To coincide with the start of the classics season, Specialized has been working on a toughened and widened version of its Turbo Cotton tyre, with two new models available from today.
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Specialized's Turbo Cotton casings have proven fast in our lab testing and that of others, but the tyres sidewalls were susceptible to punctures in rough conditions. The new Hell of the North features reinforced tread that also wraps around further down the sidewalls (by about 4mm). Specialized claims these new tyres are even faster, too, thanks to a 320tpi casing
The new ‘Hell of the North’ Tubular has been raced recently at the Tour of Flanders and Scheldeprijs under the likes of world champion Peter Sagan and cobbles master Tom Boonen.
The all-new tubular features a 290tpi cotton casing with a newly developed, next-generation version of the brand's sticky and soft Gripton compound for the tread. This 28mm wide tubular tips the scales at 290g and we’ll be running our test pairing through the mill just as soon as the tub glue has dried.
There is also a clincher version of the ‘Hell of the North’ Turbo. The 28mm wide S-Works Cotton tyres we have in for test feature a 320tpi cotton casing, the same Gripton compound for the tread and tip the scales at 260g.
Specialized claims the Hell of the North Turbo offers more comfort than previous models along with less rolling resistance thanks to that ultra-supple 320tpi casing. The 28mm joins the existing Turbo cotton line-up alongside the 24mm and 26mm existing tyres.
BikeRadar's Josh Evans and Ben Delaney have been testing the clinchers on the cobbles in Belgium and France all week (without a flat), so watch for a review soon.
