Clement tires opened its doors for business way back in the 19th century, circa 1878. Founded by Gustave Adophe Clément-Bayard, the company first manufactured high quality bicycles before moving onto the production of tires some ten years later. The company would later expand into the manufacture and development of aircraft, automobiles, motorcycles and dirigibles – quite a diverse portfolio!
Since those early days, the company has changed owners and moved the location of its tire factory several times. The brand enjoyed much fame under the wheels of racers like Eddy Merckx and Jacques Antequil, but a dormant period during the late 1990’s and into the 2,000’s saw the company completely out of the bicycle business. Like a phoenix rising, the company is back under the direction of Denver-based Donnelly Sports, who license the Clement trademark from Pirelli Tyres. One of the company’s entries into the road racing market is the LCV, a lightweight clincher tire that boasts weights as low as 180 grams for a 700c x 23mm model. Click on through to see how the LCV did during our review period…
The Clement LCV boasts a supple casing with great riding characteristics, excellent grip in wet or dry conditions and an integrated puncture-protection belt beneath its tread.
For the review period, I was rolling on the 700c x 25mm LCV which is listed by Clement as weighing in at 205 grams.
On my scale, the LCV’s came a little over at 209 and 215 grams respectively, but fell within the 5% factor actual weight versus manufacturer weight.
The LCV’s mounted easily onto my wheelset for the review, American Classic’s Carbon 40 clincher wheelset. They measured 25.2mm wide under calipers on this wheelset. As easy as the mounting process is the ease in which the LCV’s roll. They accelerate fast and roll quickly and quietly along on pavement, no matter your speed. The photo above illustrates the LCV’s fast center tread with edges optimized for cornering grip.
Fortunately -or unfortunately- I was unable to test the LCV’s in wet conditions, but I can attest their cornering grip is excellent. At all times during the review period, I had the LCV’s inflated at 90psi.
To further test the durability of the Clement LCV’s, I took the liberty of rolling them down some dirt, gravel and limerock roads. Even at a weight listed slightly above manufacturer’s specifications, I was skeptical about the tire’s ability to shrug off flats and cuts in the casing. These photos don’t attest to all of my rough road testing, but they performed admirably with nary an issue.
After five hundred miles of mostly pavement riding, the LCV’s are holding up well with very little wear, no cuts and to date -touch on wood- no punctures. Overall, the Clement LCV is an excellent tire with great riding qualities that I recommend to any road cyclist looking for a performance edge. I wouldn’t recommend these as daily training tires, but they would be well suited to racing or special event use.
Price at about $US 66 a tire, the Clement LCV can be had in three sizes – 700c x 23mm, 700c x 25mm (tested) and 700c x 28mm.
Photos and article by Gravel Cyclist. Jayson O’Mahoney is the Gravel Cyclist: A website about the Gravel Cycling Experience.
