TonyMTL

Hey all,



I was just wondering if anyone had tried them yet? I was wondering how long I could expect them to last?



Just to clarify, they are NOT the PZERO Velo, they are the PZERO Velo TT, the slicker and lighter version. They are technically ultralight racing slicks.



I’ve put a pair on my training bike (I don’t race yet) and they definitely feel faster and have very low resistance. I’ve had them for about 1500km (about 1000miles) and they still perform very well and show no signs of wear. I weight 225lbs and mostly a power rider (lots of aggressive acceleration on the hard gears).



The weird (in a good way) thing that happened is that less than 1 week after having them, I was riding at night and there was a detour I didn’t see, I crashed straight into a 3” curb at 15mph, my full 225lbs of weight on the saddle. And guess what... The only damage it did was a cut in the rubber in the sidewall of the rear tyre, half an inch long and about 1/16 of an inch wide.



I freaked out at first but turns out the tyre has been holding up perfectly since then. The LBS tech said there was very low risk of catastrophic failure and that I would see the tube bulging out before I would even get a flat. He was right, and these tyres are very strong despite being ultralight racing tyres, I’m impressed. Just wondering how much time I should expect them to last in terms of “wear”? They might wear out before I even get a flat or a sidewall failure.

TonyMTL

No one?? How about the regular Pirelli PZERO Velo?

I thought more people would have tried it, it’s said to be one of the fastest and durable road/tt/tri tyres ever made.

rubiksoval

Who says that? With a CRR of 12.5 watts, it's not even in the top twenty fastest tires.

It's pretty good, but 2.5 (x2) watts slower than GP5000... Eh.

WhyFi

Most people are looking for a decent balance of durability, wear and performance; a lot of race-day-only tires are avoided in favor of tires that are slightly more practical, even if they give up a watt or three. Also, Pirelli isn't exactly a huge player in the road tire segment. Given both of these factors, it shouldn't be that surprising that people aren't lining up to share their experience with these particular tires.

TonyMTL

Thanks for clarifying, it’s very helpful because I’m quite new at this. I only got the Pirelli because one of my friends swears by it since they came out and said they were surprisingly robust for “race tyres”.

Given your knowledge on the topic, could you suggest some road tyres I could try in the future and their approximate mileage limit? In case my experience with the Pzero proves to be short-lived.

thanks

Cowboy905

i kind of want Pirelli tyres simply because i'm an F1 nut.. gotta watch for the blistering though lol

TonyMTL

Yeah that’s why I got the Pzero TT, it’s actually 0.3 watts slower, not 2.5, which in my opinion is extremely minimal. The small advantage of the TT version is the weight saving though: 163g for the Pzero TT vs 221g for the GP5000.

Indeed the Pzero Velo (regular) is not great at all. Mostly interested in durability.

aclinjury

interesting that the Pzero TT would last like that for you, a big guy.
This perks my interest as I'm just over 120lbs. Maybe i can even use this as "endurance" tire

rubiksoval

It's 0.3 watts slower, but has a much higher risk of punctures.

Weight savings mean very little unless you're doing a hill climb. I'd never race a Pzero TT (or Vittoria Corsa Speed) in a crit or road race, personally.

TonyMTL

I’m very surprised too, believe me. I’m at about 1700km on it (which is not that much, I do mostly speed training at the park). The most surprising factor is having a cut in the sidewall for so long and it never got worse (yet).

TonyMTL

I see what you mean, so the puncture risk is more of a factor in this case.

Which maybe means I’ve just been lucky for the past 1700km, I mean I use it in the city, some gravel roads, some smooth roads, I’ve been through broken glass shards (every time it made my heart stop expecting the worst haha).

Speaking of which, what is the durability of a GP5000 in terms of mileage? If that Pzero TT ends up dying prematurely I might consider switching to GP5000.

smashndash

I’ve used the P zero velo (not TT). It was nearly unusable for me.

A) I had a nearly 100% chance of flatting with them if I didn’t use sealant thanks to goatheads. If I flatted with more than a few miles to go (ie the sealant didn’t work), I was almost guaranteed to flat again.

B) the p zero velo is an oldschool tire. Designed for narrow rims and ridiculous pressures. If you use it on wide rims at low pressures, the contact patch will span the entire usable tread and if you try to corner, you’ll end up riding on the slick sidewall.

I’d go with something else. The Pirellis are obsolete in today’s market.