Thoughts on the Cinturato tyre

 

I have been running tubeless tyres since pretty much from the beginning of the technology being introduced.  Back in the day there was only one company making tubeless tyres:  Hutchinson.  Options were limited and I had to take whatever tyre was being offered.  Sealant options were limited to Stans, and the sealant did not perform very well at the high tyre pressures of road bikes.  This was back in the day when riders were riding narrow tyres and 110 PSI.  And plugs to plug a leak while on the road were a ways away from being commonplace.  In short, tubeless tyres for road bikes was a nascent technology

Fast forward to 2026 and tubeless for road bikes has come a long way.  Pros are running tubeless in major events.  Pretty much all the major tyre manufacturers make a tubeless tyre.  On any given group ride, I'd argue that half the group are on tubeless whereas when I started riding tubeless I was the only one and the butt of many jokes.  Oh, how the times have changed.

I've tried many different flavours of tubeless tyres.  My favourite is the tubeless tyre from Velofix.  Specifically the Corsa Evo TLR in 28mm.  In my experience the tyre has a long life, good grip, and is well made.  The downside is the tyre is difficult to find in my part of the world and the tyres, because they are hand made in Italy, are more expensive than other mass produced tyres.

Looking for a suitable alternative, during a boxing day sale last year I picked up a pair of Pirelli Cinturato tyres.  By all accounts, the tyres are heavier than other Pirelli tubeless tyres, but the tyres are supposed to have good tread life, a bit of thicker tread for puncture resistance, and good grip on wet pavement. So after almost 4,000km what are my thoughts?

The tyres are heavy.  After a summer of hill climbing and long distance rides, I think I would have preferred a lighter tyre.  Now a heavier tyre is to be expected considering the tyre is advertised a having good puncture resistance.  

My other thought is life expectancy.  Call me greedy but I expect 6,000km or so from my road tyres.  The tread on the Cinturato is pretty much done after a summer of riding.  At $100 per tyre on sale, I'd like to get as much out of my tyres as possible.

Now, the tyres owe me nothing.  They never let me down this summer.  No flats.  No punctures requiring a plug or a boot. Solid grip in all kinds of conditions, wet or gravel.  The tyres did what was expected of them.  No more, no less. 

Going in to the summer of 2027, and yes I cannot believe I am already looking ahead to summer 2027, the Cinturato's need to be replaced.  While I have friends telling me to move away from Tubeless and go with TPU tubes and a good road tyre, I think I will stick with my tubeless setup. Let the endless reading of tubeless tyre reviews begin!