PIRELLI VELO: FROM HI-PERFORMANCE ROAD RACING TIRES TO THE BRAND-NEW MTB LINE, THAT SHIFTS THE PARADIGM AND ELIMINATES CLIMATE VARIABLES
Just two years after the launch of the PZero Velo road tires, after presenting Cinturato, its first Tubeless Ready tire and the Cycl-e e-bike tires, Pirelli enters the MTB market with a dedicated line. Here is the time-line that led to the new Scorpion MTB range.
Milan (Italy), March 1st, 2019 - Pirelli Velo is the cycling Business Unit of Pirelli, world leader in the production of Prestige car tires and in the radial segment of the market for motorcycle tire spare parts.
Unique supplier since 2011 of F1 cars and since 2004 of the Superbike World Championship, thanks to a sporting history of over 110 years, Pirelli leverages and makes available to cycling the enormous wealth of knowledge, patents, tests, innovations and technologies developed since when in 1872 it was founded, to date.
In fact, that of Pirelli in cycling, is a return: the first bike tires of the company date back to 1895 and, over time, famous road cyclists rode on Pirelli tires such as Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali or Alfredo Binda. The production of Pirelli bicycle tires ceased at the end of the 1980s.
In June 2017, after almost 30 years, Pirelli entered the road cycling market with PZero Velo. Pirelli road racing tires have been the subject of extensive research and development, market analysis, laboratory and road tests, which lasted over 2 years. As for the famous car tire of the same name, the P ZERO, the PZero Velo also draw on the best of Pirelli technology and are positioned in the mid-high end of the consumer market. In the same year, Pirelli also joined in the major cycling competitions, as a sponsor of the Giro d'Italia and partner of the white jersey of the Giro Under 23. A partnership that was reconfirmed for 2018 as well.
A few months after the launch of its road tires, the company quickly extended its distribution network. Today, Pirelli bike tires are sold in 42 countries around the world, as well as being available on the dedicated e-commerce site velo.pirelli.com
The latter, presented at the end of December 2017, offers consumers some exclusive and unique products, which can only be purchased online, such as the color versions of the PZero Velo tires or the capsule collection of cycling apparel, designed by Pirelli Design in collaboration with Castelli.
In 2018 Pirelli was already on the wheels of one of the most important road racing professional teams: Mitchelton-SCOTT, which in the same year, with Simon Yates, reached the top of the World Tour ranking. The Australian team partnership has been reconfirmed for 2019 as well. For the new Scorpion MTB tires a new team will join the list: the Italian Elite XCM Trek-Selle San Marco, which includes the national Marathon champion Samuele Porro. International debut for the Scorpion MTB tires will take place at Absa Cape Epic 2019.
By developing dedicated tires for and together with the teams, Pirelli adopts the same approach in cycling as the one they adopt in high-level motor racing: working together with the teams, in a continuous exchange of feedback, to reach the maximum performance and translate it into products suitable for the final consumer.
In 2018 the company signed a partnership with RCS Sport, which saw Pirelli alongside the Strade Bianche race and the Tour of Lombardy 2018.
In June 2018, Pirelli launched its first Tubeless Ready road tire: Cinturato. In a short time, the tire sat at the top of many expert press tests, for its excellent performance in terms of durability and protection against punctures, as well as excellent smoothness and handling.
At Eurobike 2018, the most important European bike trade fair taking place in Germany, Pirelli also entered the e-bike, urban bike, trekking and tourism segment, with the Cycl-e range.
Today, the company presents Scorpion MTB, the range dedicated to mountain biking, which shifts the focus from the bike to the terrain, offering tires suitable for any type of surface and ensuring grip, handling and speed regardless of climates and weather conditions.
Like all Pirelli Velo bike tires, the new range of MTB tires has also been developed in the center of Pirelli innovation, the R & D laboratories of Milano Bicocca: the main location among 11 Pirelli research centers in the world, with over 1,000 dedicated researchers, allocates around 200 million euros each year for the development and innovation of its tires.