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Michelin Power Road range ridden in Ventoux


Michelin have just released details of their new Power Road range, including an updated model which they say is the world’s most versatile tyre no matter if you’re tackling a sportive, on a club ride or racing.

Within the latest collection are also new tyres for cyclocross and gravel.

Here’s a quick look at the main updates to the entire range:

On-road tyres:

  • Michelin Power Road (tube and tubeless-ready) – the best tyre for 80% of riding conditions
  • Michelin Power All Season – optimised for superior grip and durability in cold, wet conditions. (The perfect UK winter road tyre?)
  • Michelin Power Competition Tubular – developed in conjunction with the Cofidis pro team, this is for high-intensity road racing
  • Michelin Power Time Trial – the lightest tyre in Michelin’s road tyre range, this maximum efficiency tyre is perfect for TTs, races or triathlons

Off-road tyres:

  • Michelin Power Cyclocross Mud (tube and tubeless-ready options available) – optimised for traction and grip on wet ground
  • Michelin Power Cyclocross Jet (tube and tubeless-ready options available) – the model for dry condition grip and maximum performance

We headed to the iconic mount Ventoux in France to put the tyres to the test and get the lowdown on the new models from Michelin’s tyre expert, Vincent Ledieu:

How do the new tyres ride?

I’ve been riding Michelin’s Power Endurance tyres since they launched and have been really impressed, with hundreds of trouble-free miles ridden on weekly local rides as well as a few full day European sportives. I was interested to see how the new tyres would fare, especially as the Power Endurance tyres are being retired by Michelin.

What better place to sample the new Power Road tyres than Ventoux in France – a brutal bucket list climb that’s featured at the Tour de France. A 30km leg warmer gave us a chance to get used to our bikes with the new 25mm clincher tyres fitted, and it wasn’t long until the mountain was in sight.

Ventoux is a tale of two halves – a steep, silent forested lower section spits you out into a barren ascent in the lunar like landscape with the wind howling and kicking up like an angry force laughing in the face of your efforts, attempting to push you back down the mountain – no joke when the gradient is hitting 10% nearer the top!

If there’s one thing you need when you’re taking on a climb and descent of this magnitude, as well as riding in a group, is to have absolute confidence in your tyres and the Power Road didn’t disappoint. As well as feeling fast from the get-go they offered predictable and confident handling across the range of road surfaces we took on. Cornering in this part of the world is high paced and leaves very little room for error, the grip offered by both the clinchers and the tubeless model we tested was superb. I’m looking forward to putting more miles into the Power Road tyres on my local roads for a more in-depth review.

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