Cyclist0108

Do either of you folks know if the 28mm Corsa is true to size? (My Contis really expand ...)

Also, one of the reviews on Amazon mentions a recent safety recall.

bikemig 

+ 1.

Wileyone 

You will be happy with the Conti's. As far as Clinchers go they are excellent.

As per the Compass Tires, I don't buy the Hype. And at those prices I'll stick with Tubulars.

bikemig 

Look at the bright side. If you blow $160 on these tires, that's cheap by audiophile standards if your kool-aid just hapenned to run towards music . . .

squirtdad

what bikes are you fitting these tires on.....I can put 25mm on my Miyata and 28's are no go.......of course when I bought the bike new, it came with 19 or 20 s.

Cyclist0108

It's the last step in my Bianchi renewal project:



(I've since put on a blue Brooks. That blue Bianchi saddle started to separate at the back from the frame around 1988 but never got bad enough to chuck, but I finally got rid of it.) This has the Clement Strada 28mm tires I spoke of. The rims are (new) 17.5mm internal width, H+ and Son TB14 Double Walled 32 Hole Alloy Rims.

athrowawaynic

Bill in VA

I have a Bianchi Volpe (not a classic/vintage, but steel). I was riding Continental GP4000S-II 28mm tires and they were wonderful, grippy (especially in damp) and fast. In fact, to me, they felt the closest I have ridden to a sewup since my Clements in college (BITD).

I wanted to get classic tan sidewall tires and bought the Clement Strada 28mm. They were nice, looked the part and I had no complaints, but they were not as lively or responsive as the 4000S-II tires..

I had been reading the Compass website and decided to try the Chinook Pass tires and after the first ride was sold. I bought the standard weight and am using lightweight Continental tubes. These tires have very low rolling resistance and when coasting downhill, I will always gain on my fellow riders, and stay at speed longer when coasting up a grade before pedalling. They are also very comfortable and supple. Yes, I tasted the Kool-Aid and it was good...

My wife has now decided after trying my wheels and Compass tires that she really wants to move from the Clement Strada 25mm to the Compass 28s, so I am going to splurge and buy 32mm Stampede Pass UL for my new wheelset and move the 28s to her wheels. My original wheelset will have the Continental GP4000S-II.

So far with the Chinook Pass standard I have about 240 miles of varied surfaces (dirt, towpath, small gravel, and road) and no flats. I have not flatted with any of those tires.

Bill in VA

On my bike with Alex A-23 rims (23mm external width), the 28mm Conti GP4000S-II tires measured 30mm in width. If you know someone with a set try them first, they are wider than the Compass or Clement 28mm tires on the same rims. They are very nice tires. Universal Cycle has a sale on them right now.

See my post of 05-01-18 09:12 PM on the Contis, Clements, and Compass.

gomango

Agreed.

I have the Compass tires on my Della Santa.

Flats galore, but they ride well.

My wife has g+'s on her De Rosa. She reports the ride is fantastic and so far, zero flats.


Untitled by gomango1849, on Flickr


Don’t need anything more than these two for the road. Della Santa Corsa Speciale and a Serotta CSI. Go get’m. by gomango1849, on Flickr


Sunday ride! by gomango1849, on Flickr

Steve Whitlatch 

If anyone is going by comparing Clement Strada to Compass then of course it is night and day. Those Clements are not your grandfathers Clements. I had a set of those and put them on my first flip bike I sold after only one ride.

noglider 

I have the Clement Strada LGG tires on one bike. They're not bad for me. I have the 32mm width. I ride them at 40 psi. Maybe you guys are overinflating yours?

veganbikes

I like the Vittoria Corsa G+ tires and have them in 28 and I believe on my rims (H+Son Archtypes) they are fairly true to size. I also love Challenge tires as well which are similar to Compass or Vittoria in that open tubular category. I don't deal with flats often but I keep my tires properly inflated and generally have plenty of spare tubes and try not to ride like a crazy person.

If I could find wider Corsa G+ tires I would probably use those almost exclusively. They are great. Though the tread pattern on my Challenge Gravel Grinders is nice so that with some graphene would be swell!

HTupolev

I haven't used the narrower Compass tires, but my experience with the Rat Trap Pass EL is that they're very fast and ride great.

I doubt they're as special in the narrow widths since there are lots of high-performance skinny tires available.

Although I haven't used the skinny Compass tires, I've used other skinny tires that lack puncture protection layers, and haven't really found them flimsier than high-performance tires with minimalist protection layers.

They're no Marathons, but mileage is arguably high for a tire that's otherwise so minimalist. Compass tire centerline thickness is around 3mm.

My Rat Traps seem to be worth 5000+ miles for me. Chinooks are narrower, but I'd be surprised to not still get a few thousand out of them.

Steve Whitlatch 

Could be? Mine were 28`s. They were not really horrible but I am just used to top of the line tires. My bikes have Veloflex Master, Vittoria Open Corsa and Conti GP 4000 tires on them for clinchers. All of these are light weight low rolling resistance supple tires. The Clement just feel like plain old ordinary tires to me. Once you get used to fast tires its hard to go back.

mstateglfr 

in Jan's own words, he asked Panaracer(a huge multinational tire manufacturer) to mix some of Panaracer's already existing products together to make the Compass line. Tubular casing on clinchers, for example.

its not like Jan is suggesting they invented something new- he asked a company which does private label manufacturing to make some tires.

Salamandrine 

I took some heat recently by suggesting the same thing on a recent thread. Realistically, Compass specifies their requirements and the actual design is handled by Panaracer.

Anyhow OP, I'd lean towards going for the standard weight sidewall ones, unless you're a total weight weenie speed junkie. Those will only set you back $120 for a pair...

I had been riding the Fairweather Traveler 700x28 tires for the most of 2017, and those are also Panaracer made tires. I suspect them to have the same tread and similar casing (and weight and price) as the standard casing Chinook Pass tires. Let's assume for now that the Fairweathers are at least very similar to the standard Chinook Pass tires. They're definitely nicer than the standard Panaracer Paselas (which are actually quite nice IMO). They have a different feel than Conti GP4000II entirely. It's a smoother and more Cadillac ride. The contis by contrast are firmer. The Fairweather/Panaracer treads have softer rubber and frankly better grip and feedback on descents. There is no kevlar or whatever belt so it's old school, and you will get relatively more frequent flats. Rolling resistance might be slightly higher. Hard to say for sure. It does kind of feel that way.

Cyclist0108

The Clement Strada come in both 120TPI and 60TPI. So some folks might be making differing comparisons. Having said that, I took the Clement 120 TPI Stradas off my main ride (and put them on this Bianchi) and replaced them with Continental GP4000II. Although nominally the same width, they run much wider. Despite this, my average speed on the loop in my neighborhood went up, reproducibly, by 10%, and subjectively, the ride is more comfortable.

Darth Lefty 

Cyclist0108

I was stupid enough to get an Amperix 6922 NOS tube, and I can hear absolutely no difference whatsoever vs. a cheap Chinese tube.

HTupolev

It took me a moment to realize you weren't talking about inner tubes.

I mean everyone knows supple latex tubes have excellent acoustics!

Salamandrine 

I've always found the differences in power tubes to be more apparent than preamp tubes. Difference between for example Sovtek EL84M and std and/or old stock EL84 is clear. Sometimes cheaper is better and more forgiving. Cheap Chinese and Russian IME sound a lot like the vintage tubes. Subtle differences. Not apparent without high resolution speakers.

Tubes are not a bad analogy. Different tires have different flavors.

Dfrost 

Scottybigs 

I was running Clement Strada (60TPI) 700 x 28's for about 2 years. Ok tires for the price, no complaints but no compliments either.

Switched to Compass 28c's standard casing, and yes there is certainly a difference. The Clement's felt like riding on rocks by comparison, at the same PSI.

I commute on Panaracer Pasela's, which serve said purpose really well at their price point. But when it comes to my randonneur and fixed gear road bikes, I have no issue shelling out a bit more $ for Compass. Worth it every time.

SquidPuppet

I almost did not buy Compass tires because of the hype. The hype was a huge turn off for me. I assumed that it was a kool-aid cult thing. I was wrong. They hype is actually fact. They roll so well I dropped a tooth on my rear cog (all single speed bikes).

As far as the price goes, I find them offensive. Seriously. $80.00 for one tire is a joke. That said, I will continue to bite the bullet and as my other bikes need new tires, they will get Compass as well. The shock and vibration absorbing characteristics are that good.

No flats in two + years. But to be fair, I rarely get flats on any tire. I don't know if it's my area or dumb luck.