I’ve been Vittoria curious for a while now. Does anyone have a link to a cheap source or pics of them mounted up (Barzo/ Mezcal)? They aren’t that light but I don’t see anyone offering 700g 2.3’s that will last well
Bontrager tyres have been my go to for durability, grip, puncture resistance and generally being really easy to live with.
OP, the new XR3 tread is a pretty nice balance of everything with a tough (enough for XC) casing. A vastly different tyre to the one you have which I always felt was neither fast enough in the dry nor grippy enough when damp. Bit of a nothing tyre in the past. Out of the Bonty tyres that is probably the one for tough and fast and it isn’t a semi slick.
I’m in the same boat myself and I reckon I will go with 2.3 XR2’s if I can still get the older style to be a bit better if we see any damp or the biggest XR1’s (2.2) if I’m feeling brave and not trying to tempt this dry weather away 😀
Maxxis make a good tyre but never seemed quite as tough and supportive for the same weight or as grippy for the same style tread as some others. They also don’t seem to come out well on that rolling resistance site but I’m not sure how much I trust that.
I’ve done my time on Ikons etc and my very poor attempts at practical rolling resistance testing on a 1 mile constant 10% climb at identical power over the course of many months had them slower than a XR4/ XR2 combo. Anecdotal but I’m not desperate to try anything Maxxis for a long time now.
Most people get used to tyres and I reckon you can ride anything in the dry. Again, when I’ve tested tyres like Thunder Burts and Renegades on repeated local rocky, rooty horrible descents and I’m no slower than on something much chunkier. There may be a few dicier moments but even minimal tread tyres are more than adequate from a grip point of view in the dry IME. Unless you are racing at a decent level just go with what you feel most confident with and find easy to live with IMO.
Sorry for the ramble but maybe there is something useful there? 🙂