Veloflex record tubulars review

Veloflex Record and Veloflex Sprinters are a top of the range tubular good for track, time trials and hill climbs.

The Veloflex Record is made with a high TPI (350) which is one factor giving a potential high quality fast supple tyre . The Veloflex Record is perhaps best known tub, but the Veloflex Sprinter is also a good choice for a fast tub with an extra layer of puncture protection.

The Veloflex Record weighs 190 grams, the Veloflex Sprinter 225 grams. The Sprinter is the better all rounder choice, the Record is more of a specialist front wheel tyre.

In rolling resistance tests, I’ve heard the Veloflex Record gives good results, though I couldn’t find any studies.

Veloflex Record

veloflex-record-28-tub

  • Use: Time trial – Track
  • TPI: 350
  • Pressure: 9/10 bar
  • Protection Belt: Calicot puncture resistant layer
  • Casing: Compressed Pes/Co corespun
  • Rubber tread: Natural rubber exclusive compound
  • Inner tube: Latex low rolling resistance
  • Valve: Presta 36mm with changeable core
  • Claimed weight: 190g
  • Calicot puncture resistant layer
  • Veloflex Record at Wiggle RRP £97.00

 

Veloflex Sprinter

  • Use: Road Racing / timetrial
  • TPI: 350
  • Pressure: 7/10 bar
  • Protection Belt: Calicot puncture resistant layer
  • Casing: Compressed Pes/Co corespun
  • Rubber tread: Natural rubber exclusive compound
  • Inner tube: Latex low rolling resistance
  • Valve: Presta 36 mm with changeable core
  • Claimed weight – 225 grams
  • Veloflex Sprinter at Wiggle – £72.68 RRP £90.

 

The Veloflex Sprinter is a development from an older version called the servizio corse.

It is 22″ width, which would be close to my preferred choice – perhaps would prefer a 23″ or even 24″ – given trend towards wider tyres. For hill climbs 22″ is a pretty good width.

The Record seemed a good choice for a rear wheel in time trials. Rear wheels tend to wear more quickly (due to more weight on rear of bike) and also seem more prone to puncture. If you want to go all out for speed, you could put Veloflex Record on both wheels, but I tend to be more risk averse – you can’t win if you have to walk home with a puncture. I put the Veloflex Record on my disc wheel for a few time trials in the summer, and have now moved it to my Zipp 202 rear wheel that I use for hill climbs.

It feels faster than a Continental Competition (which is the tub I’ve used most frequently in TTs). It is also lighter. After doing several races over gravelly roads, the tyre still looks in good shape, without any scratches.

I’ve chosen this tyre for hill climb season, though a couple of weeks before national, I may switch to a lighter rear tyre like the Vittoria Chrono. At this stage in the season, I’d rather have the puncture protection than 25 grams of weight – even if it is rotational.

Like many high quality, low weight tubulars, it seems to lose air pressure pretty quickly. In a four hour race, this could be a bit of a problem. In four hours it can easily lose 10 PSI. It means I tend to blew it up slightly more than my targeted PSI before a race. But, since it’s a guess what tyre pressure to use anyway, it’s not such a big deal.
veloflex-sprinter-tread

Tread. smooth running tubular.

veloflex-sprinter

It looks good – black and gum coloured. Simple design like a tyre should be. I believe there is a Veloflex Extreme which is same tyre but black sidewall rather than gum coloured – don’t know why you need a separate model for different coloured sidewall.

It’s actually slightly muddy after yesterdays race. Despite driest September on record I still managed to find a muddy puddle at the top of Walbury hill.

Conclusion

I bought the Veloflex Record on the recommendation of a fellow tester, and so far I would be happy to recommend too. No punctures and good performance in time trials and hill climbs.

The big drawback to the Veloflex Record is the cost at a RRP of £90, it’s a case of hoping that the price justifies it’s value. The old law of cycle racing is never skimp on a good tyre / tubular. But this still stretches the wallet a little more than I would like. Still if does offer good combination of rolling resistance, weight and puncture resistance it will be  money well spent. The Veloflex Record costs £97.00 and seems to be interesting in getting record for most expensive tubular. I may try it on front wheel next year though.

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4 thoughts on “Veloflex record tubulars review”

  1. Hi Tejvan… Great review 🙂 Just thought you might want to know Wiggle have a great offer on the Veloflex Records at the moment @ £68.

    Reply
  2. Just bought some sprinters off this review and a few others, didn’t want to risk the records! AC Cycles are currently shifting them at a shade over £50 each.

    Reply

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