from our handmade construction'.

Billed as a durable training or winter tyre, the Elite XP seems to be a good jack of all trades that offers good grip and puncture resistance while feeling a little more spritely than a heavy, more traditional winter tyre.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

The Elite XP includes Challenge's excellent cut- and puncture-resistant qualities with both its GANZO PPS under the tread and its CORAZZA Armor for improved sidewall protection.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

The tyres are handmade so, as you'd expect, they're free of any imperfections or flaws in their construction. The only point to note is the bond between the casing and the tread itself has a defined seam which, over time, could present some durability issues in the form of de-lamination (although after a month of hard testing, there's no signs of this happening)

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

The tyres offered a high-quality ride. They were supple and comfortable despite their 27mm width, and they offered plenty of grip. They also remained free of punctures in a month of testing during a particularly wet British winter.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

No punctures, and no real signs of wear after a month of hard testing. I took the tyres down some questionable lanes with a lot of potholes, grit, loose gravel and thorns – and, despite being an old-school inner tube-only tyre, I had no issues, which augurs well for the long term.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10

We weighed these at 288g, which for a more durable 'winter' tyre is very competitive. There's a slight caveat in that the tyres are 27mm wide rather than the more common 28mm – but 288g for a tyre in this class is very respectable.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10

I was pleasantly surprised by the comfort offered by the Elite XPs. I had to use slightly higher pressures than I'd have liked – given they're not a tubeless design – and was sceptical about the 27mm width, as I'm more used to 30mm or 32mm rubber, but I found the tyres really supple and comfortable.

Rate the product for value:
 
9/10

For a handmade tyre with a 220TPI construction, I'd have expected to pay twice as much. The £50 RRP is already great value, but you can pick these up online for a decent discount - which only sweetens the deal.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

The tyres are badged as a more robust and durable tyre, while still being designed to maintain speed and ride feel. In my testing, I found them to do exactly that with no complaints. A little narrower than I'd usually run in the winter (or at all, for that matter), but I was pleasantly surprised.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The supple 220TPI casing, which improved comfort and compensated for the slightly narrower width of the tyres.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

I did find the tyres a little bit tricky to fit - but not as bad as I'd expected. Challenge's 'open' design has a reputation of being a nightmare to mount on rims, but I managed to install the tyres without having to resort to tyre levers – just plenty of elbow grease. I would have also loved to see some tubeless functionality, and availability in a more modern width like a 30 or 32mm.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

At just £50 the tyres represent good value. They're a bit cheaper than the likes of the Panaracer Agilest, the Hutchinson Challenger TLR, or the Pirelli P Zero 4S - but all of those tyres boast tubeless functionality - so you do get a little more performance by spending a bit more cash. They're much (much much) cheaper than the Continental GP5000 AS TR tyres, which are pretty much the gold standard, but - again - lack the tubeless functionality.

https://road.cc/content/review/panaracer-agilest-duro-tlr-folding-road-t...

https://road.cc/content/review/hutchinson-challenger-tlr-tyres-305431

https://road.cc/content/review/pirelli-p-zero-race-tlr-4s-303189

https://road.cc/content/review/continental-grand-prix-5000-tr-300783

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? No

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

I really liked riding the Challenge Elite XPs. They were easier to fit than I thought they'd be, and felt fast, grippy and comfortable. However, with only 25mm or 27mm widths offered, and no tubeless functionality, I'd struggle to part with my own money for a pair - they feel a little long in the tooth. But if your stable of bikes includes older bikes with narrower rims, and you're not looking to

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 28  Height: 175cm  Weight: 67kg

I usually ride: Road (Tarmac SL7)  My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, mtb, Occasional Ultra Racing

Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black 2025
Challenge Elite XP Handmade Road Tyre in Black
Challenge 2025
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