CINTURATO EVO TLR
CINTURATO EVO TLR – could this be the first road enduro tyre?
Pirelli’s CINTURATO EVO TLR is a tubeless-ready tyre designed for road cycling, commuting and gravel riding. It comes in a wide variety of sizes from 28-55mm and is “tailored for cyclists looking to venture off paved roads while preferring the smoothness of a slick tread, whatever the surface – paved or unpaved.“
The new tyre is born from the experience gained from Pirelli’s CINTURATO VELO – particularly its reliability and puncture protection -and their SCORPION Trail III motorcycle tyre’s tread. So what can a motorcycle tyre bring to a bike tyre?
From SCORPION Trail III to CINTURATO EVO TLR
The SCORPION Trail III is billed as an adventure-touring tyre, something that is happy on tarmac or gravel. Pirelli took the tread pattern and redesigned it for cycling, with a smooth centre section and gripper shoulders. That tread is cut from Pirelli’s SmartEVO AS compound, which they say is their “most advanced compound in terms of grip, vibration damping and durability.”
Pirelli claims the new compound gives the CINTURATO EVO TLR a 40% increase in mileage. That’s compared to the original CINTURATO Velo, which has the same tread thickness. It also has improved comfort and grip on wet roads.
But it’s not just tarmac that the CINTURATO EVO TLR is designed for. The sculpted shoulders, combined with SmartEVO AS are designed to deliver greater grip on wet or slippery surfaces. These grooves and edges, Pirelli claim, increase traction on rougher surfaces and typical gravel terrain.
The carcass of the CINTURATO EVO TLR is made from Pirelli’s new TechWall+ Road casing, based on a 60tpi fabric. Looking at cut-aways of the tyre’s construction you can see an anti-puncture strip between the carcass layers as well as a final layer of reinforcement under the tread. All this combines to improve its puncture resistance, while still keeping the rolling resistance down.
SmartEVO AS green features
An interesting feature of the CINTURATO EVO TLR are its ‘green’ features. It’s the first tyre in Pirelli’s range to be made from more than 50% bio-based and recycled materials. Pirelli have done this by using natural rubber, vegetable oils, rice husk silica and Rnylon. So what are those materials and how are they used?
Natural rubber
The tread of the CINTURATO EVO TLR uses 22-23% natural rubber, which comes from FSC certified suppliers. The FSC logo is only used on products that come from forests managed responsibly, in
accordance with rigorous environmental, social and economic criteria. The certification helps to counter deforestation, protect biodiversity and guarantees a controlled, transparent and verifiable supply chain. The FSC standard also helps protect the rights of workers and local communities who live in forest areas.
Vegetable oils
The vegetable oils used in the tyre come from ‘vegetable biomass’, this includes plant seeds, trees and other forest products. They are used to lower the ‘glass transition temperature‘, which delivers better low temperature performance.
Rice Ash Silica
Rice ash silica is a waste product derived from rice cultivation. It’s unsuitable for human or animal consumption, but can be used instead of silica derived from traditional sources. Silica serves different purposes in a tyre, it improves grip and rolling resistance as well increasing cut resistance.
Rnylon
Rnylon is made from recycled nylon fishing nets and other nylon waste, using advanced chemical recycling technology. This is used instead of virgin nylon, which is made from petroleum. This reduces those emissions as well as finding a use for waste material.
The new CINTURATO EVO TLR is available online in sizes 28-622, 30-622, 32-622, 35-622, 40-622 in black. For those Classic and Retro lovers sizes are 28, 30 and 32. It will also be available later in the season in wider sizes: 45-622, 50-622 and 55-622. Look out for a review of the CINTURATO EVO TLR. If you want a gravel tyre for soft conditions, try Pirelli’s CINTURATO Gravel S that we reviewed previously.
