Michelin has updated its top-tier road bike range with the new Power Road, a clincher or tubeless tyre designed for racing, training and all-round use.
It’s a very fast-rolling tyre that grips well in the dry and wet, has good durability and puncture protection is up there with the best. It maintains the good track record the French company has for performance tyres.
The Power clincher is constructed using a triple 120 TPI layer casing topped with an Aramid Protek+ puncture-protection strip and a high-density cross-laid material that's covered with an X-Race rubber compound.
Like many tyres, there are shallow grooves along the shoulder to improve grip and Michelin has beefed up the sidewalls for added durability. Initial installation was a little tricky because they’re a tight fit.
Once on, they provide a tangible sense of low rolling resistance, zipping along at a nice speed. The tyres really deliver on the claims to be a good competition and training tyre.
Through the corners and along damp roads, they enjoy high levels of traction and the casing has a supportive feel that keeps the tyre stable through corners. Casing and sidewall suppleness is a notch below the best but these are tough tyres – they coped with potholes and even gravel deviations.
If you treat your rubber mean, these will cope adequately. With good speed and composure on rough roads and impressive puncture protection, these are good fit-and-forget tyres that work for racing to steady riding – and for a competitive price, too.
How we tested
We put 12 tubed and tubeless clincher 28mm road tyres head-to-head to see which you should spend your money on.
28mm is considered the sweet-spot width for rolling speed, comfort and weight, with wider tyres offering lower rolling resistance and more traction. Even though they’re heavier and less aero than 23mm tyres, for example, the positives can outweigh the negatives, especially over long-distance cyclists.
Tyres are an easy upgrade, too, and add more comfort to your ride with a greater volume of air between you and rough roads.
- Bontrager R3 Hard Case Lite TLR 28mm
- Cadex Race
- Challenge Paris-Roubaix TLR Vulcanized 27mm
- Continental Grand Prix 5000 clincher
- Continental Grand Prix 5000 TL 28mm
- Goodyear Eagle F1 Tubeless
- Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance 11Storm
- Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 28mm
- Schwalbe Pro One TLE
- Specialized S-Works Turbo
- Vittoria Corsa TLR G2.0
Product
| Brand | michelin |
| Price | 69.00 AUD,51.00 EUR,43.00 GBP,51.00 USD |
| Weight | 238.0000, GRAM (700 x 28mm) - |
Features
| br_TPI | 120 |
| br_bead | Folding |
| br_punctureProtection | Aramid Protek+ |
| br_tyreSizes | 23, 25, 28mm |
