Vittoria announced their updated Graphene 2.0 road and mountain bike tires and tech in February, but Sea Otter was our first chance to see them in person. Different blends were developed for their road and mountain bike lines, with one favoring mileage (road) and the other grip (MTB).
From left to right are the Corsa Speed, Corsa, and Corsa Control, all offering various levels of tread grooves to fit various needs. The Graphene itself hasn’t changed, it’s just the way and amount they’re using it inside each of the different tires. Another thing that’s special? The standard Corsa now comes in a tubeless ready casing.
For something with a bit more bite, the Rubino Pro endurance road bike tire also gets updated for better mileage and is also tubeless ready.
The mountain bike tires get split up, with their enduro/all-mountain lineup getting a new, thicker casing option. The sidewall graphics are bolder, too, and clearly indicate their intended use.
The “Enduro” line gets plenty of protection woven through the rubber, plus a tall, thick anti-snake bite apex insert (red) above the bead.
Their XC/Trail tires also get a special casing option, but it’s not for everyone:
When grams are more important than protection, they’ll have this tan-wall version that eschews the extra rubber layer on the outside of the casing. That means minimal tear protection, but much less rotational weight. They’re still tubeless ready, but definitely for race day only. Standard XC/Trail options will remain in the line, too, and all of them use the new Graphene 2.0 rubber on the tread cap. More at Vittoria.com.
Onza Aquila gets lighter for trail, enduro bikes
Using a tread pattern originally designed with Aaron Gwin, the Onza Aquila started life as a downhill race tire. Now, they’re adding a lighter enduro- and trail-specific version that keeps the aggressively fast tread profile, but loses the heft of DH-worth protection. It’ll be available in 2.4″ widths for 27.5″ and 29er, several rubber compound options and get a folding bead. Beyond that, specs are light as it’s still in final development and won’t be out until later this year. More at Onza-Tires.com.
Maxxis Assegai also lightens up
A new, lighter Maxxis Assegai tire is coming in a single ply version with EXO and EXO+ tubeless ready casings. Claimed weight is 1020-1100g, so about 300g lighter than the original one with their dual ply DH casing.
It’s aimed at the light enduro / trail rider and will have their 120tpi with 29×2.5 WT and 27.5×2.5 WT sizes. WT stands for Wide Trail and indicates it’s profile is designed specifically for modern wide rims, and EXO+ adds a bead-to-bead layer over the EXO sidewall protection. Retail is $80-85. A dual compound version comes out around May 1, triple compound in June. More at Maxxis.com.
