Michelin Brings Power to the front with new Range of tires meant to save your watts

Written by Trey Richardson Jan 19, 2016 2:27 p.m. ET

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Everything aero is designed to help save watts and reduce your overall time, but what about your tires? Michelin is boldly marketing 4 new tires they developed that are said to increase power output across the range. The new Power Range of tires includes the Power Competition, Power Endurance, Power All-Season and exclusively for the U.S. the Power Protection +. Promising to save up to 10 watts off their previous best Pro4 Service course, Michelin Power makes some big claims.

Roll on through for the specs and tests results as to why Michelin says these powerful new tires will speed things up…..

Building off their motorcycle and automobile reputation, Michelin has done well on the cycling side of things to gain traction in a very crowded market. Now with a tighter, more focused distribution channel exclusively through QBP, USA’s largest distributor, Michelin is hoping they can better serve and sell through independent dealers to get their products in consumers’ hands, including the new Power ~~Ranger~~ Range line of tires. (let that theme song sink in).

The Power road tire range was developed and tested at the Group’s Technology Centre in Ladoux, France. The testing completed in April resulted in all tires being faster than their Pro4 series and are as follows:

For the “Power Competition” lineup, they are claiming a 10 watt power gain was made over their flagship Pro4 Service Course tire. To test this, they performed a “wheel energy” comparison between the Power Competition and Pro4 Service Course tires over a distance of 40km (24.8 miles), at a fixed speed of 35kph (21.7mph), carrying a 70kg load (154lbs). The result was the Power Competition tire finished 1 minute 25 seconds sooner, equaling what would be a 10 watt power gain in total output to the ground.
The Power Endurance tire is said to have gained up to 20% of additional puncture protection over the Pro4 Endurance tire.
The Power All-Season gains 15% more grip and is said to allow riders to go further & faster at the same physical input.
*No details on the Power Protection+, but we assume this will be a more commuter friendly tire to withstand the worst of roads.

No word on pricing yet, but the full range should be available in the U.S. on April 1st. No foolin.

Bike.Michelin.com

Trey Richardson

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previadiaries

8 years ago

I don’t really care about the watt savings, I’m just hoping the Power Endurance rides as well as the Pro 4 Endurance.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to previadiaries

Gains in wattage lost typically mean a more supple tire. This tire should actually be even better than the old one. I loved their tires but I’m happily running tubeless at all times now. I’m hoping Michelin jumps in at some point. I’d buy a set as soon as they were available to give them a shot

8 years ago

Will these survive trainer/roller use? The Pro4sc started to melt after a few minutes on my trainer.
I hate having to swap wheels right before a race when I warmup on a trainer.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to S

Any good tire will be shredded on a trainer. The properties that make a good trainer tire are the same things that make for a crappy road tire. Bontrager hard cases are great for a trainer and made to be usable for the road but they’re the worst riding tires you’ll ever mount to your bike. A good/fast road tire is going to be soft and get even softer when hot. It sucks but its easy to shred through the rubber of 500+ of road riding on the trainer. Sometimes, you just need to bring another wheel with you.

PsiSquared

8 years ago

I love my Pro4 Endurance tires, and have been happy with their puncture protection and how they roll. If the Power Endurance tires come with better protection and lower rolling resistance, that’s a win-win situation.

Ibcyclist

8 years ago

Any idea of “true width”?? Michelin notorious for running fat. Not big issue for most, but can impact TT and bikes such as Specialised Tarmac SL4 etc.

Dan

8 years ago

Did something get lost in translation? If the test was over a fixed distance at “a fixed speed of 35kph”, how can the course be completed sooner? Doing the course at a fixed power out put, yes, but not at a fixed speed.

PsiSquared

8 years ago

Reply to Dan

Something is amiss. I suspect they measured a power difference of 10 watts and then converted that to a time savings at 35km/hr. That’s the normal way of doing things.

John

8 years ago

So what are the power savings due to? Lower rolling resistance? Aero shape? Flying monkeys?

chobbsnit

8 years ago

I read this as “Whoa, our old tires really sucked…..our bad. Buy these instead”

kcr138

8 years ago

Still would barely crack the top ten in most efficient tires. http://velonews.competitor.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road-what-makes-cycling-tires-fast Testing isn’t the same and all that, yada, yada, but still, a lot of competitor tires are likely more efficient.

sad

8 years ago

Reply to kcr138

What surprises me most is their conclusion. When tubulars arent fast its because of poorly made tires. When tubeless isnt its because of tubeless. Yet the fastest tire tested is … tubeless (and is also more puncture resistant obviously).

Which brings me to the following: while not tubeless-ready I’d hope the new michelin tires can work tubeless. Most of us dont care to have the fastest tire, but the best trade-off between reliability, speed, comfort and puncture resistance (which is generally a tubeless tire now that some good ones are coming out).

If i had a choice i’d like a 30mm (!) michelin endurance tubeless tire. Michelin has a good quality/price ratio compared to others, and while 26-28mm may be the sweet speed-spot, 30mm doesnt sacrifice much while making the ride that much more comfy.

Ahh, dreams.

Bill

8 years ago

Those 3D illustrations sure have me sold!

ascarlarkinyar

8 years ago

I have beach front property for sale in Arizona for those believing these claims

nobodylikesshocktop

8 years ago

Reply to ascarlarkinyar

It would not be unheard of. Multiple independent tests scored the original pro 4 as being a pretty mid-pack tire for power consumed due to rolling resistance. In addition to the velonews test that is linked above, there is testing from Tom Anhalt http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/2013/08/even-more-crr-resultsand-another.html and another at http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/the-test that score the original Michelin Pro4 3 to 8 watts worse than the best performing tires under different testing conditions.

“10 Watts saved” over the Pro4 (Unclear to me if that is per tire or per pair) would just put them in line with the other leading tires depending on which test.

As chobbsnit said, this is more of a “Whoa, our old tires really sucked…..our bad. Buy these instead” than anything…

joel pontbriand

8 years ago

i have an approximately 15 year old pair of plain “pro race” “service course” in black/yellow that are the most supple tires i’ve ever ridden from michelin. i also have a pair of “pro 4 endurance” that weren’t bad other than the fact that the dual tread split on both. i hope that michelin (as “chobsnit” so eloquently stated above) has gotten their act a little bit more together, since years ago you could pretty much bank on any michelin tire being 1st rate.