Pirelli MT43 Trials Tire After 1500 Miles

Trials Tire Update

After approximately 1500 miles on a Pirelli MT43 rear trials tire I have a pretty fair idea of what to expect.  Since it is now pretty much worn out I expect to buy another one!  Mileage alone makes it a very desirable tire in the rocky terrain I normally ride on.  I would estimate it would have taken me at least 2 knobby tires to get that kind of mileage and they would have been completely destroyed.

At the onset of this test my first concern was pinch flatting. I never look forward to fixing flats on the trails. So I kept the Pirelli at 12 psi with a super heavy duty tube. The traction in loose rocky terrain is as good as or better than my usual knobby tires. It performed surprisingly well in the sand washes I encountered. The only exception being when I came to sand hills, I felt it lacked a bit when climbing sandy hills, lacking any paddle action. Momentum was a definite requirement in those conditions.

The difference I felt between the knobby and trials tire was that the knobby performed more like a paddle and liked more throttle. Whereas the trials tire would do fine with the same throttle but also liked to be fed smaller doses of throttle in slow going and would keep hooking up and propelling me forward. I know you are thinking “dumbass” of course it does it is a TRIALS TIRE!  But since it is not on a trials bike with stump pulling torque I didn’t expect it to work as well on a cross country bike. I was pleasantly surprised.

I also noticed a slightly cushier ride due to the tall side wall and lower pressures. It was enough that I slowed my rebound on the shock one click to compensate for the cushy sidewall. To address the cushier sidewall issues, my biggest concern was pinch flatting. I usually ride with others in a group or trail ride alone exploring at a casual pace. One day I took a rocky single-track and rode a more aggressive pace than usual. I made it about 15 minutes before I pinch flatted. This was my first flat in about 1100 miles! But to be objective it was on a fairly well worn tire that had about ½ inch less rubber than it did when new. My evaluation is that if you are a “trail racer” you may have to run higher pressures than the 12 psi I tried. But if you are a let’s have fun and go anywhere type of rider, you should never have a problem.  The Pirelli made it 1100 miles before I got too carried away and got my first flat.  Now for the bad news, I know a lot of you have ridden out of places on a flat tire before. You will not do this on a trials tire, if you get a flat you must stop and fix it. There is not enough sidewall support and you will ruin the tube and tire if you continue. Besides being a real pain to ride on or get up any kind of hill.

I just watched a video on a new rim insert that supplements a normal tube and claims to all but eliminate pinch flats. Maybe someone has just cured my trials tire pinch flat fears!  Could be my next test item!

#33

I don’t have gray hair; I have ‘Wisdom Highlights’, I’m just very wise.