Pirelli P Zero Race 150th Anniversary

Pirelli launches P ZERO Race 150°, a special version of its racing tyre that is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the company, which began its tyre production with a bicycle one.

The celebratory tyre debuted on Trek-Segafredo World Tour team bikes during the just-concluded Giro d'Italia.

P ZERO Race 150° is an all-round clincher suitable for both long training sessions and competition.

It offers light weight, great smoothness, and grip also thanks to the special SmartEVO compound.

Formulated with a ternary blend of polymers with "smart" behaviour characteristics, the compound allows excellent dry and wet grip and very low rolling resistance.

The tyre’s 120 TPI nylon casing is protected by TechBELT Road technology, which improves puncture resistance without making the tyre heavier

THE FIRST PIRELLI TYRE? A BICYCLE TYRE

"Pirelli & C." was founded in Milan, Italy, in 1872, by engineer Giovanni Battista Pirelli, to produce technical rubber items.

In 1890 Pirelli decided to put this expertise to use to develop a new product: its first bicycle tyre.

As early as 1899, a Pirelli catalogue shows a wide selection of tyre tubes, travel and racing bicycle tyres, as well as bicycle accessories such as handlebars, pedals, and brakes.

However, Pirelli's name is inextricably linked to cycling history during the first Giro d'Italia in 1909 where Pirelli also had a commemorative postcard printed for the occasion, featuring "I Pneumatici Pirelli” (Pirelli tyres).

During that first Giro, thirty of the forty-nine cyclists reaching the finish line mounted Pirelli tyres.

From that moment on, Pirelli tyres became the choice of all-time cycling Greats such as Ottavio Bottecchia, Alfredo Binda, Learco Guerra, Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi, to name a few.

In 1932, on Bianchi bikes, Alfredo Bovet won the XXV Milano-Sanremo and the then general manager Edoardo Bianchi sent a letter to the Società Italiana Pirelli, congratulating it on the performance of Pirelli tubulars.

In 1949 the first Pirelli Grand Prix was held, an amateur race that offered the highest prize money at the time. Created by Arturo Pozzo together with Alfredo Binda, this prestigious annual race for amateurs allowed many talented athletes to be discovered and then become professional cyclists. In

1953 Fausto Coppi, wearing a Bianchi-Pirelli jersey, won his fifth (and last) Giro d'Italia while riding on Pirelli brand new "Specialissimi Corsa" tyres.

Over the years the range expanded and became more specialized with models responding to various uses. In 1992 the last production of Pirelli-branded bicycle tyres came out on the market.

In 2017 the company re-entered the cycling field with the launch of the now famous P ZERO.

Today as then, the logo with the characteristic "elongated P" is back on the bikes of the greatest cyclists of the day.

In 2022, Pirelli officially announced the resumption of bike tyre production in Italy thanks to the revamped Bollate plant, where the highest performance models in the range are made, including the celebratory P ZERO Race 150° tyre.