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I may have found my dream tyres – Vittoria Terreno Zero 700x32c

Vittoria Terreno Zero TNT

Tyres, tyres, tyres. (or even tires if you’re from the US). This won’t be the first time that I’ve blogged about tyres and it may not be the last time either. But when this set of tyres wears out, it may well be the first time I replace like for like. So have I finally found a tyre that I’m happy to keep buying and riding year after year? Very possibly.

Towards the end of 2019, I decided to buy some tyres for the winter which could double up as suitable for light gravel riding. At the time I struggled to decide between the Vittoria Terreno Dry and the Vittoria Terreno Zero. The Dry being more treaded and classed by Vittoria as a cyclocross tyre and the Zero being very lightly treaded and classed as a gravel tyre. In the end I bought and fitted the Dry version in size 31c. They rode very well, weren’t particularly draggy on the roads and gave me a good level of confidence through the winter on wet, muddy and cold rides. Also allowing for the occasional off-road excursion if and when I wished.

Vittoria Terreno Zero 700x32c Tyres
Vittoria Terreno Zero 700x32c Tyres

So when winter had passed at the end of April I decided to treat myself to the Zeros in size 32c. I think I was mostly impressed with how well the Drys worked as tubeless tyres, Fitting, seating, inflating and sealing with no issues what so ever and having no punctures for the winter months that I rode with them (Nov 19 through to Apr 20). So I bought the Zeros in the same TNT casing type to ensure that these too worked perfectly tubelessly. I think that was the right decision, I mean I haven’t tried the TLR, but the TNT is spot on and I notice recently that the TLR version is no longer listed on the Vittoria website.

Since fitting them in April I have now covered 4,743.9 km and just like the dry version they went onto the wheels perfectly, seated, inflated and sealed with no trouble at all. Just to note, I am currently riding them at 3 bar (about 40-45 psi). I think the ease of fitting is in many ways aided by the quality of the Hunt Wheels rims. I have also had no punctures all summer, no tyre related reason to stop mid-ride at all and inspecting them now 6 months later there are very few cuts to talk of either and not a great deal of visible wear. And I certainly don’t nurse my tyres through my rides, if there’s gravel on the road or bits of glass, pieces of branches from the trees on a windy day or anything else, I really don’t bother taking any sort of avoiding action, the tyres see everything the road throws at me.

Vittoria Terreno Zero Fitted
Vittoria Terreno Zero Fitted

And it’s not just roads either. The advantage of wearing bigger volume tyres on your road bike is that your riding is so less limited. If the road unexpectedly becomes a farm track or a cut through the woods, then you don’t need to turn back and find another way, you can just keep going and enjoy the ride. This has happened to me a few times this summer, and noticeably on one occasion with some friends, where to avoid a closed road we had to ride across a field and through the woods to avoid a lengthy detour. I think my experience of this cut through was far better than that of the other riders, especially one guy on his expensive and stiff aero road bike. I have also had rides this summer when I’ve purposefully included some gravel sections to my routes and again the Zeros have stood up well to dry hard tracks.

What has undoubtedly impressed me most about these tyres though has been just how well they ride at speed on the roads. I don’t expect to see them being ridden by the pros in the Tour de France anytime soon but in summer evening group rides I have had no problems keeping my position in the group. Even on some particularly fast rides when other riders have been dropped or have struggled I’ve not felt held back in any way by these tyres. Cruising on the flat with a light tailwind at 45 km/h or completing a 60 km loop at an average of 35 km/h, these Terreno Zeros seem to forget that they’re supposed to be gravel tyres. Of course it’s all down to the slick centre section of the tread, the hexagonal tread on the shoulders only comes in contact with the surface when cornering or when the surface turns to gravel or mud i.e. just when you want it and not when you don’t.

My original plan if these tyres rolled well was to swap between these as my summer tyres and the dry version as my winter tyres. I’m now starting to think that I’ll just keep these on all year round, the problem then is what to do with my drys that are sat in the garage? I think I may need a second set of wheels then I can have the more grippy tyres for proper gravel and off-road adventures and keep the zeros for all year road riding.

10 thoughts on “I may have found my dream tyres – Vittoria Terreno Zero 700x32c

  1. Hi MuddyGoose,

    Thanks for this detailed article. Felt like I was right there with you on your summer rides!

    I have a question though. One year and some Corona-filled months later, I’m wondering if you still feel the same way about these tires? Would love to know how they held up.

    Thank you and stay/ride safe!

    Nic

    1. Hi Nic,

      Glad to hear that you enjoyed the article and I hope the rest of my blog too. As for an update on the tyres – sure.

      I have now covered 10,286 km on these tyres and just a couple of weeks ago I had my first roadside stoppage due to a puncture. It was kind of my fault as I had neglected topping up or replacing the sealant at all; the sealant was the same stuff I put in over a year earlier when I fitted the tyres! Being as I was riding on a group ride I didn’t try pumping it back up or messing about with any sort of ‘tubeless’ repair – I just put my spare tube in and got going again for minimal fuss.

      So this week I removed and refitted both the front and rear tyres and put fresh sealant in. I didn’t have any issues resealing the tyres on the rims and they are not leaking in any way and holding pressure well, so the rear puncture has clearly sealed and I wouldn’t be surprised if there have been other punctures throughout the year that I just haven’t known about.

      With regard to grip and mild off-road ability, I think the tyres give me more confidence on minor roads especially when descending at speed. Hitting a patch of gravel is not a concern. And although I’d not make any claims about being able to ride these tyres off-road like you would a mountain bike tyre or even a treaded cross tyre, there have been occasions on group road rides where due to mis-routing or road closures and re-routing mishaps the group has found itself on gravel tracks, farm roads or on occasion cutting through the woods. And on these occasions being on the most suited bike for this type of detour is a nice feeling!

      In terms of drag. This is always a tough one to answer without doing a proper analysis and re-riding a section of road over a few times on the same day with different tyres. What I can say though is that on Sunday I completed this ride – https://www.strava.com/activities/5611389571 – in a group of riders who I would consider to be either equals or fitter than me. I did 213 km at 31.8 km/h (mostly flat roads) and yes it was tough but I think I would have found that tough on any tyres. The others in the group who I would consider to be of a similar fitness to me also found it tough too. So if these tyres do increase my drag a bit then it’s not by a great deal and I think that unless you need ever last spare Watt of efficiency because you’re racing then it’s not really a concern.

      On to wear and longevity. I’m 64 kg and so as a light rider I wear through my tyres more slowly than most people. I have done 10,286 km, as mentioned, so far and the rear tyre is noticeably more worn than the front, it’s clearly a little thinner in the tread and starting to square off a bit. I should probably have switched them around when I refitted them but didn’t think about it at the time. The front on the other hand looks barely worn at all, although I’m sure it is to some degree. Both front and rear have multiple nicks in them where bits of gravel and flints and general road debris have cut them but with tubeless I don’t see this as a concern and I’ve certainly never done any maintenance in terms of removing things from the cuts or gluing them at all.

      So overall, I would say, yes these I still think these tyres are great!

      Matt (MuddyGoose)

      1. Hello! Thanks for the super detailed reply. I think your post has inspired me to finally get these. My take away is that these tires are great and can be used in most environments!

        Thank you and have a wonderful week ahead 🙂

        Ride safe!

  2. Hello – thank you for this super detailed thread. I was wondering if you did keep the zeros on for the winter, how they coped with icy roads and whether the drys were better? Thanks

    1. I haven’t been riding on the Zeros this winter as the rear got too worn and I couldn’t get hold of any replacements. They’ve just come back in stock this month though so I’ll be ordering some shortly. As for winter riding, I rode on them the previous winter and had no issues. I can’t say I’ve ridden on them on icy roads though, frosty ones and wet muddy ones, even slushy ones but not ice. In my experience no bike tyre does well on ice.

  3. Nice review, I’m considering them. Currently riding on tubeless Schwalbe g-one bite and wondering if they would be faster on road. Usually its 80/20 for road/gravel paths for me so pure road tires is out of scope and I’m searching something more suitable

    1. I’ve never ridden the Schwalbe G-One Bite tyres so I can’t offer any personal view on them but based on the tread profile I’d expect the Vittoria Zero to be faster on road. And probably more hard wearing too. If you do switch, please come back and comment on what you feel the comparison is as I’m sure there will be others who’ll want to know.

  4. Based on your review I decided to buy the zeros as my first tubeless for my Trek 520 touring bike. I may have gone overboard but wanted a smooth riding, durable tire so went with the 37-622 size. This is mostly for road riding but we have some very rough roads.

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