Tires are a tough review, some people want the fastest tire possible, some want to never get a flat, some want wet vs dry, some want everything, etc. So for this use case, I wanted to have reliable over fast, as they are on my road bike that I use for commuting miles/training. I do not want a flat at 0400 on my ride to work, even though I'm prepared, I don't want to deal with it.
These tires are tough, they ride slow (I'm 1.3mph slower at worst, usually about 1mph), you'll feel it, but who cares you're training. I had to set aside the mindset of pushing for some silly crown on an app, I don't care, it's a game of watts and time, not speed, in training.
They grip super strong in wet weather, no slips going up a hill for example out of the saddle. They also seem to last forever, I can get 4000 miles on a rear easily, front won't even be touched (I'm light, 151 pounds). Even with a backpack, still fine.
The few cuts and pokes I've had in these I never even knew I got, sealed right up. They are thicker than your GP5000 for example, 3x as thick. They are uncomfortable as well, you'll feel everything. I've had 26's and 28's, neither helps.
Have a heart to heart with yourself. I'm a speedy racer dude, and I hated seeing the slow speeds, I threw my race tires on my one bike so I could feel faster. I got flats. I hate dealing with it. I ride alone, I don't care, I want reliable tires.
I am going to try the P Zero Race TLR AS some time, they are also pretty flat protected but not as much. Maybe it'll be fine for my roads and paranoia. But for now, the Cinturato Velo will get you from A to B with sealant in them. Mount pretty easy too, I can do with my hands.
Easy to mount. Great ride.
My riding buddy has been using these for years and he's a fan. After a nasty puncture that trashed my last tire I bought these. Took about a 100 miles to wear in and start rolling more naturally. Grippy and surprising supple for an armored tire. Much more pleasant to ride on than similar tires from other brands. Holding up well to some awful roads in the Philly area. Will be buying the for my commuter bike as well.
I've tried just about every commuting tire in my decades of near-daily commuting. After ~200 miles of commuting on Portland's glass and metal fragment-littered streets, these tires have little noticeable damage. Given that I have made a habit of regularly picking out bits of glass and metal from the tread of my gatorskin and GP all season tires, it seems like the aramid infused rubber compound really does prevent debris from entering the tread. I'll update the review after another thousand miles or so
I'm a former GP5000TL diehard. The Cinturatos have thoroughly impressed me and have become my primary tire of choice. My riding is city/county roads, at a sporty, but not race, pace. 16-18mph, ish (I'm 6'0, 190lbs, on the700x28s). Potholes, chipseal, gravel, broken glass, etc., are commonplace and unavoidable. The GP5000s were good, soft, and fast, but noticeably picked up a lot of debris which led to many sealable flats and, unfortunately, a few un-sealable flats. Just the nature of Baltimore riding.
I've had the Cinturatos for about 500 miles now. They are marginally slower than the GP5000s--noticeable, I think, but nowhere near an impediment. And, so what if they are? Pedal harder! The puncture protection and longevity that you get in exchange is 1000% worth it for someone like me who just wants a solid tire that will keep up with friends and that will last a long while. While they're clearly not a supple race tire, these tires are no slouch if you want to punch it for a few sprints. I have such a peace of mind while riding, which makes my rides so much more enjoyable.
These are so, so grippy (which is maybe why they're a bit slower?) and give great confidence in corners/descents. They generally have more rolling resistance (than GP5000TLs, but what doesn't). Over the past 500 miles, I've run over glass, gravel, gone off-road a bit, hit a few too many potholes. And the tires? Still look brand new, no tread loss, a few nicks here and there in the rear.
These are amazing. I'll update after 2,000 miles and will undoubtedly be running these through the winter and into next year.
I'm running these tires on HED Belgium rims, setup tubeless. Very easy to mount. Sealed easily with 30ml of Stan's and a floor pump. They hold air great. I top off about every 2 to 3 days. While not the fastest tire, the roll okay, especially for commuting. I feel they roll better than GP 4Seasons and Terevail Ramparts. Durability has been great so far. I've had them on about 2 months and no issues.
This is me second set of Cinturatos, I like the extra width of 26C but you have to keep that in mind if your frame does not have a lot of clearance. On a Spinergy FCC 47 wheelset with 18mm internal width the tire measures out to 28mm. The tires were easy to mount by hand without using any tools. For my tubeless setup I use Orange Seal valves and sealant. I had a set of Continental 5000TL before these and they were very fragile, they cut easily and did not last for more than 1k miles. The Cinturato is a more rugged tire than the 5000TL, with more rubber in the thread area but it still has a fast rolling ride quality and they have lasted over 3k miles including some short trips on dirt roads. This is my first experience with Pirelli branded bicycles tires and I am very satisfied, longtime Continental user, many decades, but I now have a new favorite brand. For my next set when the Cinturatos wears out I will try the new higher performance SLR tires recently release by Pirelli.
I love these tires! I ride over 10,000 miles a year and it's nice to know I have reliable, rugged tired.
I am a massive Cinturato fan and always look for the best deal around town. Very happy with the ordering process, rapid order fulfillment and great price.
I bought these to replace the stock tires my new bike came with after I had 4 punctures to my rear tire, and the front tire not holding air all that well. These were the easiest mounting tires I've ever had-- had been riding GP 5000s and GatorSkins before that on my older bike. Thus far, with a few hundred miles, these tires are comfortable on long rides and and have been abuse resistant on commutes on lousy city roads that have a fair amount of debris. I'd recommend them to anyone.
I bought these tires as a literal last-second emergency replacement of a damaged tire before a 200 mile epic event. The ride took place on open road pavement of all states of repair (everything from city streets to decaying farm road to gravel patches). I did the research, and these seemed to fit what I needed. And I was wrong.
The Cinturato tires wouldn't seat for me at home using a home compressor and Stan's. I ended up taking it to a local shop, who had to re-tape the rims because the tire bead tore up the old tubeless tape. On my test rides the tires felt sluggish, but I figured that once they got a little scuffed up on the road they'd roll a little faster. But when you're spending 25% more energy to just keep normal pace, it's going to hurt later on, and it did.
I did not finish the event, in part because the tires dense rolling resistance sapped so much energy from me. I had to aggressively pedal going downhill to fight the excessive tackiness of the rubber compound of the Cinturatos. Going uphill felt like pushing lead weights with glue under them. There were several times I had to literally stand on the pedals to start the bike rolling in my second-to-lowest gear. And to give an idea how much ahem grip the tires have? While rolling the bike by the handlebars, the tires picked up dry leaves and grass on the pavement.
There are some good points, once you get them rolling they do stay rubber side down, even on twisting and turning 7-10% descents. I had a lot of confidence taking 35MPH pavement downhills knowing my lint-roller Cinturatos would stick, but I also could feel the tires literally slowing me down on these downhill runs. They also show very little sign of wear for 100 miles, so I guess that's a good thing?
Pirelli says this is their go anywhere tire and I'm hard pressed to figure out where I could go with these. They're too smooth for anything but hero gravel, they're too sluggish on pavement, even at the widest 35mm they're too narrow for any off-road racing of any kind, and they're too dead feeling for anyone who likes to ride. The best I can figure is this is a practice tire, possibly in the same idea of resistance training? It might also be good for commuting, I would think these turtle-shell tires could deflect glass and nails all day.
Having run them with and without tubes, I'd probably suggest inner-tubes. They seem to not seal well tubeless and had to clean up a small puddle in my hotel room the night before the event. I also wouldn't run them low pressure, as a larger contact patch would only mean more drag as you pedal. Probably a good commuter tire, but definitely not a racing, gravel or adventure tire like Pirelli claims. Not unless you like to spend 25% of your energy fighting friction.
Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR tires are what I consider the first performance all-season tubeless tire out of the Hutchinson factory. Thats right, these are made for Pirelli (with their own rubber compound) in France by Hutchinson. Other tires out of that factory include, but are not limited to Zipp Tangente Speed RT25RT28, Mavic Yksion Pro UST, and of course Hutchinsons own Fusion 5 11Storm line. They are all similar and very good.
Pay no attention to 1-star review stating these dont hold air. Yes, without sealant most tubeless tire and rim combinations will see slow leaks out tiny gaps between the tire bead and rim bead hook. With 40mL of Orange Seal and a few fast spins to get enough centripetal force to coat the tire, these tires are holding air as well as any tubeless-ready tire would...between 2-3psi of air loss a day at typical tire pressures.
While the other tires I mentioned are similar, the Cinturatos are definitely a little beefier. They are much stiffer tires to manipulate by hand than because they are the only tire with a real puncture belt beneath the tread layer. I weighed a 28mm tire at 338g...the claimed weight is 350g. On a wide 21mm Zipp NSW, the 28mm tire actually measures 29.5-30.5mm depending on tire pressure,
Ride quality is good for an all-season tire with puncture protection down the center. The Cinturatos do not have extra sidewall protection, but tubeless sidewalls are generally pretty tough already.
In the past, I used Corsa Control which were fast but too delicate and I had a flat. I also used Durano DD. They were too stiff. It looks like Cinturato Velo are the best compromise: they are reasonably fast, durable, and protect well from punctures. I have been using sizes 28 and 30 on two road bicycles and have never had a flat or a problem.
Been on it for 3 months, great tires. Smooth on the road but has been very puncture resistant (at least so far!) on terrain where you could expect some issues. As an aside, running tubeless with cush core inserts, and all seem to work well together.
up to the challenge of road riding the palm springs area. way better tha a conti 5000 at a better price. no noticeable loss of speed running at 70 lb back 60 at the front. comfort ,speed and durability , need i say more.
I'm happy with grip, air retention (tubeless) and they roll nice although slower and heavier than proper race tires which is to be expected. Worth it for the winter for me since I have a dedicated bad roads bike that I can leave them on year round. Would recommend, they're perfect for my use.
I have 1200 miles on these tires with no flats. I am running them tubeless and have pulled small pieces of wire out of them with no hint of a puncture. Handling is awesome. Although they weigh a little more this definitely the right tire for my bike.
I700x35 tubeless tire mounted easily for me. I used a compressor, but I think I could have gotten the bead to set with a floor pump. I run 70 psi in this tire. Makes for a very smooth ride compared to a higher pressure, thinner tire.
I noticed that the bike seems a little slower on the take off from a stop. I suppose this is because a tire this large weighs more than a skinnier time. I don't notice this anymore after riding them for 500 miles. I can't say whether the tires are faster or slower than other tires because the difference isn't that dramatic. I'm mainly interested in comfort.
I went with this tire because i needed a 26 to clear the frame on my rim brake Tarmac. My favorite Conti 5000 tls 28s rub the fork and brake stay. Theses Pirellis are durable, handle great and fairly easy to mount after first seating with a tube or compressor. They are not super soft so they dont pick up every piece of glass but soft enough to hit downhills corners with confidence. Ive done hillclimbs, canyons and centuries with almost no problems. I did get a sidewall cut that killed the tire but i dont know if any tire could have survived the sharp debris i hit. Overall great commuter / trainer.
I bought these in 28mm to replace a worn-out pair of Specialized Roubaix Pro 25/28mm tires on my loaded-pannier commuter. After a few hundred miles I can report that they are a comparable replacement to the Roubaix Pro (which is a great faster commuter tire). They appear to be durable and they roll pretty fast and corner well given how sturdy they are. If you can fit bigger sizes and run lower pressure (tubeless and/or by rider weight), they can feel plush on rough Michigan roads.
