Following recent lab tests in the wind tunnel to discern the difference in aerodynamic drag between key superbikes, wheels, and helmets, the tech team at Cyclingnews has been back in the lab, this time testing road tyres. The team took 24 pairs of performance tyres to the pedalling efficiency lab at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub to find out which road bike tyres are the fastest.
The tyres on test, in alphabetical order, were as follows:
- Cadex Race GC
- Challenge Criterium RS
- Continental Aero 111
- Continental GP5000 AS TR
- Continental GP5000 S TR
- Continental GP5000 TT TR
- Goodyear Eagle F1 R
- Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport R
- Hutchinson Blackbird
- Michelin Power Cup TLR
- Panaracer Agilist Fast
- Panaracer Agilist TLR
- Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS
- Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 4 Season
- Schwalbe Pro One Tubeless
- Schwalbe Pro One TT
- Specialized S-Works Mondo
- Specialized Turbo Cotton Hell of the North
- Specialized Turbo Cotton
- Specialized Turbo 2BR
- Vittoria Corsa N.EXT
- Vittoria Corsa Pro Control
- Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed
- Vittoria Corsa Pro
Each tyre from the list was tested at two speeds, and repeated for consistency, with a benchmark chosen to establish a comparison.
In addition to a suite of general race tyres including all those raced at the WorldTour, a selection of time trial options, all-season tyres, and some mid-tier sets were chosen too. An investigation into the effect of tyre pressure on rolling resistance was undertaken too, with a full sweep from 90psi down to 30psi with a single tyre. Finally, a tubeless setup was compared with a butyl inner tube, a latex one, and a TPU tube to see how much each system costs in terms of added resistance.
With such a large dataset produced it was possible to determine not only which tyres were faster than others, but also pull apart some more general trends. Does price correlate to performance? Are cotton-cased tyres faster? Are cheaper tyres always slower than high end options? Is a TT tyre going to actually make you any faster?
For the answers to all of those questions you’re going to have to dive into the article itself, but in terms of results it was a good showing from both Continental and Vittoria. The fastest overall tyre on test was the Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed. The GP5000S TR was the best performing of the general race tyres, and interestingly performed in a near identical fashion to its TT counterpart, the GP5000 TT TR.
The gulf in performance from the fastest tyres on test to the slowest was significant, a swing of 30 Watts at the most extreme, but this is comparing a time trial tyre to an all-season option, so not the fairest comparison.
Perhaps most interestingly, certain tyres seen in the WorldTour and at Grand Tours tested with a 22-watt penalty at race speeds, which is a significant detriment - or gain - from something as simple as a tyre swap.
The tests also found that changing tyre pressure within a relatively wide margin had no tangible impact on performance, but that around eight watts could be found and lost simply by changing inner tube material.
While the faster you go the greater the effect of aerodynamics, it is certainly interesting to note that the difference in performance between two WorldTour level tyres can be over 20 Watts, which is two-thirds of the gains on offer when swapping from an entry-level non-aero bike to a modern superbike. Given tyres are a significantly cheaper upgrade to make, they're perhaps one to cross off the list before diving into a new bike.
Cyclingnews will be undertaking more tests in the future, so be sure to stay tuned.
