Pirelli

For some reason, the "classic" tan wall of these tires were much, much harder to mount on my Roval wheels than the same exact tire I bought last year that was in a different color (black). Makes no sense to me either.

Black tires, mounted both in 45 minutes. These classic tan wall tires? Took me a day and a half. Not joking.

But the tires are excellent once mounted, extremely durable and puncture proof and the rolling resistance is right up there with the very best I've used in that regard (GP5000).

I commute at not great hours of the day, in all sorts of weather. One thing I don't need to deal with is a flat. I usually use the Cinturato Velo, which is one of the worst feeling tires I've ridden, but in terms of what I need it to do, it's awesome. But, I was wondering if I needed to go that nuts on a tire.

This all season tire seems to be a good balance between a performance tire, and a bombproof tire. I can also tell you, it's super easy to mount, did it with my fingers, but of note I can get a GP5K S TR on with my hands. The Cinturato though, that thing is impossible, and what I always worried about is at 4am, in the dark, in the cold, that it flats on me, and I can't get the tire plugged, and then can't get it off the rim easily out in the field.

This seems to be more day to day usable, which I do like. It rolls faster too than the Cinturato, that thing is SLOW. The 4S tire is also pretty comfy, not GP5K comfy, nor GP5K fast, but I wreck those tires on day to day miles, not worth it.

Admittedly, coming from the Pirelli M45 - the RC45 should be faster. But, I didn't realize how much faster a "fast" tire is. So then the testing was on...Ramblers, Terreno Dry, M, and the Conti RK have all been "tested" on my varied gravel test loop. RC's beat them all handily. I will admit the Dry's felt amazing - a compliance I absolutely loved, but it definitely scrubbed speed. So it comes down to this - if you have a bike and geometry that allows you to "get away with" a speed tire, try the RC's. If you are tentative in the gnar/chunk or have a bike that is not all that stable, be safe and ride a grippier tire.

This is a review for another set of these, and that's a good thing because I'm a repeat buyer.

These things are tough as nails. I have early AM commutes to work in the dark, I race and train, so the last thing I want to do is slow down my bike even while training, but you need to check your ego at the door, it's a game of watts and time, not speed, when you are training, and the last thing I want is a flat at that time of morning (4am). Not dealing with it.

I run these tubeless, I have punctured and the sealant caught it so non issue. It was a staple each time, no clue how physics got that thing through my tire, but no biggie, sealed and never even knew.

Of note, you will be about 1.3mph slower, I ride a few of the same routes, and I have data overlays of each ride, and at 220w ish ranges, my butt dyno is pretty good and it's noticeable.

Remember, don't care about it, these are for training. They also ride very harshly, even at 55psi (I'm 70kg).