The Challenge Criterium Nerone Clincher is a handmade open tubular that rides like a tubular. The Criterium Seta was considered by many the acme of quality, the tires you saved for race days, the tires that were stored covered and airless for hopes of extending their useful life, the tires you lovingly washed after each race, air dried, and then packed away again.

Clement was bought by Pirelli and they moved everything to Thailand. Rubber comes from Thailand, so they, and many tire makers, figured they'd save money by making tires near the source. And, like many conglomerates, Pirelli realized that the bike world is not a huge business. They folded the Clement operation.

Like a phoenix, Challenge tires rose from the ashes of those Thai facilities. Between the Italian distributor and the Thai manufacturers, they resurrected the tires. Like the good old days, the tires are still handmade. Also, like the good old days, the legendary tread is still glued by hand to the casing after the casing has been tensioned. Many believe that a tread made separate from casing rides better and with less rolling resistance because it doesn't get deformed by the inflation of the tire.

The Criterium Nerone Clincher utilizes the same tread as both the legendary and contemporary Criterium Seta. Longitudinal ribs down the center, with herringbone on either side. In keeping up with the times, Challenge offers the tires both as tubulars and open tubulars. 'Open' meaning the casing isn't stitched to itself like a sew-up, i.e. an open tubular is a clincher. Challenge has also eschewed the cotton casing for polyester. The casing is still corespun, resulting in a thin, light, flexible case that is super-supple. The thread count is 300 threads per inch (TPI), which in cycling circles is considered a fine casing. Also keeping up with the times, the sidewalls are colored black (Nerone) instead of the traditional tan (or 'natural').

To give the tire better flat protection, a thin 300TPI corespun polyester belt, the same material that makes the casing, is glued above the casing and below the tread. It is also glued on when the casing is under pressure. They call this their Puncture Protection System (PPS), giving a little more protection under the tread while leaving the sidewalls thin and supple.

The Challenge Criterium Nerone Clincher is an open tubular design. The tire measures 700 x 23mm wide. It has Challenge's Puncture Protection System (PPS). The casing is corespun polyester. The beads are made from Kevlar. The tire casing has 300 threads per inch (TPI). The tire has a Black tread and Black casing.

The actual weight of the Challenge Criterium Nerone Clincher Tire is 219g.