Road Bike Tire Test: Vittoria Corsa N.EXT TLR 28

The Vittoria Corsa N.EXT TLR is available in a huge range of different sizes. While most other road bike tires come in three or maybe four different sizes, the Corsa N.EXT comes in six sizes ranging from 24-622 to 34-622 in 2 mm increments. The large range of different sizes means there should be a perfect size for nearly anyone.

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We tested the Corsa N.EXT TLR in the 26-622 size (read our review) a couple of weeks back and found it to be a very good all-round tire with an emphasis on puncture resistance and wet grip. This time, we're going to look at the slightly larger 28-622 version that should be an excellent step up for most road bikers looking for a bit more comfort without losing too much aerodynamic performance.

The 28-622 version of the Corsa N.EXT TLR is also the first 28 mm rated road bike tire we've tested, and it means we had to change some things related to the air pressures we use for the tests. If you've followed our website for a while, you must know that we test rolling resistance of road bike tires at four static air pressures, which worked well for more than eight years as we mostly stuck with testing 24-26 mm road bike tires.

With the increasing popularity of tubeless road bike tires, we've noticed a movement towards larger road bike tires as they offer some benefits regarding comfort and tubeless set up. In general, you'll run larger tires at reduced air pressures, and the most obvious advantage is an increased comfort level. With tubeless road bike tires, larger tires at lower air pressures offer some additional benefits as it's easier to keep the air in at lower air pressures.

Another significant advantage of larger tubeless tires is that in case of a puncture, the sealant can do a better job re-sealing the hole at lower air pressures. On top of that, the larger air volume means more air is available to re-seal the puncture before the air pressure becomes too low to keep riding. Simply put, in case of a puncture, you'll have a better chance of getting home with the larger tubeless tire.

We've moved away from the static air pressures to support the bigger tire sizes for the rolling resistance tests. Instead of the static air pressures, you'll now find "Ultra High", "Extra High", "High", and "Medium" air pressures in the road bike section. These air pressures remain the same old "120 psi", "100 psi", "80 psi", and "60 psi" for all tires that have a measured size of between 24.5 and 27.4 mm. Tires smaller than 24.5 mm will be tested at 10% higher air pressures, and tires bigger than 27.4 mm will be tested at 10% lower air pressures.

The 28-622 version of the Corsa N.EXT TLR comes out faster than the 26-622 version (read our review), even though we tested the 28-622 version at 10% lower air pressures. In the other tests, we see very similar performance, with both sizes going neck by neck in most cases. A disadvantage for use on (ultra)wide rims can be found in the tread width that has only been marginally increased and has dropped under 40% on the 28-622 version. Tread width might be less of a problem with the bigger sizes though as they will be less squared off on wide rims.

We do see a different distribution of the wet grip levels, which might be related to the dual compound of the Corsa N.EXT, where we suspect the bigger size to be more on the edge compound in the edge test and more on the center compound in the center test. With the smaller sizes, the tread might simply not be wide enough to be entirely on 1 of the 2 compounds.

Ultimately we feel the minor differences in these tests might be more related to the actual samples than the size of the tires. If the 28-622 size fits your bike, we would take it over the 26-622 in almost all cases.