Pirelli has announced two new road tubeless tyres designed for training and racing, the P Zero Race TLR and P Zero Race TLR SL.
Both are said to be designed in accordance with the latest ETRTO standards and are compatible with hookless rims, as seen on many of the latest road tubeless wheels.
Developed in conjunction with the WorldTour teams that Pirelli sponsors – Mitchelton-Scott and Trek-Segafredo – these latest tyres from the legendary Italian motorsports brand build on lessons learned from three years of development since Pirelli released its highly rated P Zero Velo clincher tyre.
Boldly (though perhaps not unexpectedly), Pirelli claims both new tyres exceed the performance of any tyres it has created previously, clinchers and tubulars included, and that it expects these tyres to be used in WorldTour races during the revised 2020 season.
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR details and specifications
The P Zero Race TLR is a new all-round training and race tubeless tyre, which attempts to balance low rolling resistance and high grip with good longevity and puncture protection.
It uses Pirelli’s latest SmartEVO rubber compound and a new 120 threads per inch (TPI) TechWall+ casing, with a lightweight puncture protection belt sandwiched between the casing and the rubber.
The rubber maintains a similar tread pattern to that seen on the P Zero Velo clincher.
Available in four sizes, from 700 x 24c to 700 x 30c, Pirelli says the P Zero Race TLR is most suitable for general road racing and training, but that ‘light gravel’ is also a possible use.
The P Zero Race TLR has an RRP of €69.90 / $79.90 and will be available to consumers from 28 July 2020.
Available sizes and claimed weights
- 700 x 24c, 245g
- 700 x 26c, 270g
- 700 x 28c, 291g (actual weight)
- 700 x 30c, 320g
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR SL details and specifications
As you might expect, given the SL designation, the Zero Race TLR SL is a lighter version of the new P Zero Race TLR tubeless tyre.
It uses the same SmartEVO rubber compound and new 120 TPI TechWall+ casing, but omits the puncture protection belt in order to decrease rolling resistance and weight.
Pirelli nevertheless claims that puncture protection is not completely compromised because the tubeless casing and sealant provide a certain amount of this, especially compared to equivalent lightweight clinchers or tubular tyres.
Given its greater focus on outright speed and low weight, Pirelli says the Zero Race TLR SL is most suited to time trials and road racing. It is available in three sizes from 700 x 24c to 700 x 28c.
The P Zero Race TLR SL has an RRP of €74.90 / $84.90 and will be available to consumers from 28 July 2020.
Available sizes and claimed weights
- 700 x 24c, 230g
- 700 x 26c, 246g (actual weight)
- 700 x 28c, 275g
Sizing up the competition
In a welcome move, Pirelli has provided information on recommended inflation pressures and internal rim widths for each size in the range.
It also notes what size consumers can expect the new tyres to actually measure on rims of differing internal widths, once inflated to recommended pressures.
Given many road bikes have only recently come round to offering clearance for tyres larger than 25 to 28mm, this information is likely to prove very useful to anyone who owns a bike more than a couple of years old.
We’re generally big fans of road tubeless tyres here at BikeRadar, so we’re glad to see Pirelli has plugged that hole in its range.
Our senior technical editor for road, Warren Rossiter, has a set of both tyres in to test and will be out logging miles on them as soon as possible, so look out for full reviews in the near future.
We’re particularly interested in seeing how they stack up against benchmark road tubeless tyres such as Continental's GP5000 TL and Schwalbe’s latest Pro One TLE.
