The Vittoria Rubino V Tubeless tyre might ‘only’ use a 100 TPI (threads-per-inch) nylon casing material, compared to the 320 TPI cotton casing you’ll find in its flagship Corsa Pro tyres, but it’s among the best at this price point for confidence-inspiring ride feel.
This surprised me somewhat – previous Rubino tyres have felt a bit middle-of-the-road in this regard, even for their positioning, albeit it's one of Vittoria’s best-selling tyres.
The 100-thread figure might be less than the Michelin or Pirelli tyres I tested it alongside (higher usually means more supple), but the updated Graphene + Silica compound is clearly doing some heavy lifting to address the balance.
It’s worth noting the Continental Grand Prix TR’s BlackChili rubber performs the same trick. Both are derived from their respective flagship race-tyre compounds.
The Rubino V Tubeless is priced at £59.99.
Product specs
- Weight: 319g
- Size tested: 28mm
- Available sizes: 26, 28, 30, 32, 34mm
- Carcass (threads-per-inch): 3x100
- Compound: Vittoria Graphene + Silica
- Puncture protection: Anti-Puncture Belt, Bead Shield
I felt confident pushing into corners at speed in fair weather – only the Grand Prix TR offered as much confidence, as quickly. The shoulders felt as though they bit into the road when leaning into a corner, perhaps due to the fine tread pattern and a touch of sidewall deformation (more on that to come).
That said, I wasn’t as impressed by the grip in damp or wet conditions, when riding upright. I was able to bring about rear-wheel skidding surprisingly easily, and it caught me off guard once when I had to pull the brakes hard because traffic had stopped suddenly ahead of me.
Conditions are never the same from one moment to the next, but it’s fair to say I treated my brake levers with a little more caution when using the Rubino in less-than-perfect conditions.
At 319g a tyre, the Rubino is the second-lightest of the group I tested, but has proven more than a match for my local flint-ridden roads. I’ve not seen any knicks in the tread – which could, of course, be down to luck – and there are no signs of premature wear.
The puncture-protection belt only extends to the treaded section of the tyre. This isn’t out of the ordinary (only the Michelin Pro5 tyre has bead-to-bead coverage out of those I tested), but the Rubino’s sidewalls are noticeably more flexible than its rivals, too – a potential weak point, even if I didn’t have the misfortune to experience it.
How I tested
I tested the four sets of tyres on a set of Hunt 50 Carbon Disc wheels, chosen for their established performance benchmark. The rims have a 22mm internal width and a hooked bead, enabling me to test the 28mm-wide tyres on rims that should make the most of the nominal size.
I ran an initial tubeless-installation test for each tyre, before installing each set in turn for testing (totalling three setups). I recorded weights and inflated widths at 80psi / 5.5 BAR.
Tyres tested
- Continental Grand Prix TR
- Michelin Pro5 Competition Line
- Vittoria Rubino V Tubeless
- Pirelli P Zero Road TLR
The Rubino doesn’t offer the same challenging setup experience as I found with the Corsa Pro Control TLR, nor does it leak air as readily as Simon von Bromley found in his review of the Corsa Pro TLR (it includes a liner on all sizes bar the widest 34mm option to tackle this).
However, getting them to gel with my Hunt rims proved tricky, readily rolling out of the bead hook when I wanted to get the final part over the rim.
It’s worth noting the Rubinos measured out at 29mm. A little extra should be expected on my 22mm-wide test rims (nominally 28mm-wide tyres should measure 28mm wide on a 19mm-wide rim), but this volume offered good comfort levels, smoothing out vibrations well.
Vittora Rubino V Tubeless bottom line
The Vittoria Rubino V Tubeless tyre is a strong training alternative to the brand's racier tyres, offering enjoyable performance in decent conditions.
However, it isn’t quite as impressive when the heavens open.
