Summer is here!, probably time to get some new rubber on the spiny things. But which do you road tire buy? for the last few years Continental and Vittoria have been a staple in tubeless road setups when you wanted solid results without too much worry, but a new brand is around town, and with roots in F1 and motorsports, plus some good press buzz and independent test – How does Pirelli fair? , lets not beat around the bush, pretty darn good so far.
Recently hailed as one of the top 5 high end road tyres because of low rolling resistance, good wet grip and reasonable puncture performance. Depending on what source you read, these Pirelli’s net out better than mainstream good/great tires like the Continental 500 S TR. Vittoria, Corsa Pro’s / Corsa Speed,which are also other high performing road tires at this level.
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR RS – $102 – on amazon here
Packaging
It’s not going to matter a ton to us as final consumers, but from a retail perspective the packaging is great, its easy for an in store buyer to take a look at without damaging all the packaging. It also has clear instructions printed inside regarding pressures and setup, as being someone who has worked in a bike shop, I do appreciate this thoughtfulness.
One nice touch, the band that holds the tire together in the package, is alos a wrist band! or it could be easily repurposed for something else. a nice touch. As I researched I found out the wristband thing is a movement with F1 fans, where Pirelli is dominant in supplying tires on F1 race cars.
Mounting
I’m mounting them on a 303 firecrest, hookless. 25mm internal width. My front has black Zipp tape 26mm, my Rear has MukOff 28mm tape which is clear and a little more flexy.
Mounting with a handpump?
Could I mount them with a handpump? – a heart livening YES! valve core removed but both were mounted without a compressor or booster. Not much effort, went up straight away and held air – dry. Sealant was injected after.
Setup Difficulty?
I would say the experience was pretty easy for tubeless. Easier than Continental. I rate them at a 4 ( 1 easy, 10 hard). The rear was marginally, easier to mount than the front, I think because the tape was more flexy and the bead sad a bit further into the central valley. (what even is that part called?). That said, a lot of this is rim and technique dependent
When getting the bead over the rim, I had to use as Single tire lever on both beads, ie the first bead, then the second (Sometimes you can get away with mounting first bead by hand) – as for the actual point where I had to use the tire lever around the circumference, I would say at a chord span of about 6″ – so pretty good, meaning it want on pretty far by just hand. lt was not that difficult, so maybe if I was feeling more energetic I could have muscled more with my hands. The room temp was around 71f / 22c – so warm not hot. But not outhouse winter yard cold. – something to consider.
Overall – setup was easy! (30c on Firecrest 303’s 25mm hookless) – I was impressed.
Sizing on rim
These 30c tires measure 31.6mm on a 25mm Hookless wheel and provided a nice clean rim to sidewall interface. 25 hookless is on the wider size for a road wheel, so on say a 22 or 23 rim, I think these tires would net out very close to printed width.
Tire First Impressions
The top tread and sidewall siping is an interesting pattern, see images above.
Without riding and just in hand, when you run your thumb over the surface it feels sticky like a grippy tire, that feel on high end race tires. Supple, yes but nothing amazingly notable. The tread thickness seemed fine, not chunky and about the same as some Continental GP5000
Let’s ride them – Stay tuned
Long Term Test
How long does these Pirelli tires last? That’s a key question and please note depending on where you live , how much you weigh and how clean your streets are will affect your results. For me the rear tire I decided to retire at 1200miles, it had 3 plugs in the tread, no sidewall problems, it still has tread but I was loosing confidence, so I decided to replace. The front tire however is still going strong with no plugs and no problems.
Summary
These guys are grippy and corner great, for. tubeless tire they provide good responsive feedback with no surprises when cornering, plus they ride pretty smooth. They are a breeze to setup, but as with all racy high end tires you should curb your expectations on durability.
| GRIP | 10/10 – these things are soft and super grippy. |
| DURABILITY | 7/10 – as expected, grip comes with a cost, especially the rear tyre, suggesting deformation plays a major role in surface strength. I would place these as sightly less durable than Continental GP 5000 STR |
| SETUP | 10/10 as mentioned, very easy tubeless setup no compressor needed. |
| POROSITY | 10/10 – no issues with seeping sealant |
| SIDEWALL ISSUES | Short and Longterm , None |
| LIFE | Medium – these are sticky race tires and wear out quick. |
| COST | High ~$95 on amazon here |
Grip – 10/10 – these things are soft and super grippy.
Durability – 7/10 – as expected, grip comes with a cost, especially the rear tyre, suggesting deformation plays a major role in surface strength. I would place these as sightly less durable than Continental GP 5000 STR
Setup – 10/10 as mentioned, very easy tubeless setup no compressor needed.
Porosity – 10/10 – no issues with seeping sealant
Sidewall Issues – None
Life – Medium – these are sticky race tires and wear out quick.
Cost – High ~$95 on amazon here
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