The Vittoria Corsa N.Ext – simply pronounced Corsa Next – was released back in 2022, before the new Corsa Pro lineup. Back then it was the first tyre in the Corsa line to feature a Nylon casing rather than the regular cotton casing that has adorned the Corsa line.
The idea was to bridge the gap between the Corsa Control rugged race tyre, and the Rubino Pro all season offering. Much of the tread technology is the same as found in the Corsa range though, with a combination of both Graphene and Silica. It’s designed to be both fast, and durable.
In terms of price, they undercut the Corsa Pro range of road race tyres, yet their performance is in some cases better as we found out in our lab-based rolling resistance test of them against the best road bike tyres on the market. So where do these fit in to the current tyre market and should you go for these rather than the Corsa Pro lineup or other tubeless road bike tyres?
(Image credit: Sam Gupta)
Design and specifications
The main novelty of the Corsa N.Ext versus any of the rest of the Corsa range is the lack of tan walls and the famous cotton casing. Instead, Vittoria has used a 100 TPI Nylon casing due to the high longevity of that compared to cotton. There is a trade-off, which is that the Nylon is not quite as supple so supposedly not as plush to ride or as fast rolling, especially over rougher surface where increased deformation can assist in rolling resistance.
In total, four layers of nylon casing are used underneath the tread, with three on the sidewalls. The tubed variant of the tyre uses one less layer on each section due to not needing to retain air. A non-stretch Zylon tyre bead is used to prevent the escape of air when setting the tyres up tubeless.
The tread itself uses the same technology as the Corsa Pro line, using both Graphene and Silica. Graphene has been used since 2015 in Vittoria’s Corsa tyres, due to it making the tread faster rolling, grippier, and more durable. Adding Silica to that mix is meant to improve all of these aspects further and enhance puncture protection.
In fact, the N.Ext was the first Vittoria tyre to feature Silica, and paved the way for the inclusion in the Corsa Pro line. The Silica is more present on the centre of the tread, while the Graphene is more featured on the sidewalls. To boost puncture protection further, a puncture belt is used across the centre of the tyre below the tread.
In terms of specifications, the Corsa N.Ext are available in sizes from 24 to 34c in increments of 2mm, however only 28c and up are ETRTO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation) hookless compatible. You can refresh yourself on what ETRTO standards mean here, but what’s important to know is that if your wheels are hookless, you shouldn’t run these tyres narrower than 28mm.
An interesting feature Vittoria now shows is the carbon footprint of its tyres. It says using the Corsa N.Ext for 42km offsets the carbon to make a 28c tyre. Interestingly this is a little higher than the footprint for the Cotton Corsa options.
