Czech made Tufo tires have been well-known for their lightweight and unique vulcanized tubular and tubular clincher construction for many years, but clinchers and wider road offerings hadn’t been one of their hallmarks. That started to change over the past several years, as they started to venture into light, affordable clinchers that they gradually have widened. Now for 2017 they’ve pushed on much further, adding a couple of new road clincher families, plus 28mm offerings in five different tires. Check out the new treads after the jump…
Comtura Duo & Trio
In the road clincher lines, the 3 versions of the Calibra family now get joined by an equally deep Comtura racing line up. Sharing the same range from racing to training the Comtura family’s standout feature is a new improved Vectran puncture resistance barrier that give the tires better all around durability.
The universal leader of the new tires is the Comtura Duo (easily distinguished by the two paired blocks in the tread pattern, at left). It combines improved flat protection and more comfort through wider offerings in a race tire most closely paired with the slightly lighter Calibra Plus. The Comtura Duo comes in both a 225g 25mm and a 250g 28mm clincher, and is offered in all black or red, blue, or tan sidewalls.
Looking very similar, but with three grouped blocks in its tread (above, right), the Comtura Trio adds sidewall protection for improved durability to make it an excellent training variation on the Duo. Similar to the carry-over Calibra, the Comtura Trio’s sidewalls are actually adapted from mountain bike tubulars for a lighter and more slippery protection from sidewall cuts. At just 245g in a 25mm, and 275g in a 28mm tire, the Trio offers pretty good performance in what Tufo calls their most durable road clincher, in either white or black wall versions.
Comtura Aero
The new Comtura Aero is then said to be the lightest and fastest in the new family. Comparing itself to the Calibra Lite, but with much improved flat protection and a longer wearing tread, the Aero is designed to roll fast. Only in all black, the new Comtura Aero gets a 215g 25mm wide option, and a wider 240g 28mm to build in more comfort and lower rolling resistance.
Status EST
Out of the new Comtura family, there is also the all new Status EST. Designed with classic chevron shoulders, the Status is meant to be a budget road training tire for all weather conditions. Available only in a 24mm wide clincher at 265g, the tire uses the less flexible puncture proof layer of the Calibra family, and adds on a thick layer of fast rolling rubber for long-wearing performance.
Wider updates
In addition to the new families of tires, some of the carry overs get updated too. The all around racing Calibra Plus gets updated with a new 28mm width for its folding clincher. At 235g, it only adds 25g over the smaller 25 introduced last year.
Tufo’s training and racing vulcanized Hi-Composite Carbon tubular gets the wider update as well. Now available in a 28mm option at 320g, it should make for a good year round training tire for those gluing their tires on. Also, now in a new tan-sidewall version, it could be a good option for those looking for a classic look on an easy to maintain tubular that can use sealant to prevent or repair flats on the go.
Their lightweight, race-oriented Elite S3 vulcanized tubulars also get a bit of a wider update. Now up to 25mm (from only 23), the tires still promise a guaranteed weight under 265g a piece. The wider tire offing also brings with it a new tan sidewall option for the tires, that were already produced in version with black, red, blue, or yellow treads, all paired to black sidewalls.
For those looking to ride road tubulars, but wary of the gluing, Tufo has also just added a new wider 22mm version of their Gluing Tape to work with the recent crop of wider rims. Made up of a several layers to securely stick your tubulars to aluminum or carbon rims (now from 22-26mm wide), the tape takes all of the mess, smell, waiting, and guesswork out of mounting road tubulars.
