Challenge

Strada Bianca Tire - Clincher

The Challenge Strada Bianca Clincher Tire is so named after the famous "white roads" of gravel that wind their way through the Tuscan hills of Italy, where these tires are made by hand. Being designed for gravely, bumpy, rough roads, the Strada Bianca isn't just one of the toughest tires in Challenge's lineup, it's one of the smoothest-riding — which is saying a lot for a company known to dial in wonderfully comfortable ride quality into its tires.

The Strada Bianca clincher is referred to as an "open tubular" by Challenge, as the clincher design shares many of the same construction methods and materials as its tubular collection. For the casing, Challenge used its handmade, highly puncture-resistant, and lightweight SuperPoly material. With its 260 threads per inch (TPI), you receive a remarkably supple ride that you'll feel the first time out. On top of the casing, Challenge added a belt of corespun polyester, made by twisting fibers around a central filament core, creating one yarn from multiple strands. As a result, the material is between 40 and 50% stronger than typically spun materials, while retaining a similar, if not lower, overall weight. This layer is what Challenge calls its PPS (Puncture Protection System), and it's specifically made from the tightly woven polyester material to preserve the casing's supple feel. Challenge didn't stop there, however, as it knew this tire would be seeing its share of rough surfaces, so a second PPS layer was added on top of the first, giving you maximum flat protection without sacrificing overall ride comfort.

The new 30mm-wide profile was then wrapped with the popular Paris Roubaix herringbone tread pattern, a design that continues to be one of Challenge's most versatile for a variety of road surfaces. This low-profile pattern perfectly blends speed and grip. The tread was applied using Challenge's proven hand-glued methods, which involves mounting and then inflating the casing on a wheel. Only then does Challenge carefully glue on the tread layer. As a result, the tread isn't put under tension when you inflate the tire on your wheel, and that lack of tension leads to lower rolling-resistance, added grip, and increased comfort.

The Challenge Strada Bianca Clincher Tire weighs approximately 355 grams each, comes in the color Black/black, and in the 700x30mm size.