MILAN (BRAIN) — Pirelli is returning to the bicycle market with a line of road tires that will be available this fall.
The 110-year old Italian brand has focused on performance auto and motorcycle tires in recent decades, and will adopt its P Zero brand from motorized use: the bike tire line is called P Zero Velo.
Pirelli also owns the Clement brand name, which is licensed by U.S.-based Donnelly Sports for a line of bike tires sold globally. Donnelly, owned by industry veteran Donn Kellogg, focuses on cyclocross, gravel and adventure tires and wheels under the Clement name. Donnelly also offers some performance road tire model under the Clement name.
The Pirelli P Zero line will borrow a color-coded branding system from Pirelli's Formula One tires: Silver for road racing, red for time trial and blue for the four seasons.
The range will be available in September this year and will be distributed in Europe, North America and Apac regions. The new tires also will be available online via the brand's e-commerce site, veloworld.pirelli.com.
Pirelli was a sponsor of the first edition of Giro d'Italia, in 1909, and 30 of the 49 finishers that year used the company's tires.
"We are excited about this return to cycling," said Antonella Lauriola, COO of the Velo Pirelli business unit. "For our bike tires, we draw on a unique heritage of knowledge, technology and sporting experience. Pirelli's offer today is completed with tires made for those consumers who look for innovative and technological bike products as they do for their cars and bikes. We chose to start from the racing segment, which is the most challenging in technical terms, but also the most consistent with our race-marked history. "
Pirelli will launch the new tires to the press next month at the company's test center in Milan. The tires also will be shown at August's Eurobike show.
Pirelli was founded in 1872 by Giovanni Battista Pirelli. In 2015, Beijing-based ChemChina bought all shares in the company.
