Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to REVIEWS
review
Tyres
Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp 700x23c tyreVredestein Fortezza Tricomp tyre

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp 700x23c tyre

8
by dave atkinson
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Jul 5, 2011

7
£40.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Very good all weather sportive tyre that's fast rolling and sure footed
Weight: 
227g
Contact: 
www.saddleback.co.uk
How we test

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

The Fortezza Tricomp is one of Vredestein's biggest-selling tyres, and for good reason: it's a really good all-rounder that has an excellent ride feel and seems to shrug off punctures pretty well too.

I fitted these tyres ahead of the Fred Whitton challenge and they replaced a hardy-but-stiff Kenda C2C tyre at the front and a wider Continental GP at the rear. Rolling out from the start and over a cattle grid I was immediately impressed by the muted thrum from the wheels as they rolled over the bars: there's plenty of give in the 120TPI casing and the feel on the road is excellent.

It's not the greatest idea to change your tyres for something new and untried before a big ride, especially when the conditions could best be described as challenging, but the Tricomps soon put me at ease. They're fast rolling and the level of grip in the corners is excellent, there were no hairy moments on the first outing. Slogging up lakeland passes there was plenty of bite from the rear tyre, and coming down the other side the Tricomps were impeccably behaved too.

Since that first outing I've put a few big rides into the tyres, and each time I've been impressed with their performance. No punctures yet, either, whether that's the luck of the draw or the Sportex protection layer doing its business, it's difficult to say. If there's a downside it's that at 227g they're not the lightest you can buy, but they're a good choice for long miles in all weathers. Vredestein bill these as an all weather competition tyres - we'd say they might be a bit heavy for full on racing, but certainly they cut the mustard when it comes to sportive riding, and let's face many of those are not blessed with the best weather.

If you're some kind of fancy-dan bike tart they're available in eight colours, from stealthy black to, erm, full orange. I didn't test the black ones against the black/white set I was using, but the white rubber certainly didn't seem to want for grip and black will only be the same or better.

Verdict

Very good sportive and training tyre that's fast rolling and sure footed

road.cc test report

Make and model: Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp 700x23c tyre

Size tested: White 23mm

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Vredesteing describe the Fortezza Tricomp as having the following qualiities

# Competition tyre for all weather conditions.

#Very low rolling resistance.

# Maximum grip in corners.

# Outstanding ride quality on wet roads.

# Curve Control System.

# Sportex Protection Layer.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Very well

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Grip, comfort

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Not much, really. Not the lightest but hardly scale-busters either

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 38  Height: 190cm  Weight: 98kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp
Vredestein
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

Add new comment

7 comments

Avatar
Chris James | 13 years ago
0 likes

I love these tyres, pretty quick and virtually indestructable.

I don't think you have been lucky with punctures Dave, I have put thousands of miles on these tyres and not had a single puncture (mind you - maybe I have been lucky!!?)

Last time I bought them for less than £20 each from a certain Preston based internet seller and for that price they are brilliant.

Avatar
oldgit | 13 years ago
0 likes

Have they dumbed this tyre down? Still got some older ones, marked handmade and 175PSI.
Raced them back to back over the same circuit against Diamant Pros and some Conti's? The Fortezzas were great. I could take faster lines on these. Very good.

Avatar
Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
0 likes

Yes they do seem expensive when you put the wrong price on the review - we've fixed that now. These are in fact £40 list and at well known online retailers (*cough* Wiggle *cough*) you can get 'em for £36 about par with a Conti 4 Season

Avatar
handlebarcam replied to Tony Farrelly | 13 years ago
0 likes
tony_farrelly wrote:

These are in fact £40 list and at well known online retailers (*cough* Wiggle *cough*) you can get 'em for £36

Or you could get them from *sneeze* Ribble *sneeze* for £26, or £21 if you buy a pair to get your order over £35 (and qualify for free delivery.)

Avatar
Ben Burns | 13 years ago
0 likes

£50 for a sportive/training tyre...that seems a lot

Avatar
mrmo | 13 years ago
0 likes

may i say what the hell has happened to the price!!!! i last bought one a couple of years ago and it was about half that!

Avatar
handlebarcam replied to mrmo | 13 years ago
0 likes

Good tyres. Not super durable, but at least their sidewalls don't go pop like Continentals. High TPI means you can run them at high pressures too, if that is your thing.

mrmo wrote:

may i say what the hell has happened to the price!!!! i last bought one a couple of years ago and it was about half that!

I know what you mean. Two things spring to mind:

  • Exchange rates: Vredestein being Dutch the fall of the Pound relative to the Euro means your folding cash buys fewer folding tyres.
  • If you buy your tyres online, certain web bicycle retailers (*cough* Wiggle *cough*) have gone from consistently being the cheapest a few years ago, to often being the most expensive, now that they have won a customer base, and have started spending big money on advertising (those Wiggle ads in the breaks during ITV4's coverage must have cost at least a fiver to shoot, most of the budget probably going on hiring the talented actor who plays the role of a Nü-Fred kitting himself out with verge and passion.)

Latest Comments