Another good tire but hard to source is Vredestein Fortessa Comp. Almost as good as the Ultremo.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I highly recommend them.
I've been on them (Fortezza SL, Fortezza and Fortezza Tri-Comp) for two years.
Good grip in the dry, corner well.
Good road feel (not a lively a a good sew-up at IMO, but rim construction/spoking must be taken into consideration).
GREAT cut/puncture resistence.
Light, but wheel/tire combo still is sluggish compared to sew-ups.
The fronts seem to run forever, but I can't get a rear to wear longer than 1300 miles before carcass threads are showing.
175 PSI casing rating. I run them at 100 to 115 PSI.
Note that Vredstein manufactures two casings. The one with the higher thread count is used for the better Fortezza models. the Fortezza SE is a lower end training version.
http://www.vredesteinusa.com/road.html