Michelin Road Bike Tires: Great Quality for Unparalleled Performance

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Michelin is a famous company known for manufacturing different types of tires for all kinds of vehicles. This company has been manufacturing tires for more than 125 years. Michelin’s Power line up of tires are not just a mere upgrade from other Michelin road bike tires. These Michelin Power tires are made from a different type of rubber compounds, tread design patterns as well as solid lab data to support their claim that these Power tires offer 25 percent more improvement in terms of rolling resistance. It also claims to offer 20 percent more when it comes to puncture protection and 15 percent more for power grip on the road. Each tire within the Power range are endowed with these improvements although at different levels each and depending on the use of the tire. 

Image Source: bike.michelin.com

To validate the claims regarding rolling resistance of Michelin road bike tires in-house testing, these tires were sent to Wheel Energy labs which is a company based in Finland. The said lab confirmed the 10-watt improvement that the Power Competition tires have compared to its Pro4 Service Course tires which are more ideal for everyday use. 

This one is a fast-rolling race tire that’s light which weighs 195 grams for 23 and 215 grams for a 25 tire. It claims to offer a 10-watt power gain over any other Pro4 Service Course tires. Seasoned cyclists know that fast rolling tires usually wear fast, aside from being more prone to punctures. However, this is definitely not the case with Michelin’s Power Competition tire. 

Michelin’s Power Competition tires are equipped with 3x180 TPI carcass. It also has a thinner Aramid Protek layer along with a new Power race compound. These features make the tire capable of a 25 percent less rolling resistance as compared to its predecessor Pro 4 Service Course. 

If the tire is being used at an air pressure of 120 psi, it will have a reduced rolling resistance at 10.9 watts and for seasoned cyclists, they know that such can help them save 85 seconds when running on 40km at a speed of 35kph. 

Its new Power Race rubber compound which has been derived from their MotoGP division, provides the tire with a sure-footed feel when riding on a wide range of road surfaces. It performs best on dry surfaces as it gives cyclists a very confident feeling even when riding through the corners and leaning the bike over. 

Image Source: bike.michelin.com

This is a robust tire that offers more flat protection than what’s offered by Power Competition tires. These Power Endurance tires are available in sizes 23, which weighs 220 grams and sizes 25 and 28 weighing 230 grams and 255 grams respectively. This group of Michelin road bike tires claims to offer greater puncture resistant protection than the Pro4 Endurance tires. 

The Power Endurance tire is definitely the most versatile tire among all the Michelin road bike tires line up. This tire promises better grip, better longevity and 20 percent more puncture protection compared to Pro 4 Endurance - all these at the cost of having higher rolling resistance. To be able to compensate for this increased rolling resistance, Power Endurance tires were built with a carcass reduced to 3x110TPI, instead of just settling for a 3x180 TPI. This tire is also built not with the Power Race compound but with a dual Power X Miles compound. Add in the Aramid Protek breaker a+ version and bikers will definitely not regret investing on this tire. The dual Power X Miles compound guarantees better grip even on wet surfaces. Its center compound was designed to offer low rolling resistance. Compared to the HD Protection that Pro 4 tires have, the Aramid Protek+ breaker of Power Endurance tires are expected to enhance cut resistance. 

The Power Endurance tire is the only tire that cyclists would probably need. This is true especially for people who want to engage in long sportives or just want to go for a winter commute. With its great features, cyclists are more likely to find themselves using exactly the same set of tires for the whole year through. 

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The All Season tire is the third among the list of Michelin’s Power tires. This tire is ideal for cyclists living in areas where the weather is usually not cooperative. These tires were built to be robust, with better grip and longer durability even when used on wet surfaces. This tire is true to its name. Yes, it’s the tire for all season. It works best whether it will be used during winter or during a heavy rain. It’s the kind of tire that prioritizes traction more than rolling resistance. It’s available in 235g, 270g and 295g for sizes 23, 25 and 28 respectively. Its power grip is said to be greater than the Pro4 Grip tires. 

The All Season tire comes with a Hi-Grip tread pattern that enables 15 percent more grip when used on wet roads, compared to the Endurance and Power Competition tires. It is  built with a special Hi-Grip compound that serves to optimize its gripping ability no matter how harsh the riding conditions will be. However, this tire is not without disadvantages. Its high-grip capability is coupled with higher rolling resistance. This is because it would be impossible to offer great grip and low rolling resistance in one tire. When one needs to use a bike tire that offers an enormous amount of grip, then he has to be prepared to sacrifice a bit on its rolling resistance simply because he can’t have the best of both worlds!

The grip performance of the All Season Michelin tire is made possible due to its tread compound which is found to work best even when in low temperatures. Its progressive tire voids, which refers to the spaces between its tread blocks,  is also another reason why this tire is capable of providing such awesome level of grip. A closer look and one will be able to see those fine grooves on the tire that are running out toward its edges. 

Image Source: bike.michelin.com

These group of tires offer more protection than the Power Endurance tires. However, these tires are offered in North America only. To people who are fond of treating their road bikes like it’s something capable of riding on any surfaces but always finds himself stopping at the shoulders of the road changing flat tires then it’s high time that some amount of money be set aside to be able to invest on Michelin’s Power Protection bike tire. 

This Power Protection Plus Tire is designed to be every cyclist's go-to tire when riding along the most neglected pathways. This tire is built with resin-reinforced rubber compound referred to as Bi-Compound. Its “Protection Plus” label can be attributed to its Bead-to-Bead Protek Technology, coupled with its beefed up sidewalls. This gives the tire 20 percent more flat-resistant and puncture protection than any other types of Michelin road bike tires. 

Although many people would assume that this tire is built to be a gravel tire but the company insists that Power Protection plus is designed to be one of the best Michelin road bike tires. The Power tires promise better rolling resistance and improved grip but when it comes to flat resistance, the Power Protection tire outshines all of them.

Michelin Power tires is the line of high-performance road tires. These tires were developed at their own tech center which is located in Ladoux, France.

These tires serve as proof of their extensive research and development expertise, showcasing their technological breakthroughs. During the development phase, experts were focusing their efforts towards creating tires that have improved rolling resistance, puncture protection and better grip. They’ve also focused on making these tires possess longer life than what their predecessor products have. Just an FYI: Michelin has more than 3,300 experts working in their research and development headquarters.

In summary, Michelin’s Power Competition is the fastest among the power line up. It’s especially designed for cyclists who are into racing. The Power Endurance is more ideal as a training tire. It also has increased puncture protection. The Power All-Season is designed to withstand wet roads. Its level of durability also makes it capable of riding even on roads that were strewn with puncture causing pointed pebbles and objects.

Michelin’s Power line tires are expected to possess the kind of performance that remains to be unparalleled in the world of cycling. With the company's claims that this new line up of tires could be the new “benchmark”, some journalists expressed their skepticism for such claims. However, Michelin was quick to counter these skeptics by organizing a quantified test on their own outdoor test road. 

Michelin is also the first company to put up its own test tracks. To date, the company has 20 different test tracks which covers 43 km of their 1,112 acres facility. The Power Line tires were said to be developed and tested in these test track facilities. 

This test road has easy bends that do not require braking and just because the track is on a closed circuit, there were no traffic. The cyclists joining the quantified testing will not experience turbulence that they usually do when riding along with passing cars on public roads. During the test, the riders were also properly and spaced out to prevent the tendency of drafting. 

Although manufacturing bicycle tires remains to be a tiny fraction of Michelin’s overall business but the company never hesitates on investing in testing and engineering to ensure it produces high quality tires before investing a significant amount for its marketing efforts. The emergence of these four mountain bike tires, along with other products designed for road and mountain bikes came as a result of infusing a huge budget increase. 

Michelin also has four distinct tires that have been engineered for performance needs, as well as for multiple terrains. These set of tires also possess electric bike readiness. These mountain tires also have a wider diameter of 2.6. This line up of mountain bike tires promise to provide excellent grip, along with great strength to be able to withstand different types of terrain. These four mountain bike tires are: Michelin Wild AM, Michelin Jet XCR, Michelin Force XC and Michelin Force AM.

The Jet XCR was deemed to be the fastest Michelin tire meant for people who love mountain biking. It offers greater propulsion and overall performance which are made possible by its two rubber compounds. Jet XCR is lightweight and grips well on slick pavements and rocks. It carries speed in an excellent manner with its low rolling resistance. This tire weighs 560 grams in a 29” x 2.1“ dimension. Jet XCR is also tubeless-ready. Its casing is extra light with a 150 tpi that’s covered with high density reinforcing ply. 

The Force XC is a cross country tire which is also the most agile of all Michelin’s tires that were designed for cross country ride. The Force XC offers more puncture protection, improved grip and strong enough to be able to maintain its shape even when pushed to the limit. It weighs 630 grams with dimensions 2.9” x 2.1 “ This tire makes use of 110 tpi casing. However, some bikers say its knobs are to shallow that it does provide enough grip for them when things start to get loose. 

The Force AM is best suited for all-mountain and trail riding. This tire makes use of the same tread pattern with that of the Force XC. However, Force AM weighs 60 grams with dimensions 29” x 2.25”. This tire weighs 30 grams more due to its 60 tpi casing which is heavier. Force AM is durable against damage but does not provide enough grip when riding on soft terrain.

The Wild AM is made with a combination of three rubber compounds that guarantees excellent propulsion and grip. Michelin’s Wild AM tire weighs 800 grams with dimensions 29”x 2.35”. These tires have been designed with the aim of providing bikers better performance without sacrificing much of their needed precision, comfort and efficiency.