A little more than three years after returning to professional cycling, Pirelli is preparing to launch an innovation that will redefine the bicycle tubular tyre; the P Zero Race Tub SL. The new rubber, equipped with a special inner tube, guarantees a reduction in overall tyre weight of more than 10 per cent, while maintaining the same grip, smoothness and reliability characteristics.
Pirelli has announced a technical partnership with three-time Downhill world champion Fabien Barel for the development of a new line of Scorpion mountain bike tyres aimed specifically at the world of Gravity Racing (Downhill and Enduro racing).
Vittoria, the bicycle tyre brand famous for using graphene in its compounds, has invested 10 million euros in quadrupling its Brembate (Bergamo, Northern Italy) premises from 10,000 to 40,000 square metres. The expansion project will see the company add a Cycling Innovation Centre and Bike Park.
We don’t usually cover bicycle tyres on Tyrepress.com but have made an exception this time as Pirelli’s utilised its experience with car winter tyres to develop the first winter tyre for pedal-powered and electric bikes. Called the Pirelli CYCL-e Winter, the tyre aims to provide mobility to those who want to keep on riding during the colder months.
Pirelli’s bike rental service is supplying two new e-bikes, the Nomades for urban use and the Montagel for gravel tracks, to hotels and businesses. The two e-bikes will be integrated into some rental packages and also available for direct purchase through the brand’s CYCL-e around website. Pirelli has recently added several new cycling tyres to its range, while its bike rental service presents further support for its sustainable and active mobility interests. It is particularly emphasising the use of its rental service for urban travel or vacation use. Therefore, CYCL-e around targets high-level hotels and companies that want to make a practical and sustainable vehicle available to employees and visitors. The two new Pirelli e-bikes are made in collaboration with Stajvelo, one of the emerging players in electric mobility, based in Monaco. For more information, visit our sister website in Italy, PneusNews.it.
Pirelli has launched the tubeless P Zero Race TLR and P Zero Race TLR SL flagship tyres for high-performance cycling. The brand returned to cycling in June 2017, reflecting a recent trend for global tyre brands producing new tyres for pedal-powered two-wheelers following global growth in cycling. Three years after the launch of the P Zero Velo clincher, Pirelli says the new tubeless-ready road tyres complete its cycling tyre range.
Continental has announced the reorganisation of various global specialist tyre activities into a single ‘Specialty Tyres’ business unit. Formed on 1 July, the company has combined its ‘Commercial Specialty Tires’, ‘Two Wheel Tires’ and ‘Hoosier Racing Tire’ business areas under the new umbrella unit. The result of the reorganisation means the entire Continental speciality tyre business will be developed, manufactured and distributed worldwide under the new unit. It brings together tyres for material handling, the agricultural, port, and construction sectors, bicycle and motorcycle tyres, and tyres for racing. The move continues the evolution of various specialist tyre segments within the company, begun at the start of 2013, when Conti renamed its industrial tyres business ‘Commercial Specialty Tires’.
Pirelli has launched Scorpion E-MTB, its first line of electric mountain bike tyres. The manufacturer says the tyres are tailored to the needs of this type of bike, in which the engine assistance subjects the tyres to stress that is higher on average than traditional MTB tyres. It has put into practice its experiences with motor powered vehicles in the Scorpion E-MTB development. It adds that sustainability, so important in the design considerations for the tyre, is also the basis for its return to the cycling market.
Continental has been recognised for its bicycle tyres manufactured with dandelion rubber with a brace of design awards. The Urban Taraxagum has won the prestigious Red Dot Design award, and the E-Bike Design & Innovation Award in the Sustainability & Green category by Focus E-Bike magazine. The two awards recognised different aspects of the tyre. The Red Dot Award lauded the design of the tread of the tyre, based on the cell shape of the dandelion. Meanwhile Focus E-Bike commended the sustainability of rubber extraction from dandelions.
Pirelli has partnered with the prestigious World Tour Team Trek-Segafredo. Its first official presence after signing the partnership is now underway at the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia, where the team’s athletes, including the reigning UCI world champion Mads Pedersen, are riding on Pirelli’s P Zero Velo Tubular tyres.
The former chief of research and development at Alliance Tire, Vidit Jain, has joined bicycle tyre manufacturer Ralson Tyres India. Jain now leads a Greenfield project for the company that produces and exports bicycle tubes and tyres.
In the two years since returning to the cycling world with its PZero Velo range, Pirelli has built up a portfolio of bicycle tyres that is sold in 42 countries. It has now extended this portfolio with the introduction of its first mountain bike tyre range, the Pirelli Scorpion MTB. The market launch for the first Pirelli Scorpion MTB products is scheduled for this month.
Mobike, one of the world’s largest bike-sharing companies, is adding e-bikes to its fleet that use new foamed integrated tyre solutions. The tyres are a result of a partnership between Dow and Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber to develop a tyre solution based on mixing Dow’s Infuse Olefin Block Copolymer (OBC), Engage Polyolefin Elastomers and Nordel EPDM.
When stage one of the Tour de France begins in Noirmoutier, northwest France, on 7 July, Continental will launch into its first year as a sponsor of the world-famous cycle race. Through its sponsorship of the Tour de France, Continental not only aims to draw attention to its bicycle tyre range; it also hopes the exposure gained will aid its ‘Vision Zero’ push towards a world without road fatalities and accidents.
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