Building on the development of their Cinturato endurance road bike tire and the recent Scorpion mountain bike tire, the new Pirelli Cinturato Gravel and Cinturato Cross tires bring new rubber and tread patters to the off-road drop bar category.
The series gets two tread profiles for each, one for Hard (H) and one for Mixed (M) terrains. The Hard tires use SpeedGrip rubber, along with a more closed tread pattern, for fast rolling on hardpack, regardless of whether it’s wet or dry. These were the tires Yuri Hauswald ran at The Rift Iceland, where he finished much, much faster than we did.
All of the tires use a similar protective layering construction as the tubeless ready Cinturato road tires. That means a woven nylon fabric running bead-to-bead under the outer rubber, followed by a softer multi-ply 127tpi main casing underneath. Down near the folding bead is an extra shaping and protective layer to help keep the tire seated and sidewall protected when running lower pressures.
As with the Scorpion tires, their SpeedGrip rubber compound is designed to provide good “chemical grip” regardless of surface moisture (meaning, bone dry to rainy wet). So, you’re free to choose the tread type based on terrain, not weather. Then, the construction underneath is very tear resistant, helping prevent cuts and punctures.
Pirelli Cinturato Gravel Tires
The Gravel M keeps an open side knob design with a tighter center stripe to decrease rolling resistance in the straightaways.
Pirelli Cinturato Cyclocross Tires
