Vittoria Corsa N.EXT tire line trades cotton for nylon to make race tires you can ride every day

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What is N.EXT? Well, that’s precisely what Vittoria hoped you’d ask, or more importantly, “where do you want to go next?” The previous question could be asked on a casual ride or in more of an existential way. If you’re on a ride, you must be confident that your gear will get you to your destination. If you’re speaking philosophically (in bike terms, we assume), you should have an eye on the future and do your best to hone your race craft, ride smart, and train diligently.

Vittoria Corsa N.EXT mounted on CADEX hookless wheels Photo: Jordan Villella

What is N.EXT for Vittoria? The core of the new Vittoria Corsa N.EXT is one tire to race on and train on without the drawbacks of a competition-only design. It’s an all-new tire boasting a performance strikingly similar to that of the Corsa with cotton casing but with the durability of the Zaffiro line.

Photo: Jordan Villella

The N.EXT tire completes Vittoria’s top-of-the-range offer by filling the gap between the Corsa Pro Competition line and the Rubino Advance Training tire categories.

How are they different?

The design team at Vittoria was tasked with making a nylon casing tire perform like a cotton one, pump up the tubeless compatibility and puncture protection…and make it fast.

Recently crowned USA Elite Road National Champion Emma Langley of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB has been training on the Corsa N.EXT most of the season and still rides the prototype versions. A testament to the long life of the tire. Photo: Jordan Villella

The final product is a tire that can rail corners and take a hit from a pothole without giving up the ghost.

For the task, the design team reached out to the World Tour riders like Emma Langley and its long sponsored riders list for valuable tuning input. More importantly, they reached out to the working-class racer and riders that depend on getting the most race miles out of a tire.

Photo credit: Jordan Villella

Vittoria N-ylon casing

The “N” in N.EXT could also refer to the new nylon casing, the first tire in the Vittoria Corsa line to use nylon. The casing uses a unique silica and graphene compound that improves the tire rolling efficiency and grip and adds a longer wear life. The nylon casing adds another dimension to the tire, granting tubeless efficiency, easy setup, and puncture protection; two gripes about the current Vittoria Corsa Cotton tires.

Vittoria Corsa N.EXT tubeless 28mm weight Photo Jordan Villella

Confronting the weak spots of race-only cotton, the central section of the N.EXT casing features three layers of nylon and an additional puncture protection belt. To add even better resistance to punctures, the design team further inproved the tire at the bead level with a chafer, an extra protective layer of nylon wrapping the bead, sort of like enduro tires but much lighter. The new bead design helps to make the tire mounting and inflation for tube-type and tubeless tires much more manageable.

Familiar Corsa tread

Those who are Corsa fans will quickly recognize the tread design on the new Corsa N.EXT. The World Tour proven design features a slick center with slightly spaced directional grooves for a wider contact surface. The side tread features closely spaced directional grooves to enhance grip and handling in the corners. Corsa N.EXT tread also features a tread-wear indicator (TWI) via -a small circle incision on the tread. You’ll need a new tire when the incision circle is no longer visible.

Emma Langleys’ testing prototype of the Vittoria Corsa N.EXT is the same as the production model, excluding the hot patch. Photo credit: Jordan Villella

What’s with the QR code?

From what we can find, the Vittoria Corsa N.EXT is the first road racing tire to feature a QR Code. Why? When you scan the code featured on the tires hot patch, you’ll access all kinds of helpful information; how to change a flat tire, tutorials, and much more. Plus — it doesn’t take up much space on the tire and could be helpful if you’re a tubeless beginner.

Where do the N.EXT tires sit in the Vittoria lineup?

We can agree on the Corsa Cotton being elevated to the pro-competition level. Vittoria has the new Corsa N.EXT tires slotted right under the Corsa Cotton, meaning they are performance tires you can train on daily. The cotton casing is a great ride and the closest feel next to tubular (in my opinion), but the side walls wear, and the price is far too much for daily abuse.