Veloflex Corsa Evo open tubular

The Veloflex Corsa Evo is a supple, grippy and fast-rolling open tubular tyre aimed at training and racing. Its 320tpi casing smooths out rough roads and keeps grip levels constant, while the tread compound is tenacious and confidence-inspiring in all weathers. It's not tubeless ready, but the price and performance are great.

The suppleness of the Corsa Evo is instantly noticeable. It's a tyre that seems like it's literally taking the edge off bumps: what felt like a square-edged ridge before suddenly seems a smoothly ramped lump.

> Buy these online here

That's obviously a good thing for comfort – especially on my local Welsh roads with their rain-eroded canyons, gravel dunes and aggressively flattened badgers – but more importantly, it's a good thing for grip.

The 320tpi casing helps that strip of natural rubber and mica tread stay pressed into the road, instead of bouncing and skipping around, and helps the Corsa Evo feel very consistent. Veloflex's website pressure calculator recommends 98-105psi for me, and my experiments prove that accurate for good rolling and comfort on all but the worst tarmac.

On my 23mm rims they blow up just 0.4mm wider than the claimed 25mm, and are very easy to install (at least once you've persuaded them to stop acting like a flat sheet and curve into a u-section). Then again, they're not tubeless ready – Veloflex does the Corsa Race TLR for that – so there's only so much faff you can expect.

They roll very well, and the profile put a spring in the step of my steering in comparison to wider, flatter sections, without ever feeling unstable. They're just as inspiring on wet roads, too, with good grip and decent feedback.

I never had any punctures despite running around 85psi and hitting some pretty poor bits of tarmac at speed. Veloflex stuffs the Corsa Evo with letters – an SPS sidewall, an RKB breaker – and while I can't say for sure that the Sidewall Protection System or Resilient Kinetic Belt made the difference, I can say they didn't fail even after some pretty sharp and unexpected impacts with well-camouflaged potholes.

The price of £38 is pretty good considering the ride feel, handmade provenance and 235g weight. The Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance is great but slightly heavier (a claimed 245g for the 25mm; 271g for the 28mm on the road.cc Scales of Truth) and more expensive (£39.95), though it is tubeless ready.

Like the Corsa, the Bontrager R3 Hard Case Lite isn't tubeless ready, but is both lighter and cheaper at 207g and £34.99.

Neither of these alternatives will be so beautifully supple, though, and it's much cheaper than the Challenge Strada Pro HTLR, with its 300tpi casing, which is £70. That too is handmade, but also tubeless ready (the HTLR denotes this, and not that it's made of, uh, Hitler).

> Buyer’s Guide: 40 of the best road bike tyres

The Veloflex Corsa Evo Clincher is a fast, comfortable tyre with strong levels of predictable grip, and while it's not the cheapest or lightest, the ride feel is lovely. If you're a dedicated lover of tubes, this handmade Italian tyre is a great choice.

Verdict

Good grip in all weathers and an oh-so-supple casing make these a pleasure to ride