I had been using Gatorskins for over twenty years and had been satisfied with them despite the difficulty in mounting them and the annoying unraveling of threads, especially in the rear tire. Then I discovered the Vittoria Rubino Pro G2.0. I've been using them now for a little over a year and have over five thousand miles on the front tire and it still has plenty of life left in it.
In addition to its durability, the Vittoria Rubino Pro G2.0 is easy to mount, provides a smooth comfortable ride with excellent gripnand handling and is as resistent to punctures as Gatorskins. And given the overall quality of the tire, the price is an additional plus.
For the type of rides I do, 40 to 50 miles at about a 14 - 15 mph average pace, the Vittoria Rubino Pro G2.0 can't be beat.
I know some will say this product is dumb because you have a bike and actually ride it hard, it will get scratched at some point. However, this was a GREAT purchase for my new carbon gravel frame. I searched every other option because I thought I could find something better and cheaper and ended up buying this in the end. It's a great product, very easy to install, and you can barely see it on my new Alchemy Lycos frame. Cleans easy and was actually quite fun to put on. Lots of options for install and would put on my next new bike too.
I am very happy with this wheel. I got it to replace the OE Bontrager rear wheel, which cracked the rim at a spoke nipple
When it arrived, the box was pretty beat up, but the wheel was undamaged. Out of the box it weighed 908 g.
I had to use tire levers to get my GP5000 clincher on, but that's typical.
I swapped over the disc and cassette and put in on my Domane. The disc fit perfectly with no adjustment of the caliper needed. The derailleur needed a little adjustment to shift just right.
A little way into my first ride, I thought something was wrong. I couldn't hear the free hub at all when coasting. But everything was fine, its just the quietest free hub I've ever heard.
The rim is very true. All is good!
And I'm thinking the bladed spokes will make up for my non-aero, upright riding position. :)
Compared to the Shimano equivalent master link, this is about a third the cost. The manufacturer of this product says it can be re-used 5 times. Shimano says their master link can't be re-used at all. So, if all you care about is cost, then this master link is the way to go. I've used this master link for about 500 miles and I can't tell the difference between it and the Shimano equivalent. Of course even a single failure would negate any cost savings. Only time will tell.
